blog post Christine Bougie’s Hearts and Galaxies: album stream and Q&A

Above, Christine Bougie answers questions about her new LP in one of Toronto's many temperate rain forests.

Renowned guitarist Christine Bougie celebrates the release of her new LP, Hearts and Galaxies, with a release show at the Tranzac in Toronto on Dec. 15. You can stream this record right here until Dec. 20.

ListenHearts and Galaxies by Christine Bougie
Streaming until Dec. 20
Tracklist

Bougie has worked with Amy Millan, the Good Lovelies and Thomas among others, contributing to their records. But for Hearts and Galaxies, yet another of her own mesmerizing, instrumental efforts, she took some time to do things all on her own.

“I played everything on it,” she explains. “My previous albums, I’ve had bands but the idea was, I wanted to create a sound that reminded me of when I was younger and would record myself playing everything at home, just for fun, recreating cover tunes and overdubbing all the parts. I wanted to get that sound that can only come from one person playing everything. So I did that, including my main instruments, which are guitar and lap steel.”

Both the title of the LP and the album artwork (which includes sheet music for all the songs) are rather evocative, connecting the human body and its complex inner workings with the vast unknowability of the universe and our places in it.

“I had this ‘galaxy’ theme with some of the songs that felt like outer space soundtrack-influenced,” Bougie says. “And then, I had a song called 'Heart Plus Mountain’ and was thinking about using that for the album title but then chopped it in half. It’s all about places that can also be states of mind; a heart being a home and a galaxy being a home.”

It’s not all comfortable, though. In the past, Bougie has written songs about hamsters (specifically, Hammy. Hammy the hamster), which are cute enough. On Hearts and Galaxies though, she’s come up with “Rat Dreams.” So, the question must be asked: What’s the deal with Christine Bougie and rodents?

“I dunno, I have dreams about rats,” she admits. “I had one a couple of nights ago where it was just scaring me, running at me and my feet and trying to bite me. I don’t know why I have these dreams. I did have a roommate who had rats and one of them bit me so, there you go.”

See Christine Bougie and Ben Gunning Group play live at the Tranzac (297 Brunswick Ave.) in Toronto on Dec. 15.

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Guitar Women: Suzie Vinnick, Donna Grantis and Christine Bougie in session