Winnipeg-based dreampop band Mise en Scene recently came out with their fifth LP, Drive-Thru Confessional. It features ten laid-back and retrospective songs, most of which were also promoted through a double-track single and two EPs. The two well-experienced musicians, vocalist Stefanie Blondal Johnson and drummer Jodi Dunlop, have been releasing music together since the early 2010s.

The record marks a turning point in Mise en Scene’s style, as the focus of their writing shifts. The music is played noticeably calmer in order to centre Johnson’s storytelling. The latest lyrical content features much more vividly detailed scenes from Johnson’s life as she recounts stories with new perspectives gained with time and reflection.

“It’s funny how the more specific you get in songwriting, [the broader] you can become,” she described. “It’s amazing what some people will take from some of the songs.”

The closing track, “Remember This Feeling,” is especially emblematic of the album’s theme. The lyrics reflect on the importance of one’s previous experiences and resulting emotions in shaping who they become.

“This record is meant to be […] remembering growing up, and thinking about who I thought I was back then, and what I thought was important back then, and what is and what is not important now. And old lovers, old people I’ve met and had these encounters with,” Johnson explained.

The title Drive-Thru Confessional came to the band shortly after COVID-19 lockdowns were eased. Johnson noticed a sign on a Main Street church advertising their cautious adaptions. The album was nearly self-titled, but the strange juxtaposition of fast food with the intimacy of confessing a secret stuck with her. The photo for the album cover was taken at Junior’s Restaurant on McPhillips Street.

Co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Micah Erenberg, known professionally as The Secret Beach, also contributed to the compositions. He added lead guitar and other harmonies onto Johnson and Dunlop’s arrangements. Johnson produced her own vocals for the album as well. The band was thankful to have the independent creative control that came with co-production, compared to the management they had experienced with previous producers.

In the time since Mise en Scene’s last album, Johnson spent time as a representative of the Keychange program, where she helped women and non-binary musicians learn how to pave their way in the music industry.

Johnson also looks back on the last decade and a half of her career with a distaste for the growing influence of social media on the music industry. She is concerned by many record labels’ and booking agents’ prioritization of a musician’s online presence over their music when considering which acts to take on, and the pressure put on musicians to work as influencers.

“[Mise en Scene has] accomplished so much, and we’re so proud of our careers. And I’m so happy we were doing things when we did,” Johnson elaborated. “Because now the focus of the social media presence [is] a full-time job.”

Drive-Thru Confessional is to be accompanied by an official album release performance at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club on April 18.