Alexandria Maillot makes a mess, Enforcer regret nothing, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever saddle up, Tara Kannangara gets personal and more in today’s Roundup. Over and out!
1 Sometimes you have to retreat to go forward. Just ask B.C singer-songwriter Alexandria Maillot. Or check out the video for her moody new single Messed It Up. Or just read her own explanation. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “it’s funny how you can’t see the full picture until you’re removed from it. only then are you able to internalize everything in retrospect. after pursuing music for nearly a decade in Vancouver, I was working three jobs, living paycheck-to-paycheck and had very little in terms of both time and energy to create. eventually, I faced an ultimatum: – focus on my health by moving back in with my mom on the island (leaving behind my partner, my life, my friends, and whatever progress I had made in my local music community) OR – stay in Vancouver and continue to grind (until my health inevitably gave up and I was out of options.) it was a bitter pill to swallow, but I moved into a cabin in my mom’s backyard. void of city noise, cell service and wifi, I felt like I was finally able to really work on myself. once I began to make sense of my new normal, music naturally returned to me.” Bless this mess:
2 We all have regrets. For Swedish hair farmers Enforcer, it’s their latest video. No, they’re not feeling sorry about it. Regrets is the title of the track — which is apparently an English interpretation of Terminal’s anthemic power ballad Zadnhi Izlet, just in case that means more to you than it does to me. In any case, the cut appears on their brand-new fifth studio album Zenith. Talk about a show of remorse. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vocalist / guitarist Olof Wikstrand adds, “Regrets is by far the darkest song we have ever done. A real challenge to make it fit and to make it ours but eventually I’m really happy with how it came out.” Who’s sorry now?
3 I have never really been into the rodeo. Neither are Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, based on the black-and-white video for Australian indie band’s latest twang-pop single Read My Mind. Thankfully, I don’t have to read their minds to figure that out: I can just read their words. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “We gave the song to our close friend Warwick Baker, a respected Australian photographer, to interpret visually.” Baker elaborates, “I hoped to observe and document the spectacle of the rodeo, focusing on the performers rather than the audience. Being a vegetarian I found the event confronting, but wanted to document the theater and ritual of the rodeo without glorifying or condemning it.” Giddy-up:
4 Some people make music for themselves. Others make it for the masses. But jazzy Toronto synth-popster Tara Kannangara made her new single just for you. How do I know? Because the sweet little number — the second single from her upcoming album It’s Not Mine Anymore — is called I Made This For You. Even better, she apparently made the video out of old home movies. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Artists spend countless hours refining the work, trying to make it perfect, hoping that it will be everything we want it to be, but there’s always a point where you have to let go and let it live in the real world,” says Tara. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that when we make music, it’s not just for ourselves but it’s for people to share, enjoy, criticize, and interpret. And maybe the way people interpret the music will have nothing to do with the way it was conceived, but it doesn’t matter, it’s not for me to decide.” It’s up to you:
5 Have you been waiting with bated breath to find out when Australian metal brutalists Thy Art is Murder are releasing their fifth album? Of course you have. Well, wait no longer: Their Human Target disc arrives July 26. And just to get you in the mood, here’s a suitably disturbing video for the violently aggressive title track — which is about human organ harvesting. Yay! SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Comments guitarist Andy Marsh: “Human Target was the last song written for the album as I felt we lacked an opening track to set the mood and provide the impact for what was to come. Human organ harvesting had been brought to my attention as a serious matter that wasn’t receiving much coverage (or not enough for me to hear about it) and I thought the issue required more scrutiny and awareness. To distill the metaphors of proletariat subjugation down to the visceral injustice of taking away the engines of life, seemed to be a powerful atmosphere to open the record.” There will be blood:
6 Polish extreme metal veterans Vader have unleashed a lyric video for the song Grand Deceiver from their May 31 EP titled Thy Messenger. I’m not going to spoil things by telling you exactly who the title refers to. But let’s just say it won’t make them very popular with the church ladies. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The band states: “Grand Deceiver is the perfect explanation of what you all may expect with the upcoming releases. Sharp as razor and brutal as Hell track is just an appetizer before the new Vader album to come. Sit comfortably, play it LOUD and…ENJOY!!!” Pass the plate:
7 What could be better than nine minutes of Greek progadelic jazz weirdness on a Friday afternoon? Nothing, that’s what. So without further ado I bring you the divinely inspired Satana, a freaky, epic-length musical excursion from freewheeling Athens quintet Dury Dava — and a preview of their self-titled May 10 album. Yamas. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Satana was composed over a period of more than a year, and evolved together with the band itself. The idea originated from a desire to compose a song with a septuple measure – at times polyrhythmic – and incorporating into it a drum solo, ample with improvisatory space. Melodic references allude to a re-harmonized Gymnopedie No.1, softening an otherwise episodic musical escapade.” Well, sure, that’s obvious:
8 Soccer gets The Racing Pulses’ pulses racing. So much so that the Madison indie-rock trio have penned and released a punchy new song called Go Forward to celebrate their hometown’s new professional soccer team, the Forward Madison FC. Sounds like somebody’s angling for free tickets. Or at least some free plugs on the PA system. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I grew up watching Manchester United because there was no team around me I really identified with. As soon as I heard about Forward Madison FC, I wanted to write a song. This club has a great philosophy and brand, already working hard to involve, excite, and enrich the community. This is why we collaborated with talent based in the city, too,” the band’s frontman, Kristian Iliev, said.” Have a ball:
9 There’s something special about your love. Just ask Bijou. The Phoenix dance-music producer wants it all the time. In fact, he wants to be with you so bad he’s written a new future-house cut called Your Love, featuring supple vocals laid over rich keyboards. Why? Because you’re worth it. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Your Love is another song that holds something special in my heart,” states Bijou. “I made this one in the same three day span as Memories last summer & have been dying to finally show it to the world. This Friday it drops and closes the chapter on who I used to be and opens up a new one to where I’m going.” Share the love:
10 You know what they say about appearances. It’s certainly true in the case of Hard Conversation, the single from Norwegian outfit Class Photo, the solo project of STRFKR’s Patrick Morris. Although the song is a slice of upbeat, sweetly melodic indie-pop laced with jangly guitars, handclaps and harmonies, the lyrics deal with the death of Morris’s mother. Yikes. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “After my mother died, I would phone my aunt, who was my mom’s identical twin sister,” explains Morris. “Since their voices were almost interchangeable, I felt like I was talking with my mom. These conversations with my aunt inspired the lyrics of this song. Hard Conversation is about confrontations that need to happen, but keep being postponed because they stir up big feelings.” You have been warned:
