{"product_id":"two_places","title":"Two Places","description":"\u003cp\u003eCode 18’s Two Places is the Québec progressive-rock project’s second album, released April 23, 2026, following its 2020 debut Human Error!. Across eight tracks and approximately 68 minutes, keyboardist and composer Johnny Maz joins guitarist JF Rémillard and vocalist Benoit Plamondon, with guest contributions from drummer Martin Plante and bassist Bobby St-Louis. Symphonic keyboards provide the foundation, but the arrangements move through art rock, jazz, electronic soundscapes, and heavier passages rather than remaining within a single progressive-rock style. Its central idea is transition: moving from one place to another becomes a framework for exploring difficult experiences, emotional conflict, and the distance between inner and outer worlds. Extended instrumental exchanges give those tensions room to develop, with layered synthesizers and contrasting guitar textures carrying much of the narrative. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Prelude,” featuring guest singer Sylvain Descôteaux, introduces the record before “Polyrhythm” translates Maz’s memories of teenage conflict with his sister into a more threatening musical setting. “The Old House” develops through atmospheric, menacing passages in a composition shared by Maz and Plamondon, while “Alors Je Cherche” deliberately invokes Peter Gunn, James Bond, and film noir, pairing that cinematic character with French spoken vocals. The later sequence includes the nearly 11-minute “The Lovers, the Incompetent and the Asshole,” the shorter “Moving in a Peach Nightmare,” and the 14-minute “A New Soul,” before “Justice?” closes the album on another extended structure. That breadth is both its attraction and its potential obstacle: listeners drawn to elaborate keyboard writing and stylistic changes will find plenty to explore, although the occasionally strained vocals and lengthy synthesizer passages can make the journey feel less focused.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Record Store","offers":[{"title":"CD \/ Album","offer_id":67924559954234,"sku":"40197","price":18.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/2041\/0682\/files\/Screenshot_2026-11-13_at_2.21.45_PM.jpg?v=1794597891","url":"https:\/\/recordstore.ca\/products\/two_places","provider":"Record Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}