Hexes & Ohs

“… Lam and Donnelly delight throughout by introducing bittersweet boy/girl harmonies into the slippery mix of post-punk thud, newfangled dancefloor electronics and unapologetic pop savvy pioneered years ago by ancestors such as New Order and Depeche Mode.” - Toronto Star

“heartfelt boy-girl synth-pop that sounds like the Submarines collided with Woodhands. Slick synth production combined with propulsive dance beats back the couple’s cooing back-and-forth vocal harmonies and melodic, indie-rock-influenced guitar work. NNNN” - NOW Toronto

“… multi-hued arrangements, and a ceaseless flow of alluring hooks. It’s hard to pick favourites when so many stand out on this major-league effort” - Textura Magazine

“The world’s cutest “longtime couple” have put some of the warmest, sweetest synth-pop songs in the genre’s existence.” - SEE Magazine

“”Bedroom Madness” is here! One of the most anticipated releases to come out this year comes from this duo made up of two talented individuals” – CBC Radio 3 (New Music Canada – Featured Artist)

“It doesn’t take a band full of hands to create slick, modest electro-pop – the longtime couple provided their music with the clarity, structure and gentle care it needed to distinguish itself. This is well-parented stuff: happy, buoyant and secure. 4/5? - the Hour

“given the spike in confidence and pop appeal plainly audible on their new record, Bedroom Madness, this is definitely a duo on the rise.” – Montreal Mirror

“… they’ve taken cues from the best in the business — “Suspicion” and the horn-inflected “Try So Hard” are the best songs The Postal Service never wrote. Bedroom Madness is an impressive studio debut that chronicles all the joy and insecurity of puppy love. 4/5? – EYE Weekly

“Pop gems, dominated by the lush guitar sounds. It’s a kind of triumphant nerd rock that sets toes tapping and keeps you chewing out a rhythm with your bubblegum.” – FFWD

“(Bedroom Madness) solidifies the band’s super-trendy sound. Their music is filled with the optimism of happy lovers that is just so darn… well, cute” – Nightlife Magazine

“Honest, sexy, earnest and sweet — a catchy collection that will get even the most jaded hipster nodding their head.” – the Uniter

“If you could combine kisses and hugs with evil spells and ecstatic moans in a time-wasting pen-n-paper game format, you’d have MTL’s hottest electro pop couple, Hexes and Ohs.” – midnightpoutine.ca

“… from dance party tracks (“H-H-Highschool”) to romantic tunes fit for the bedroom (“Suspicions”). This is a fresh take on a genre that is quickly becoming saturated with mainstream drivel” – Stylus Magazine - Excepts

Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly have accomplished a great deal together. Having spent the past decade or so embarking on sonic adventures in groups like Jolly Bean and A Vertical Mosaic, the duo continue to do what they do best on Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover, melding thinly layered melodic soundscapes over pulsating blips and glitches, resulting in a fluid tapestry that envelopes the reflective lyrical content with a soft embrace. Few can dislike this album, as it's an honest and inviting palette of expression, no matter how you choose to look at it, but it might not engage everyone. Some will enjoy its rather subdued nature, while others will crave for more energy to come through in the carefully understated music of Hexes and Ohs.

While most of its slightly melancholic and bittersweet songs are similar to one another in terms of pace and feel, the album makes the occasional foray into edgier territory. The tempo picks up briefly during the danceable "Whadaya Know?" which could easily be a sign-along hit at any indie dance night for student intellectuals. "Lashes of an Actress" could have the same effect, but instead it wears its disco influence not on its sleeve but tucked under an indie-pop sweater.

Though the album demonstrates the virtues of such a tight collaborative relationship as Lam and Donnelly's, one cannot help but think that the intertwined duo is capable of surpassing themselves in future efforts. After all, they are proven experimentalists who have pushed the limits of their small band set-up further and further with each passing project. While Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover is a strong album both conceptually and musically, one can only imagine that when Hexes and Ohs reach their creative peak, the effects will (or at least could) be seismic." - umbrellamusic.com

A gentle and eloquent debut from ex-members of A Vertical Mosaic. Hexes And Ohs delve deeper into electro territory than their previous engagement while still committing to a sweet, pretty-pop mandate. There's a whiff of tentativeness, but hopes are this duo/couple will soon embrace their Tears For Fears crossed with Howard Jones destiny. Charming.

By Ilana Kronick - HOUR-montreal

Formé du couple Heidi Donnelly / Edmund Lam, anciennement de A Vertical Mosaic, Hexes & Ohs lance son premier album sur l'étiquette torontoise Noise Factory. S'inscrivant dans la mouvance électro pop ambiante menée par des groupes comme Prefuse 73, Four Tet et Notwist, le duo montréalais se différencie de ses contemporains avec des références pop 1980 dansantes. L'utilisation de claviers sur Alive Until Saturday rappelle d'ailleurs New Order. Tout comme à l'époque de A Vertical Mosaic, le couple présente un souci mélodique affiné qui rend sa musique accessible. Une pièce comme Whadaya know? a tout pour devenir le premier succès d'Hexes & Ohs. La formation lance son album le 28 au Main Hall avec Statue Park qui souligne aussi la parution de son nouveau compact le même soir. 4/5

By Olivier Robillard Laveaux - VOIR-montreal

... The recent downsizing of A Vertical Mosaic to Hexes and Ohs suggests that three was a crowd for Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly, who’ve left the edge (and their former cohort Ali Rahman) out of their retooled electro-pop oeuvre. Mixing and matching caffeinated beats and bittersweet melodicism with decorative drops of sonic syrup, the pair certainly doesn’t slouch when it comes to song craft. Accompanying their boyish and girlish vocals were neatly arranged guitar, bass and synths, and a moaning duet between a concertina and fab-organ during one song. Hexes and Ohs certainly aren’t a visually-oriented band, but few are these days, including the other bands on this bill, so seek out their tunes online or look for their debut LP, out on Noise Factory this spring or summer.

By Lorraine Carpenter - EXCLAIM!

Hexes & Ohs is Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam, two former members of the Montreal's A Vertical Mosaic. The couple's debut for Noise Factory, a label known mainly for releasing ambient electronic discs, strikes a successful balance between the breezily accessible and the quirkily experimental. After an intentionally glitchy, instrumental opener, the album jumps right in to the approachable dream pop of "Alive Until Saturday Night." The compositions are built from layers of electronics and conventional instrumentation, the synthetic and acoustic blending with the singers' voices to turn a handful of the tracks, including "Whadaya Know?" and "Snow and Jazz Music" into captivating confections. - CD review

"Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam are definitely making the list that Montrealers are secretly compiling of all of the great talent they've been exporting." - soundproofmagazine.com

"Clever and relentlessly tuneful electro-pop from Montreal." - the Toronto Star

"Awww.. aren't they cute?! Actually, this bands is probably the most likely to end up on the next O.C. mix. They have that perfect mixture of synth, glitchy electronic bass, and cute boy-girl vocals that's sure to find it's way into every converse-wearing kid's iPod Nano." - mockingmusic.blogspot.com

"Montreal's next big musical IT couple" - cjlo.com

"Hooray for Montreal's cutest indie couple (Win and Régine of Arcade Fire get close seconds, but check out this tender-twosome live and you'll feel overcome with an odd compulsion to eat them up whole, dimples and all)" - welovemusique.com

"melding thinly layered melodic soundscapes over pulsating blips and glitches, resulting in a fluid tapestry that envelopes the reflective lyrical content with a soft embrace. Few can dislike this album, as it's an honest and inviting palette of expression." - umbrellamusic.com

"A gentle and eloquent debut. Charming." - the HOUR

"le discret groupe de la métropole fait fondre les coeurs. Une découverte à faire..." - ICI

"Hexes & Ohs... is proof that no more people than necessary need to be involved in the making of a great record. Let the world have "Such Great Heights." "Alive Until Saturday Night" is for you." - 75orless.com
- MISC.

by Benjamin Boles

When Toronto indie label Noise Factory originally signed Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly, they were part of an experimental electronic band called Vertical Mosaic. However, just as they were about to start recording, the band broke up, leaving them to their own devices.

Since the offer was still there, they hunkered down in their apartment, writing and recording their debut as Hexes & Ohs, called Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover. The result is pretty and delicate electro-pop pairing glitchy beats with guitar, bass and even some accordion.

"Our background is in rock music, so that's still how we approach songwriting," explains Lam from their Montreal home. "Usually we'll just start with an acoustic guitar and build up the electronic parts later. The songs are primarily pop. They might be electronic, but they're not sound-based like a lot of electronic. Rather, they're song-based."

Lam and Donnelly have played together in various bands for many years while also maintaining a long-term romantic relationship, so it makes sense that they'd try to perform as a duo. The electronic aspect has meant that they can comfortably replicate the songs live and tour in a small car or even take the train. Their music is somewhere in between laptop pop and indie rock, so they can play venues that might not have considered them if they were a full band.

However, as they prepare for their second album, they're starting to consider other options, including lugging around a drum kit again.

"We actually just played a show with a guest drummer and we really liked it, so we may end up doing that more often. We weren't sure how it was going to go, but he was really good, and it definitely added something.

"The first album was a little conservative. We were still unsure of ourselves, but I think the next one will be more raw, less layered and produced. It's kind of taking the easy way out when you just layer on tons of stuff -- I think we have the confidence now to keep it more stripped down now. - NOW toronto