Patrick Watson | |
|---|---|
 Watson at theWinnipeg Folk Festival in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1979-10-07)October 7, 1979 (age 46) |
| Origin | Montreal,Quebec, Canada |
| Instruments | Vocals,piano,guitar,organ,accordion |
| Labels | Secret City Records |
| Website | Official website |
Patrick Watson (born October 8, 1979) is a Canadian singer-songwriter fromMontreal,Quebec, who has formed a band also named Patrick Watson, whose blend ofcabaretpop andclassical music influences withindie rock has been compared toRufus Wainwright,[1]Andrew Bird,Nick Drake,Jeff Buckley andPink Floyd for its experimental musicianship. Patrick Watson's albumClose to Paradise was awarded thePolaris Music Prize in 2007.
His 2010 song "Je te laisserai des mots" (lit. 'I will leave you some words')[2] has amassed more than 1 billion streams onSpotify, the first French-language song to do so.[3][4][5]
Born to Canadian parents and raised inHudson, Quebec, Watson attendedLower Canada College. While living in Hudson, Watson worked as a pool and hot tub water analyst at Piscines et Spas Hudson. He studied music atVanier College in Montreal.
Watson co-wrote and performed on several songs onthe Cinematic Orchestra's 2007 albumMa Fleur including the opening track, "To Build a Home". His "Missing Home" remix ofChampion's "Guy Doune", from Champion's 2006 albumThe Remix Album, reached Number 1 onCBC Radio 3'sR3-30 chart in early 2007.
Watson has toured with several artists, includingJohn Cale, the Cinematic Orchestra,Cold War Kids,Amon Tobin,the Dears,Feist andJames Brown.[1] He was Starbucks "Pick of the week" free download in September 2009 and again in June 2015.
Patrick Watson (band) | |
|---|---|
 Patrick Watson at the 2007Polaris Music Prize gala. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Montreal,Quebec,Canada |
| Labels | Secret City |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
| Website | www |
After creating music and releasing albums in various styles, Watson formed a group with guitarist Simon Angell, percussionist Robbie Kuster, and bassist Mishka Stein. The band has performed with artists like James Brown, the Dears,Philip Glass andthe Stills.
In an interview, Watson said regarding his band:
So we as a band are called Patrick Watson. How it started was that originally, some years ago, we were asked to do some music to accompany a book of photography. Having built a CD to go with all these images we thought it would be fun to do it live and it worked really well and people freaked. We didn't really think we were gonna be a band at that point but over a period of five or six years we got to a point where it became very difficult to change the name. It was difficult to find a name that suited us especially as we had such an eclectic music style. The second album was a kind of middle point, and now here we are at this third album which is much more song orientated.[6]
The band received a nomination forNew Artist of the Year at the2007 Juno Awards.[7] In the same year, Watson andCaroline Dhavernas received aGenie Award nomination forBest Original Song at the27th Genie Awards in 2007, for the song "Trace-moi" from the filmThe Beautiful Beast (La Belle bête).[8]
On July 10, 2007,Close to Paradise made the shortlist for the2007 Polaris Music Prize.[9][10][11] It was announced as the winning album on September 24. Their 2009 albumWooden Arms was a finalist for the2009 prize.
The band is well known for using unusual objects to make sounds in their music; for example, Watson "played" a bicycle in the studio for the song "Beijing".[12] and percussionist Robbie Kuster used two spoons to create a tremolo picking effect on an acoustic guitar in the opening of "Man Like You".
After several years of touring internationally—including shows in regions as distant as Beijing withSplit Works in 2010[13]—the group returned to Montreal in 2011 to record their fourth studio album,Adventures in Your Own Backyard, which was released internationally in April 2012. The album marks a subtle shift in the band's style to a simpler and less experimental sound, described by one critic as "a dreamy bath of chamber-pop and fancy cabaret, less clacky without the kitchen-utensil or bike-wheel percussion ofWooden Arms and slightly more grounded thanClose to Paradise".[14] Prior to the album's release, the band performed atSouth by Southwest inAustin, Texas,[15] where they were named byRolling Stone magazine as one of the 25 "can't-miss acts" of the festival.[16] The band toured in support of the new album from April to July 2012.
In September 2013, Watson created a T-shirt for theYellow Bird Project to raise money for Cape Farewell, an organization which aims to instigate cultural awareness of climate change.[17]
Love Songs for Robots, the band's fifth studio album, was released on May 12, 2015.
Wave, the band's sixth album, was released on October 18, 2019. This album marked a departure of the band's longtime percussionist Robbie Kuster. Kuster, along with bassist Mishka Stein, created a new musical act, Black Legary.[18] They also are part of another new act, Colonel Sun.[19][20]
Watson announced a new album,Uh Oh, a collaborative album that features artists likeCharlotte Cardin,Ariel Engle,Martha Wainwright,Klô Pelgag and others. The album was released on September 26, 2025.[21] It was aJuno Award nominee forAdult Alternative Album of the Year at theJuno Awards of 2026.[22]
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The song "The Great Escape" was featured on episode 16 of the third season ofGrey's Anatomy, which aired on February 15, 2007; on aTropicana Canada commercial; in the movieOne Week starringJoshua Jackson; in the 2010 movieThe High Cost of Living; in the season 2 finale ofWorld of Jenks; and in the 2008 movieMommy Is at the Hairdresser's (Maman est chez le coiffeur).[23] The song was also used for the finale of the television showReGenesis. Also, the song "Noisy Sunday" was featured on the season 3 premiere of the TV showThe Walking Dead. The song was also featured on the 2012 indie movieStruck by Lightning. The songs "Big Bird in a Small Cage", "Into Giants", "Blackwind" and "Lighthouse" were featured in the 2013 filmThe F Word. The song "Good Morning Mr. Wolf" was featured on season 3 episode 10 ofRay Donovan in 2015.
In 2008, Watson composed the soundtrack for theFrench-Canadian filmIt's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!). The soundtrack features collaborations byElie Dupuis and the star of the movie, who was 12 years old at the time.
The song "Lighthouse" from the albumAdventures in Your Own Backyard was featured in the TV showsAmerican Idol,Haven,The Blacklist andThe Disappearance in addition to the filmYves Saint Laurent.
The song "Words in the Fire" was sampled in the 2012 hit single of the Nigerian hip hop artist MI ABAGA, titled "Ashes" in memory of four students who were killed in an unprovoked attack that same year.
The song "that home" appeared in episode five of season two of the American seriesSuits.
The song "Lighthouse" is featured in an Ikea advert in the UK.
"To Build a Home" was featured in the 2016 video gameSteep.
In 2017, the song "To Build a Home" was featured in the season 5 finale of the hit Netflix original seriesOrange Is the New Black.
On 1 January 2018, the song "Love Songs for Robots" featured in season 3 episode 4 of the Netflix drama seriesLovesick.
The song "To Build a Home" was also featured in the end of the January 23, 2018 episode ofThis Is Us, at the end of the episode.
In 2020, the song "Here Comes the River" was used at the end of episode 6 ofThe Walking Dead: World Beyond.
Studio albums
Film scores
Singles
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