Imaginary Cities was a Canadian indie pop duo based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The project consisted of multi-instrumentalist Rusty Matyas, formerly of the Waking Eyes and a sometime collaborator of the Weakerthans, and vocalist Marti Sarbit.[1]
Matyas and Sarbit began collaborating in 2010. That year, they played a few live shows and began to record tracks for an album. In 2011, they continued performing, at first serving as the opening band for more established groups.[2]
Their debut album, Temporary Resident, was released in 2011 on the Hidden Pony label;[3][4] it went on to top Canada's campus radio charts.[1] That year, the band won a Western Canada Music Award for Best Pop Album of the Year[5] and was subsequently named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.[6] To support the album, they played several dates in Eastern Canada and the US[7] as an opening act for Pixies.[1]
Imaginary Cities performed at a number of pop festivals, including the 2013 NXNE,[8] and gained a following in Germany.[9] The band released their second album, Fall of Romance, in May 2013.[10][11] Fall of Romance was produced, engineered, and mixed by Howard Redekopp, who has also worked with Tegan and Sara, the New Pornographers, and Mother Mother.[12]
In 2014, they collaborated with Porter Robinson on his song "Hear the Bells". In the same year, Matyas toured with The Sheepdogs as a guitarist following the departure of Leot Hanson from that band.[13]
Imaginary Cities stopped performing and recording in 2016.[14] Sarbit launched the new band Lanikai the following year.[15] Matyas suffered from alcoholism-related liver disease in 2017[16] and spent some time recovering before reemerging in 2021 with the solo project Rusty Robot.[17]
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