Blue Hawaii

Part of Montreal's fertile electronic pop scene in the 2010s, Blue Hawaii is the work of Raphaelle Standell-Preston (also of the dream pop band Braids) and Agor (aka Alexander Cowan). The pair began working together in early 2010 and, inspired by their travels in Central America, released the Blooming Summer EP on Arbutus later that year. Though issues like the success of Braids' Native Speaker and Cowan's stint in Europe meant that the duo couldn't work on their music together in person as much as before, they continued writing songs individually and then recorded them in studios across Canada. The result was the sleek, chilly Untogether, which Arbutus issued in February 2013. ~ Heather Phares