Mother Mother

Canada's Mother Mother achieved widespread domestic recognition during the first years of the 2010s through their harmonized indie pop/rock, which blended an alternative bite, sharp humor, and refined jazz influences. After accumulating independent momentum, the five-piece act secured a Top Ten Canadian album ranking with the widely praised EUREKA in 2011. Transitioning to a major label, they matched their expanding ambition with commercial gains, as evidenced by Very Good Bad Thing reaching the national Top Five in 2014. The group's lively eighth full-length, Inside, landed in 2021 and featured the Canadian single "I Got Love" that peaked at number two. They later channeled their anthemic alt-pop approach into the seasonal offering "Cry Christmas" in 2022, then unveiled the propulsive, 1970s-inspired rocker "Normalize," drawn from Grief Chapter in 2024.

Ryan Guldemond, raised on Quadra Island in British Columbia, composed material while pursuing jazz-guitar studies at a Vancouver college. Sensing the material required vocal layering, he recruited his sister Molly Guldemond; she then brought in her acquaintance Debra-Jean Creelman, establishing the trio's signature three-part harmonies. Performing at first simply as Mother, they issued a self-produced debut that included bassist Jeremy Page and drummer Kenton Loewen in the rhythm section. Though initial sales were modest, the record attracted favorable notices and opened doors to prominent engagements such as the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and Pop Montreal, plus support slots with the Wailin' Jennys, the Dears, and the Cat Empire.

Impressed by the ensemble's live reputation and critical reception, Last Gang Records offered a contract. To sidestep potential legal conflicts and sharpen their identity, the musicians adopted the name Mother Mother. In February 2007 they issued a remixed, expanded edition of the debut retitled Touch Up, which achieved stronger marketplace results and another round of positive coverage. Shortly afterward, Ali Siadat took over drums from Loewen and appeared on the follow-up O My Heart, released in September 2008 and introducing the singles "O My Heart," "Body of Years," and "Hayloft." Creelman departed later that year, and Jasmin Parkin soon joined on keyboards.

EUREKA propelled the band to national breakthrough in 2011, entering the Billboard Canadian Album Top Ten and supplying the hit "The Stand"; the track "Bright Idea" was also licensed for a major food-brand advertising campaign. Their conceptually driven fourth album, The Sticks, followed in 2012 and climbed to number 11 on the Canadian chart. Continued upward trajectory secured a Universal Music Canada agreement, leading to the denser, technology-focused synth-rock palette of Very Good Bad Thing, which peaked at number four domestically and earned a 2015 Juno Award nomination for Group of the Year. A U.S. edition appeared that spring via Def Jam.

Mother Mother delivered the single "The Drugs" in November 2016, one of several No Culture tracks that alluded to Ryan Guldemond's recent sobriety; the album arrived months later, scored another chart placement, and was promoted with an extensive Canadian tour. Their sixth LP, the introspective Dance and Cry, emerged in late 2018. After moving to Warner Records, the band released the energetic Inside in mid-2021, again produced by Howard Redekopp, who had helmed their initial two efforts. A deluxe reissue containing seven additional tracks surfaced in 2022.

Two independent singles appeared next: the holiday-themed "Cry Christmas" in 2022 and "Normalize" in 2023, the latter co-produced by Guldemond and Jason "JVP" Van Poederooyen. That song served as the lead track from the ninth studio album, which was preceded by further singles including "To My Heart," "The Matrix," and "Nobody Escapes" before Grief Chapter arrived in February 2024.