By Amre Klimchak

Malajube’s ecstatic Francophone pop overcomes the language barrier that exists in the English-language loving world of independent rock. Though numerous international musicians have chosen to sing in English in an effort to reach a wider audience, this Montreal quintet ultimately decided to stay true to its French-Canadian roots when composing lyrics.
“We started Malajube in English,” explains says Mathieu Cournoyer, the band’s bassist. “But it sounded a little bit phony to sing in English.”

And the gamble paid off. Their relentlessly upbeat, anthemic pop sounds have garnered them fans around the world. Since the release of their second album, Trompe-l’Oeil, in 2006, the quintet has been on a seemingly never-ending road trip. Trompe-l’Oeil won Malajube a slew of independent music awards in Canada, and found favor with numerous critics from Pitchfork to Fader.

“When all the reviews started coming in from the States, we were surprised,” Cournoyer admits. Though they had always planned to perform extensively in Canada, their expectations were tempered with regard to reaching beyond their homeland’s borders.  But over the past two years, they’ve crisscrossed the globe, traveling through Europe, finding abundant fans in Germany, Holland and Scandinavia and journeying into Japan and Australia, spending only a few weeks at a time at home between treks.

“We’ve all been playing music since we were 13 or 14 and never dreamed we’d be touring the world… It’s kind of crazy for us to do that,” he says. “I’ve seen [my bandmates] more than my girlfriend.”

So though some may consider non-English lyrics to be a handicap to any aspiring independent rock band, Cournoyer believes that Malajube’s French focus added a certain air of exoticism to their music and drew more listeners than they would have otherwise attracted.

“I think it didn’t block anything and just kind of opened everything up,” Cournoyer says.

He attributes the success of the band and Trompe-l’Oeil to Malajube’s collaborative approach, which emphasizes the contributions of all five members: They never allow any one member to overpower the musical impulses of the rest.

“I think that’s the best way to do it if you want to stay a band,” he says, adding that if Malajube had a single member steering the songwriting, he imagines they would all soon grow bored. “There’s not even a single song on the album that one of us didn’t like,” Cournoyer adds, proudly.

But after such along period of nomadic sojourning to bring their music to thousands of fans, they’re ready to channel all of their experiences into a new album.

“When you travel you change, and we’ve all changed together,” Cournoyer says. “I can’t wait to go back into the studio and see what comes out.”

Nov. 15, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.), 212-533-2111; 7, $13/$15. (also Nov. 17 at Maxwell’s)