When you distill the music of Calgary-based MoFaux to it’s elemental components, you’ll find the singer, Janine Bracewell, and her remarkable songs of loving and longing, of joy and sadness, of beautiful friends. 

Every ear worm melody, every pulse-quickening chord change, every heart-rending lyric is touched with her expert craftsmanship. The songs may have a folk heart but they shape-shift through musical genres with ease and inspiration.

MoFaux has released 2 albums created completely through online collaboration. Working with musicians from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, UK & USA. 

With Di Kooch (Kris Demeanor, Anne Loree), Jeff Kusher (MOJOPhilter, Beagle Ranch) and Dave Horrocks (Beagle Ranch, Infinite Wave), we're really excited to share what we've been working on.

No borders here. Artistry pure and untethered.

The singer and the song.

When you distill the music of MoFaux to its elemental components, that’s what you find: the singer, Janine Bracewell, and her remarkable songs of loving and longing, of joy and sadness, and of beautiful friends.

Bracewell first hit many people’s musical radar as the gale-forced lead singer of Same Difference, one of the most popular Calgary bands of the 1980s and among the best Canadian indie bands of their era. Same Difference alchemized — seemingly effortlessly — elements of funk, pop, soul and world beat into a signature sound that, three decades later, has never been replicated. This is a tough act to follow. MoFaux’s seven-track debut EP plays to Bracewell’s proven strengths but also makes clear she has continued to absorb new influences throughout the nineties and the new century.

Certainly, echoes of Massive Attack and Portishead ripple through the groovesome Down and claustrophobic, unsettling Room. On Beautiful Friend, a delicate melody floats atop disorienting electronic atmospherics before the song unexpectedly bursts with burbling, laptop psychedelia reminiscent of a Dave Fridman or Jim O’Rourke production.

On the other end of the sonic spectrum, there’s Trick of the Light, a pure piano-and-voice ballad unmoored to any genre or era; it’s as timeless as classic songwriting should be. You could imagine it sung by anyone: Aimee Mann or Ella Fitzgerald; Patsy Cline or Peggy Lee. Yet Bracewell turns in a bravura performance that’s second to none. Hailed as a singer of great power and projection early in her career, Bracewell’s vocals can still rival a jet engine for volume and visceral impact but she has matured into a more nuanced singer who can wow you with a whisper and not just a scream. “It’s not just about being the loudest anymore,” says Bracewell, laughing.

Her songwriting has also taken a great leap forward. Every earworm melody, every pulse-quickening chord change, every heart-rending lyric is touched with her expert craftsmanship … or craftswomanship, as the case may be.

MoFaux, however, is far from a one-woman show. Bracewell assembled The Real MoFaux EP from a cache of long-distance, online collaborations with like-minded musicians laid down on hard drive over the past several years.

“The recording of the EP was a good experience for me,” says Bracewell, who also plays keyboards and guitar on the record. “The online collaboration thing is pretty much like stepping into this crazy

stream of ideas. Everyone I worked with was really great. Recording allows you to try anything. I love it. Now comes playing the songs with the band.”

To make the jump from online collaboration to live presentation, Bracewell has recruited half of Calgary band Beagle Ranch: guitarist Jeff Kushner and drummer Dave Horrocks and longtime friend bass Diane Kooch. 

“I’ve worked with Di, Jeff and Dave since before covid but it has taken a bit to get our sea legs back. In wanting to turn MoFaux into a real band, I wanted to surround myself with people I love and musicians with whom I feel a tight connection I’m really excited about what we can do to bring the record’s songs to life onstage.”

MoFaux

Janine Bracewell

Vocals, keyboards, guitar

Dave Horrocks (Beagle Ranch, Infinite Wave)

Drums, percussion

Diane Kooch (Kris Demeanor, Anne Loree)

Bass, vocals

Jeff Kushner (MOJOPhilter, Beagle Ranch)

Guitar, vocals, glockenspiel