Watch Gord Downie Craft Final LP in Poignant New Video

A new behind-the-scenes video offers a poignant look at the studio sessions that produced Gord Downie‘s forthcoming posthumous record, Introduce Yerself. The frontman of the beloved Canadian rock outfit the Tragically Hip died October 18th after a two-year battle with brain cancer.

Introduce Yerself is a 23-track double album that was recorded over two four-day studio sessions in January 2016 and February 2017. Downie wrote and produced the record with his friend, Kevin Drew, of Broken Social Scene, and the majority of the tracks were cut in one take.

The clip documents the creation of Introduce Yerself closer, “The North,” and features remarkable footage and audio of Downie’s raw, solemn vocal takes. Downie also talks about how the album came together, saying, “A lot of these, I wrote the words in advance, like poems. I’d get one or two a day and then I’d have to stop. Because that’s about all… the soul or whatever, would give up.”

Of the music itself, Downie added: “Kev gave me about half the songs, I wrote half the songs, and he’d send me through stuff like a piece of music on his piano… And then 20 minutes later I’d send him back the thing. It was really more just a celebration of our friendship.”

Introduce Yerself will be released tomorrow, October 27th, via Arts and Crafts. The record follows Downie’s 2016 solo project, Secret Path, as well as the Tragically Hip’s final album, Man Machine Poem, which also arrived that year.