Chastity party, Pup tent, Lee Harvey Osmond colours, San Fermin hunger and more in today’s Roundup. Welcome to the Pleasuredome.
1 Canada Day is just around the corner. But make no mistake: Before you know it, Halloween will be here. Heck, it’s already arrived in Chastity’s video for Sun Poisoning, the crunchy and melodic first single from the Ontario indie-rockers’ Sept. 13 album Home Made Satan. Personally, I’m good with a store-bought Satan. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Frontman Brandon Williams shares how the song came together: “I wrote a song called Sun Poisoning in 2013, and Kacey Musgraves provoked inspiration in me to bring this back, her lyric “happy and sad at the same time”. A classic songwriter trope, melancholy, but in my adaptation I wanted to express the feeling of trying to smile when you know your teeth are bleeding. Do you want to see how easily my teeth bleed?” Um, no thanks:
2 For the life of me, I sincerely don’t understand why anyone in their right mind goes camping. Sleeping in a tent on the ground, going to the bathroom in the woods, watching out for wild animals, having to start a goddamn fire every time you want a cup of coffee — that’s why man came up with houses, electricity, plumbing and other conveniences. For more proof that camping is a bad idea, check out Pup’s new video for Sibling Rivalry, which tells the story of lead singer Stefan Babcock’s camping adventure with his sister which goes horribly, terribly wrong. Serves him right, if you ask me. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “My sister and I go on pretty wild camping trips every year. Each year they get crazier and crazier, because we’re constantly trying to out-dumb one another. This song is about a couple of those trips. In order to tell some of these very stupid stories, I’ve started drawing really shitty comics. I draw like a 5 year old, but I love doing it. There’s something liberating about diving headfirst into something you know is going to turn out like absolute trash.” Dude, just stay home:
3 Lee Harvey Osmond’s Mohawk album is a gift that keeps on giving. The singer-songwriter and sometime Rodeo King also known as Tom Wilson has already shared several singles and videos from the the disc, which finds him embracing and exploring his recently unearthed Indigenous heritage. Here’s the latest offering: The surreal video for the lazy Tom Waitsian blues of Colours. Warning: It’s slightly NSFW. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Under the steady hand of producer Michael Timmins, Lee Harvey Osmond revives the origins of ‘Acid Folk’ with appearances from old friends Ray Farrugia (percussion), Aaron Goldstein (steel guitar), Jesse O’Brien (keyboards) and introduces Anna Reddick (bass).” Let’s not forget the Masked Pole Dancer and Mr. Clockface:
4 Some music videos are pretty self-explanatory. The clip for San Fermin’s The Hunger isn’t one of those videos. But based on the statement from bandleader Ellis Ludwig-Leone, the quietly intense track and its oddball vid — which features a woman at a dining table festooned with food and wine, along with a rat — are all about modern dating. Of course, that just leads me to believe he’s been on some really weird dates. But I guess that’s self-explanatory. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “With the video,” Ludwig-Leone adds, “I wanted to illustrate the euphoria that happens when she finally stops caring about what the other person thinks. All the accumulated wine glasses and detritus from past failures gets destroyed and she just lets go and dances.” Table for one?
5 Pram are clearly the sort of band that do things in their own time. The British pop oddballs took 11 years to get around to making their Across the Meridian album, which came out back in October. Given that, it’s no surprise that it’s taken them another eight months or so to release the video for the song Shadow in Twilight, a slightly creepy, lightly angular number that kind of sounds like The Residents with wistful female singer. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The video premiered at this year’s Flatpack Film Festival and features choreography from the professional dance troop, Danzia, whose faceless human figures align with the stars in an emotive piece of performing art that visually reflects the bitter feeling of loneliness.” If you say so:
6 Many people fear change. I tend to view it as opportunity for advancement and growth. Perhaps the experimental singer-songwriter who calls himself serpentwithfeet also feels this way — based on the inspiration behind his beautifully smeary, stripped-down new single Receipts, which features an assist from Ty Dolla $ign. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I began writing Receipts when I first moved to Los Angeles last summer,” says serpentwithfeet. “I was and still am mystified by the city – the mountains, the men, the hummingbirds. I played an early demo for Ty Dolla $ign and he asked to join me on the track. This song carries a lot of weight for me because it’s a snapshot of two brothers rhapsodizing about unforeseen romance. Ty is a huge part of my L.A. story so Receipts feels like a perfect document.” If not, it’s pretty damn close:
7 The dog days of summer are almost upon us. That would seem to be a good time for Nashville duo Smooth Hound Smith – married singer-songwiters Zack Smith and Caitlin Doyle-Smith – to release their third album Dog In A Manger. Lest you bark up the wrong tree, the Aug. 9 release is apparently not some canine-themed offering: It’s a reflective examination of life, love, happiness and mortality. All of which comes across in the mellow folk-pop title cut. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Dog is probably my favorite piece of music overall on this new record,” says Zack. “The title comes from a Greek fable and is now used as an idiom to speak of one who, out of spite, prevents others from succeeding or finding happiness. It’s an attempt to unpack a lot of my personal baggage in regards to entering a new period in my life: the idea of getting married and staying committed for a lifetime, and the personal changes and sacrifices I’m required to make.” Sit and stay:
8 The word Mango makes me think of two things: 1) The juicy tropical stone fruit, and 2) The equally juicy exotic dancer Chris Kattan played on SNL. Now I can add a third entry to that list: The dreamy track Mango from French electronic musician Monomotion — aka Erol Engintalay — as a preview his July 26 EP Fujisan. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Mango lusciously unfolds into tick-tock techno. It’s “the result of one of those magic moments we share in the studio with Yoann,” says Engintalay. “I’m really thankful that these are still happening after ten years of collaboration.” Oh, Mango!
