Malajube To Release Limited Edition Vinyl EP, Want To Watch Olympic Hockey

Montreal's Malajube are approaching tours from a different direction these days.

After playing a dizzying array of live dates in 2007 to support their second full-length, Trompe-L'Oeil, the four-piece (vocalist/guitarist Julien Mineau, keyboardist/vocalist Thomas Augustin, drummer Francis Mineau and bassist Mathieu Cournoyer) opted for a simpler schedule to showcase their latest disc, Labyrinthes.

"We've been touring a lot, but mostly on weekends," says Cournoyer. "Or we'll go for four or five days and come back. Nothing crazy, like two years ago, where we'd leave for two months and come back for one day."

Malajube did set aside some extended stretches of time to play European shows in 2009. Since the quartet are a francophone group, one might reasonably think a significant number of those took place in France, but even the band were surprised to find out they were more in-demand elsewhere.

"We've been playing a lot in Europe — mostly in Germany and Holland," Cournoyer says. "We did maybe 10 or 15 shows [there], and only one in France, which is pretty weird.

"Every time we went to Europe, I thought we'd be playing a lot more in France. I don't know why, but it actually works better for us in Germany or Holland than it does in France... Maybe French people aren't that into rock music sung in French."

Their light 2009 road schedule has afforded Malajube the opportunity to put together a new disc. No release date has been officially set, but Cournoyer says an EP, Control, should be available in a few weeks.

"It's three or four [leftover] songs from the Labyrinthes sessions," he explains. "It'll be vinyl with download card only. We're only printing 300 [copies]."

Malajube have a few live dates left this year to accompany the release, after which, they plan to hit the studio to work on a new full-length.

"After Christmas vacation," says Cournoyer, "we'll start jamming and writing new songs — maybe make an album over the winter... and try and release something in September."

The quartet also have some appearances at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics to keep them occupied this winter. Cournoyer isn't sure what form those shows will take, but he says he'll try to get into some of the events as a spectator.

"Hopefully we can catch a hockey game," he says, "but I imagine it's pretty sold out. Maybe curling."

Here's where you can catch Malajube in the near future:

Dec. 3 Gatineau, QC @ Salle Jean-Despréz
Dec. 5 Mascouche, QC @ Salle De L'Alizée
Dec. 9 Quebec, QC @ L'Imperial De Quebec
Dec. 11 Victoriaville, QC @ Cactus Resto-Bar
Dec. 12 La Tuque, QC @ Complexe culturel Félix-Leclerc
Dec. 18 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
Dec. 19 Joliette, QC @ L'AZILE
Feb. 15-16 Vancouver, BC @ 2010 Winter Olympics