Playing amiable indie pop/rock with an alternative edge, biting wit, and a jazzy sense of sophistication, Canada's
Mother Mother rose to national prominence in the early 2010s bolstered by the enigmatic presence of siblings
Ryan (vocals, guitar) and
Molly Guldemond (vocals, keyboards). The quintet rode a series of indie successes to a Top Ten chart placement with their acclaimed 2011 album,
EUREKA. Moving to major-label status, the band's increasingly bold sound paralleled their rising success on albums like 2014's
Very Good Bad Thing, which reached Canada's Top Five. Their spirited eighth studio album,
Inside, arrived in 2021.
Ryan Guldemond had been writing songs and wanted to start playing them at local clubs. Feeling the tunes needed harmonies, he asked his sister
Molly Guldemond to join him.
Guldemond invited her friend Debra-Jean Creelman to add her voice to the mix, and the group's three-part harmonies were soon wowing audiences. In late 2005,
Mother Mother recorded and released a self-titled and self-released CD with bassist Jeremy Page and drummer
Kenton Loewen aboard as the group's new rhythm section. The album sold poorly but earned enthusiastic reviews, and helped the band score some high-profile gigs, including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Pop Montreal Festival, and spots opening for
the Wailin' Jennys,
the Dears, and
the Cat Empire.
Mother Mother's solid live shows and positive press earned the attention of the Canadian label Last Gang Records, which signed the band to a deal and made plans to re-release their debut album.
Given a new mix, some additional overdubs, and two more songs, the album was renamed
Touch Up and fared much better commercially the second time around, as well as generating another batch of enthusiastic reviews upon its release in early 2007. The band underwent some lineup changes: Ali Siadat replaced
Loewen on drums for 2008's
O My Heart, and later that year Creelman left, with Jasmin Parkin joining on keyboards soon after. With 2011's
EUREKA,
Mother Mother broke through commercially, hitting the Billboard Canadian Album Top Ten and yielding the hit single "The Stand." They even landed a series of television commercials for a major food brand with their single "Bright Idea." The band's conceptual fourth album, 2012's
The Sticks, also fared well, this time reaching number 11 on the Canadian charts. Their growing success led to a deal with Universal Music Canada, and the heavier, technology-themed synth rock sound of 2014's
Very Good Bad Thing hit number four in Canada and earned the band a nomination for Group of the Year at the 2015 Juno Awards. A U.S. release followed that spring on
Def Jam.
In November 2016,
Mother Mother issued the single "The Drugs," one of several tracks on their sixth album,
No Culture, that referenced
Ryan Guldemond's newfound sobriety. Released a few months later, the album was another chart success, and the band supported it with a lengthy national tour. Their sixth album, the emotional
Dance and Cry, followed in late 2018.
After signing with Warner Records,
Mother Mother released their energetic debut for the label,
Inside, in mid-2021. It was produced by
Howard Redekopp, who had produced the band's first two albums. A deluxe version of
Inside, containing seven new songs, appeared in 2022. ~ Mark Deming & Marcy Donelson