Airbourne shake it up, Tami Neilson gets on board, New Pornographers fall in love, Patrick Watson dreams on, Enforcer sail on and more in today’s Roundup. And now, it’s time to review a dozen albums while the rest of North America sleeps. See you on the other side.
1 Trust Airbourne to keep it simple. The Australian rockers’ new video for the title track from their Oct. 25 album Boneshaker is an old-school, no-frills live video, shot during the band’s mainstage performance at this year’s Wacken festival in Germany, and at Skogsrojet in Sweden. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “We didn’t wanna fuck around with storylines or any of that shit,” says Airbourne frontman Joel O’Keeffe, “plus we fuckin’ love Wacken. This year was our fourth time playing there and it marked their 30th anniversary. We debuted our new single Boneshaker in front of 90,000 people… here it is on film, crank it up and rock out to the max!”
2 Canadian-born, New Zealand-based dynamo Tami Neilson shares her new single Hey, Bus Driver, an early preview of her album Chickaboom! But don’t get too excited; it won’t be around until Valentine’s Day. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tami explains, “I wanted to write an album of punchy little songs, popping firecrackers that, when stripped back to nothing but a guitar, percussion and two voices, would still go boom!” The new collection brings much personal and family history to the table.”
3 The New Pornographers debuted the new video for Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile, the first single taken from their Sept. 27 release In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Frontman and songwriter A.C. Newman says, “There are so many songs like ‘the something of love’—you know, there’s The Book of Love, The Freeway of Love … Then I thought of ‘falling down the stairs of your love,’ and I thought, that kind of works. I think it has that element of how do you deal with the ideas of love and happiness in this world right now? When current events are stressful, that makes a stress on people’s relationships, and you’re trying to figure out how to be happy in this loving relationship in this world that seems ugly at every turn, which is not as easy as it seems. Of course, ‘love’ ultimately morphed into ‘smile,’ but I like the metaphor of love as something that you fall down.”
4 Canadian singer-songwriter Patrick Watson confirmed that his sixth studio album Wave will arrives Oct. 18. Alongside the album announcement, he also dropped the video for opening track Dream for Dreaming. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “When you come home and your house doesn’t look like the one you left and the strange feeling of being so far from what you had in mind that your skin doesn’t fit anymore. And you’re in the state of disbelief with a strange smile wondering what am I to do now.”
5 Swedish metallers Enforcer released the video for Sail On, a track from their latest studio album Zenith, which came out back in April. If you want more, they’re heading out on a tour that includes a ton of Canadian dates. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Guitarist/vocalist Olof Wikstrand states, “Super excited to release this fourth music video off of Zenith. Takes you back to the recording sessions of the album. Also we are super excited to kick off the North American tour this week. See you out there!”
6 Seattle indie crew Chastity Belt return with their self-titled album on Sept. 20. But first, here’s Drown, the third and final pre-release single. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The lush new track — appropriately enough for a record that sounds like the culmination of years of friendship and collaboration — has roots in the band’s early years. Singer/guitarist Julia Shapiro says “I started writing Drown back when I was 23… so almost six years ago. It came together with the band a few years later. It feels good to finally put it out into the world! Everyone’s parts on it are really intricate and thoughtful and overall add to the moodiness of the song.”
7 Frankie Cosmos’ fourth studio album, Close It Quietly, arrives Friday. Get ahead of the curve with the video for 41st, which features tour footage from the band’s Spring 2019 European tour with close friends, Ian Sweet. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “This album is a manifestation of the band’s collaborative spirit: Greta Kline and longtime bandmates Lauren Martin (synth), Luke Pyenson (drums), and Alex Bailey (bass) luxuriated in studio time with Gabe Wax, who engineered and co-produced the record with the band at Brooklyn’s Figure 8 Studios.”
8 Montreal singer-songwriter Paul Kasner — who records under the handle Venus Furs — is gearing up to release his self-produced debut album in 2020. Here’s an early preview: The latest single Guards in the Garden. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Inspired by ’60s and ’90s Britrock, as well as Motown, the lyrics to Guards in the Garden unfolded through stream-of-consciousness writing and took inspiration from windy late night drives and decaying urban infrastructure.”
9 Battle Lines [Remixed] is, as you might expect, a remix disc based around Battle Lines, Canadian pop duo Bob Moses’ 2018 studio album. It includes a brand new remix of Listen To Me by Australian producer Cassian — illustrated here with a visualizer video. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Battle Lines spawned the hit single Back Down, led to a performance on Ellen, was named one of Billboard’s Best Electronic Albums of 2018 and culminated in a sold-out show at the Palladium in their adopted hometown of Los Angeles.”
10 North Mississippi Allstars will be Up and Rolling with their latest album Oct. 4. The 12-song set was produced by Luther and Cody Dickinson and recorded at The Zebra Ranch, their family studio. The album features cameos by Mavis Staples, Cedric Burnside, Sharde Thomas, Jason Isbell and Duane Betts, with the latter two guesting on the latest single Mean Old World. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Luther says, “Our father recorded Mean Old World with Duane Allman and Eric Clapton during the Layla sessions. Jason invited me to record an acoustic, slide guitar duo version. Cody came up with the new arrangement and wanted to record an electric version with Jason and Duane Betts, using Mean Old World as a vehicle to lay down an epic statement about modern-day roots rock guitar.”
11 English rock vets Editors will put out the best-of anthology Black Gold on Oct. 25, compiling 13 tracks from their six studio albums, alongside three brand new offerings, including the gothically dramatic title track, which you can hear below. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Conversations about a best of… had been going on for the past three or four years, but it never felt like the right moment,” admits frontman Tom Smith. “We were always cracking on with a new album.” But singer/guitarist/pianist Smith, Russell Leetch (bass, synths) and Ed Lay (drums, percussion) had made three albums with original guitarist Chris Urbanowicz, and three with newer members Justin Lockey (guitar) and Elliott Williams (guitars, keyboards), “so it felt like a good time to do it.”
12 B.C. indie outfit Dead Soft present the new song I Believe You, the first single from their upcoming debut album Big Blue. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “At turns sonically bruising and lyrically vulnerable, I Believe You serves as a sort of thesis statement for one of the more forcefully cathartic guitar albums in recent memory. Written while the band’s primary songwriters, Nathaniel Epp and Keeley Rochon, were in the midst of removing themselves from a financially and psychologically unsustainable existence in one of North America’s least affordable cities, the track channels the energy of the band’s geographical predecessors like Dinosaur Jr, Mudhoney and The Melvins in a way that expresses a different kind of generational malaise than their forebearers, but manages to sound a surprisingly hopeful note.”
13 Singer-songwriter Tamino will release a new deluxe version of his debut album Amir which came out last October. Seems a bit soon to me, but what do I know? Anyway, this version will feature two leftover recordings, including the track Crocodile, which he just shared. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Over the course of Amir, Tamino captures a range of emotions from romance to desolation, and almost everything in between. It’s mood music, painted in a number of different shades. This deluxe release will act as a timely reminder of what makes Tamino such a special young artist, and shows the progression he has soon made from those initial demo recordings right through to his stunning live sound of today.”
14 Norwegian power trio Saint Karloff and occult/riff worshippers Devil Witches join forces in the new split release Coven of the Ultra-Riff, to be unleashed Friday. But you can stream the former’s contribution At the Mountains of Loudness right now. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Hard hitting power trio from Norway, formed in 2015 at the mountains of loudness. Influenced by the world today and the music of yesterday. Psychedelic, heavy and raw.”
