“Definitely picked up the pace” – An Interview with Prism Shores
Quickly building on the acclaim of last year’s breakthrough album Out From Underneath, Montreal’s Prism Shores are back with another fantastic collection of songs. New album Softest Attack, released on Meritorio Records and Having Fun Records (Canada), was recorded at Studio St. Zo and was produced and engineered by Scott “Monty” Munro (Preoccupations, Ribbon Skirt, Knitting).
The record continues the band’s love of jangle-pop and shoegaze but with some added power-pop riffs to round out the sound. Album opener and lead single ‘Kid Gloves’ exemplifies this approach while my favorite track ‘I Didn’t Mean To Change My Mind’ would comfortably fit on one of Teenage Fanclub’s classic early 90’s records. Album closer ‘Twist The Knife’ is a bit of a wildcard compared to the rest of the tracks with its drumless strummings building to a mass of feedback. It’s a great ending to a fabulous record that will undoubtedly enhance the band’s reputation further.
Prism Shores are Jack MacKenzie (guitar, bass, vocals), Ben Goss (guitar, bass, vocals), Luke Pound (drums, guitar, vocals), and Finn Dalbeth (guitar, vocals). I first discovered them at last year’s New Colossus Festival when they played an amazing set late on a Friday night at Baker Falls and immediately sought out their album (which was one of out favorites of 2025). We were thrilled that they came back to the festival in 2026 and played at our showcase.
We caught up with Jack as the band got ready to release their new album.
Hi Jack! How’s everything going right now?
Pretty good! Starting to feel marginally more spring-like in Montreal.
What classic album cover art is your current mood?
Feeling all over the place today, so it’s gotta be something awful. Black Flag – What The… comes to mind.
Congratulations on your fabulous new LP “Softest Attack” – where and when did you write and record it?
We wrote it from fall 2024 – summer 2025 and recorded as we went along. All the tracking was done at our producer Monty’s studio in Rosemont, which was sadly claimed by a fire earlier this year. Really awesome spot that’ll be sorely missed.
It’s a pretty quick follow-up to last years wonderful “Out From Underneath”. Did you deliberately want to capitalize on the great response to the record or did you just have a lot of songs you wanted to get out?
There was a fairly long gestation period between finishing OFU and its release, mostly just due to vinyl logistics and slotting in a release date at the label. We ended up with a few new songs in the interim and reached out to Monty about booking some studio time. I think our first day of tracking Softest Attack was cancelled to shoot the “Holding Pattern” video, actually. So it all kind of overlapped. Definitely picked up the pace after the last record got some attention, though.
If you could only listen to one record, what would it be?
Gotta pick a double album for some variety. Maybe Zen Arcade.
Great choice – love Hüsker Dü! The C86 era is clearly a big influence. Who were your favorite artists when you were growing up?
Ben, Luke, and I started playing music together when we were quite young. At the time I think we bonded over some indie heavyweights — New Order, Guided By Voices, Pavement, Galaxie 500, The Smiths, etc. Certainly a gateway into all the stuff we got into later.
You formed in Charlottetown, PEI but are now based in Montreal. How did the move affect the band and your sound?
The (relatively) low cost of living and ever-thriving scene in Montreal allowed us to take playing in a band and making records a little more seriously, perhaps. Charlottetown is a great music town too, though. Sound-wise it hasn’t changed us much, besides adding our beloved Finn on guitar. He’s a Kiwi, so that’s where we get the Flying Nun factor.
Thanks for playing our 1st ever showcase at this year’s New Colossus Festival which you obviously enjoy as you also played in 2025. What makes it so special?
Since they focus on international artists, it’s a great excuse for us to come up and play some gigs in North America’s other top city. The New Colossus guys are big supporters of our band, and it’s a blast bumming around the Lower East Side with friends new and old. Plus you get to stay at world-class accommodations like the Manhattan Bowery Lodge and sink some quality pints at McSorleys.
You have a couple of album release shows this month in Montreal and Toronto – any other touring plans or festivals on the horizon?
Talking about it! Been asked about a festival or two for sure. Busy/transitional few months coming up for everyone, but I’m sure we’ll swing some gigs. We’d all love to get over to the EU/UK at some point.
What would go on your signature pizza and what would it be called?
Honestly, Quebec “all-dressed” pizza already has my ideal toppings. No need to reinvent the wheel.
What else do you have on the horizon for 2026 (and beyond) that we should know about?
New songs, I’m sure. Lots of voice memos in the group chat at the moment. Ben just showed us a new idea at practice the other day too. Would be sweet to get back in the studio soon.
Prism Shores are playing two LP release shows this month. On April 24th they play at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal and then they will be at Dina’s Tavern in Toronto the following day. Get tickets for these shows by visiting this link.
Make sure to visit the Prism Shore’s Bandcamp page so you can grab yourself a vinyl copy of Softest Attack. Follow the band on Instagram to get all the latest news on new music and concert dates.
Feature Image Credit – Allie Brown
