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Indie Roundup | Eight New Songs For A Strangely Quiet Thursday

Notable numbers from Shookrah, Whoop-Szo, Jeremy Dutcher and plenty more.

Shookrah share a great notion, Whoop-Szo remember Gerry, Jeremy Dutcher starts over and more in today’s Roundup. For a Thursday, it seems quiet out there. Maybe too quiet.


1 | Shookrah | Notions

THE PRESS RELEASE: “Irish future-soul five-piece Shookrah have shared the video for their new single Notions, a precursor to their upcoming self-titled album Shookrah, set to drop on Oct. 25. The track is centred around the time we waste staying in dysfunctional relationships. “It’s a recognition of faults committed to the other and yourself in seeking out traits other than those presented to you, which disqualifies the question of who was right or wrong and bares the reality of how hollow we become when we want something so bad that a tarnished version of it will do,” says Senita. “The song is a reflection and address to a past lover. It felt appropriate to play my double, and kind of centre the sentiment of the song on the delusions we all create for ourselves in fractured relationships, that allow us to prolong its dysfunction.”


2 | Whoop-Szo | Gerry

THE PRESS RELEASE:Whoop-Szo share the video for Gerry, a song about the murder of bandleader Adam Sturgeon’s cousin by a Saskatchewan RCMP officer. “My cousin Gerry was shot by a cop,” says Sturgeon. “Murdered. In his own home. While the circumstances surrounding his death are unclear, there has only ever been one side to the story, that of the RCMP. No external investigations took place and our family is left without answers. It is my preference to discuss Gerry through the video. The footage is all 8mm family film recaptured and archived by Travis Welowszky and projectionist Sebastian Di Trolio.”


3 | Jeremy Dutcher | Mehcinut

THE PRESS RELEASE:Jeremy Dutcher shares his debut music video with the world for Mehcinut, which was also the first single he ever shared. The video is co-directed by Jeremy Dutcher, and filmmaker Chandler Levack, and it was filmed at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Mehcinut features an iconic dance performance, choreographed by two-spirit indigenous dancer and artist Brian Solomon, featuring an all indigenous dance group, and special guest dance performance by prolific award winning actress Tantoo Cardinal.”


4 | TR/ST | cor

THE PRESS RELEASE:TR/ST has shared his new single cor. When talking about the track, Robert Alfons describes it as “a trepidatious push through murky waters, searching for shore.” It has been five years since TR/ST released 2014’s Joyland. In an industry that prioritizes constant momentum, taking time to slow down and focus on the creative process could pose a risk of losing audiences, but for his third album, Alfons challenged himself to remain patient and careful; dedicated to both healing himself and ensuring that he was delivering his most cohesive work.”


5 | Varials | In Darkness

THE PRESS RELEASE: “Philadelphia’s Varials have premiered the video for the title track to their explosive forthcoming album In Darkness, out Oct. 11. “The title track to our record In Darkness is, in its most simple form, the perfect representation of our new energy,” says singer Travis Tabron. “As a song, it showcases the aggression we’ve always had but also opens up room for us to show the listener that we are NOT the same band and we intend on growing and changing with each record. As a whole, this LP is the evolved state of our band as we’ve shifted from being heavy for heavy’s sake into being heavy for a reason. We’ve become heavy in a truly dark way, and to be honest, it’s what we’ve always wanted. In Darkness is exactly where we needed to be.”


6 | Dead Soft | Trimmer

THE PRESS RELEASE:Dead Soft’s debut LP Big Blue is due out Oct. 18, and today the band are sharing a final preview of the album with the premiere of their single Trimmer. The third single from the album, Trimmer provides some of the album’s more striking moments as singer/guitarist Nathaniel Epp longs for the unobtainable feelings of home in a Beach Boys-esque harmony arrangement with bassist Keeley Rochon, that blends seamlessly with the driving, grunge-inflected sound behind it. “Trimmer is about longing and the passing of time. It is also a nostalgic ode to the North. It is about losing a sense of ‘home’ amidst the tumult of life and seeking to find that feeling again, hoping that it will keep you from drifting further away from a semblance of self.”


7 | Parker Gispert | That’s Life

THE PRESS RELEASE:Parker Gispert, frontman of the acclaimed rock and roll band The Whigs, is set to release his version of That’s Life. Written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon, That’s Life has been recorded by multiple artists, most famously by Frank Sinatra for his 1966 album of the same name. About his version of the classic, Gispert offers, “I was on the way to the studio while recording Sunlight Tonight and That’s Life came on my car stereo. I had been listening to a Sinatra album for string references and normally I’d have skipped over the bigger hits like That’s Life, but my attention deflected from the arrangement into the lyrics and I had an ‘aha’ moment. Line after line, I related to the lyrics and felt like I could have written the song about myself. It really resonated with me for where I was at the time. I started covering the song at my shows and got an interesting response. Younger fans thought it was an original new song of mine, and older fans dug hearing a favorite old tune in a new light. I decided to record a studio version and here it is!”


8 | Vonavi | Regrow

THE PRESS RELEASE:Regrow was an unexpected child,” explains songwriter and producer Andrei Ivanov, mastermind behind electronic project Vonavi, about his new transfixing single. “I finished my album but I started working on some new ideas for the future. I came up with chords that struck me and continued building the track. I finished the demo and sent it to Chris [James of electronic band Run Rivers] who was so excited about it and added some vocals.” Regrow found the two musicians sending files back and forth until they were happy with it and decided to include it on Vonavi’s debut album Reflection, out Nov. 8.”

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