Blue Hawaii

Formed in Montreal by Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Alexander Kirby, aka Agor, Blue Hawaii has since 2010 evolved in a register that crosses ambient pop, dream pop, indietronic and soft techno, with a marked taste for airy textures, hushed club rhythms and voices often treated in an intimate way. The duo first established itself in the creative ecosystem of Mile End and released the EP Blooming Summer in 2010 on Arbutus Records, before developing a more defined format on Untogether in 2013, an album built in a between-space between electronic chanson and dancing pulsation. After a hiatus during which the two musicians pursued other projects, notably Braids for Standell-Preston and DJ activities for Kirby, Blue Hawaii re-forms in the mid-2010s and resumes work around a more direct electronic pop. This new phase takes shape with Tenderness in 2017, then Open Reduction Internal Fixation in 2019, where Blue Hawaii intensifies the link between melodic writing, dance music structures and vaporous atmospheres. The duo also released the EP Under 1 House in 2020, before returning with Diamond Shovel in 2024, confirming a trajectory that travels between Montreal's independent scene, club formats and dreamy electronic pop.