Esmerine

by David Jeffries
Splinter group Esmerine is a chamber rock ensemble formed by Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon, members of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and A Silver Mt. Zion, respectively. Unlike their other bands, Esmerine lacks guitars, instead focusing on drums, cello, and marimbas. After gigging around Montreal, they released their debut album, If Only a Sweet Surrender to the Nights to Come Be True, on the U.K. label Resonant in May of 2003. Exactly two years later, the group followed up their debut's success with Aurora on the highly revered Ninja Tune imprint.