Ice Nine Kills have your number, Tami Neilson plays the fool, Frazey Ford does it for the kids, Julia Bhatt stands tall, Corb Lund rides on with Ian Tyson, Adrian Sutherland plays politics and more in today’s Roundup. Heads up: Tomorrow at 9 a.m. Eastern, I am premiering one of the wildest videos I’ve ever showcased. Trust me — you don’t want to miss it. See you then.
1 | Ice Nine Kills | Your Number’s Up
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Horror-inspired metal act Ice Nine Kills share their brand-new chilling single Your Number’s Up with a lyric video. The track, a tribute to Wes Craven’s classic 1996 self-referential slasher Scream, will be included as one of many bonus features on their upcoming deluxe release The Silver Scream: The Final Cut due out just in time for Halloween. “The bloody mark that Wes Craven’s SCREAM left on the horror genre cannot be overstated,” shares vocalist and horror aficionado Spencer Charnas. “I saw the movie in theaters when I was 11, but I can remember the experience as if it were yesterday. Although I had already been a big fan of slashers, this was the first time I had ever seen one on the big screen. I was hooked from the opening sequence and watched in awe at the devilishly sharp self-referential dialogue that cut through the screen like a knife. The film single-handedly revitalized the slasher/horror movie craze in ’90s, and it will forever remain a crucial figure in the genre. The time has come for us to give my favorite film the INK-horror treatment it deserves.”
2 | Tami Neilson | Any Fool With a Heart
THE PRESS RELEASE: “No one forgets the first time they saw Tami Neilson. She can hush a room with an original song that channels the hurting spirit of Patsy Cline or the sensuality of Peggy Lee, or bring the audience to its feet on a rockabilly raver. Of her new album’s title, CHICKABOOM!, 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!” Returning in full force to Tami’s recording and live performance zone is her brother Jay Neilson, her co-star in the Any Fool With A Heart video. The clip was directed by brother Todd Neilson and highlights the twisted sense of family humor that is classic Neilson. According to Tami, “ it’s a 1950s Musical Meets Spaghetti Western series of ways to die was a perfect way to tell a story of heartbreak and unrequited love.”
3 | Frazey Ford | The Kids Are Having None Of It
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver artist Frazey Ford is revered for her soulful voice, captivating live show, and immersive lyrical storytelling. Returning with her first new original music in five years, The Kids Are Having None of It arrives with a stunning video. The new song is an urgent activism anthem – protest music at its core, with Frazey’s calm, confident warning compelled by a visceral, soulful bass guitar backbone. “This song came out of a desire to envision change as though it has already happened and to champion the incredible movements that we’re seeing right now,” explains Frazey. “Beyond our collective fear and anger about what is and isn’t happening, to create an image of the wave of change that most of us would like to see. The cast of the video are all close friends, moms and neighbourhood kids that my son grew up with. We had a beautiful day, being together. I think the love of community, real relationships, and the willingness to include the experiences of others is the real basis of activism.”
4 | Julia Bhatt | Tall
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Genre-jumping indie artist Julia Bhatt has just premiered the video for her latest track Tall. The bold pop-art-styled video compliments the track’s rapidfire tongue-twisting vocals and fierce bossa nova backbone while also paying homage to Bhatt’s love for her pet hedgehog Ernie. “Tall is one of my favorite songs and Ernie is one of my favorite hedgehogs, so it just makes sense,” explains Bhatt about the debut single that finds the 17-year-old Miami native playfully experimenting with rhythms, melodies and musical time signatures. “Ernie patrols the song to make sure you guys don’t mess up the words! I love this video and I couldn’t be more grateful to Charlene Kaye for it. I doubt you’ll find a better indie pop hedgehog crossover video.”
5 | Lydia Persaud | Let Me Show You
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lydia Persaud, whose debut full-length album Let Me Show You came out this past May, unveils the video for the record’s title track. “Let Me Show You is an expression of feeling both isolation and frustration when being met with this resistance, mixed with hope for enlightenment and harmony,” says Persaud. The video was directed by Ayo Tsalithaba, a filmmaker from Ghana and Lesotho and shot in Toronto. “Working on this video with Lydia was great and as soon as we met for our initial planning meeting, we were on the same page about what kind of message we wanted to convey. It can be difficult to make work about ‘Canadian identity’ that accurately depicts some of the tensions that exist surrounding it. I think that making this video challenged both Lydia and I to try and think about what we wanted to say, how explicitly we wanted to say it and how we were going to do that.”
6 | Corb Lund | Ride On
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Corb Lund released his Cover Your Tracks EP on Sept. 13. The 8-song EP is a collection of unexpected cover songs previously recorded by AC/DC, Nancy Sinatra, Billy Joel, Marty Robbins, Bob Dylan, Eagles, Willie Nelson & Ray Charles, and Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show. Today, Lund releases the video for his interpretation of AC/DC’s Ride On featuring Ian Tyson. Filmed on both the Lund and Tyson family ranches with the Rocky Mountains serving as a stunning backdrop, the Ride On video is a tribute to the nearly two decade friendship between the two songwriters. Lund says, “Watching it after putting all our work into it, the thing that strikes me most is how it reflects my and Ian’s friendship. We’ve known each other for fifteen years or so, and though he’s been kind of a hero of mine, at this point he feels more like a pal. I sometimes have to remind myself of his stature as a songwriter. But I think our camaraderie is visible in a lot of the shots, and imbues the song with kind of a time depth, since Ian and I are of different generations.”
7 | Memphis LK | Roses
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Melbourne-based singer-songwriter and producer Memphis LK grows tall with the release of her fresh single Roses. Spirited bass-pop that blooms from a bed of dystopian electro, the new single reveals a further metamorphosis for the self-sufficient songwriter and producer. Her newly cherished creative independence has been a journey of renewal and rebirth. Memphis looks back on the cathartic process as “clearing things that don’t serve you anymore, so you can step into the new phase – the best version of yourself.” An empowering antidote to Australia’s prevalent tall poppy syndrome, Roses optimistically imagines a world where we share and celebrate each other’s successes rather than drag one and another down. “We’d all just grow so much taller and brighter and stronger and shinier together,” Memphis adds. Its video, directed by her sister Maddy Kelly and Bryce Padovan, unapologetically mirrors all of her loud, bold and extreme versions.”
https://youtu.be/hjrFEGsqtE0
8 | Adrian Sutherland | Politician Man
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Politician Man, the debut single from Midnight Shine frontman Adrian Sutherland, is a protest song for Canada. Politician Man speaks to Canada’s troubled relationship with First Nations. Growing up in an isolated place like Attawapiskat has given Sutherland a unique perspective, while his growing profile as an artist is now giving him a voice. This is his way of taking action, doing something, about the ongoing struggle that Indigenous people face in Canada, while the country takes growing steps toward reconciliation. “Sometimes reconciliation sounds like an empty word, and it’s frustrating. You keep trying to get ahead, but there are ongoing challenges, one obstacle after another. I have to wonder what I’m doing still living in Attawapiskat, and if anything is ever going to make a difference,” says Sutherland. “The relationship between Canada and First Nations has been difficult for a long time, and in many ways it still is. Politician Man is about this relationship, and the need for all of us – politicians, chiefs, Indigenous people, all Canadians – to start listening to each other, and take steps together. Let’s move past the blaming and do something. We all need to do our part. That’s what reconciliation is, and the message behind Politician Man.”
9 | Matthew Chaim | Reason
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Matthew Chaim is unveiling the official lyric video for his current single Reason. Illustrated by Matthew Chaim himself and animated by Damien Lawson, the visual brings Chaim’s introspective lyricism to the forefront. Originally hailing from Montreal and now settled in Los Angeles, Matthew Chaim’s innovative indie-electronic soundscapes have quickly captivated audiences. His 2016 breakout, Vanilla Ways, found a home on the charts, and he followed up the early buzz with a soulful EP, Homemade. Chaim is preparing to release his sophomore EP, The Mathematics of Nature, slated for release later this fall. The new EP will include Reason and his Summer single Sunflowers, a powerful ode to parental loss.”
10 | L.A. Foster | Cruel Love
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lesley Ann Foster is a Montreal based singer-songwriter, DJ and radio host who has been a staple in the Montreal music scene. From UK dance, soul, cumbia, reggaeton, hip hop, and dark R&B, Foster’s sound draws from her eclectic musical taste and her growth as a collaborator. After a cross-Canada tour this summer, she’s gearing up to release a new EP titled All My Lost Chances Are Beautiful. Her new single Cruel Love is a sample-rich, beat-heavy song highlighting her intense, emotional vocals.”
https://youtu.be/fFTd-66WOjE
11 | Output 1:1:1 | Retroactive Rock Record
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Output 1:1:1’s creator Daniel Janvier was born and raised in Canada and is currently based in Toronto, but he wrote Retroactive Rock Record during the 2016 United States election. The election inspired him to explore his own distressing feelings of helplessness and shame, and how those feelings are connected to being faced with the unknown. “Writing this song was incredibly freeing, despite the central idea of it being a complete lack of control,” he explains. “I wrote the lyrics of the song the night of the 2016 US election. I felt a sense of helplessness swell as Trump’s election became inevitable-Canada seems to follow US election cycles pretty closely. I think helplessness can really encourage shame-the sense that I’m terrible and I am in this mess because I deserve this. It takes a lot more than reinforced positive thinking to work through, and writing this song was an attempt to redirect my helplessness into creating something. I’m a lot more fun in person.”
12 | Kasador | Brood & Bloom
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Kingston-based alt-rock outfit Kasador dropped their debut album, Brood & Bloom, earlier this month; a collection of 12 tracks written during tough times as an attempt to gain something positive from those experiences. Produced in part by Graham Walsh and by Rob Baker & Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip, Brood & Bloom is a reflection on the personal growth and deeper connections that can stem from trying times – how good can come from the bad.”
13 | Woodhawk | Heartstopper
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Calgary’s Woodhawk are at it again with the single Heartstopper. The track comes from Violent Nature, the band’s sophomore album, which steps away from the science fiction themes evident on their previous release 2017’s Beyond The Sun and takes a more therapeutic turn. “Heartstopper was the first song we wrote for the album and was definitely reworked more than anything else on the record. Usually, we scrap the first few we write until we find our groove. But this one just stuck. It tells the tale of how I have friends who live in completely different worlds and live totally different lives. One one side, I have this friend who has faced every major health complication, someone, their age should ever have faced and perceived. But still has the most positive outlook on life. On the other side, the friends who abuse substances and cheat death to the closest point and have no true appreciation for their own life. The juxtaposition in this situation just kind of hit home with all of us.”
14 | Woolworm | Let Me Wear the Mask
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Next month, Woolworm will release their third LP, Awe, expanding the band’s already robust songbook even further by offering a new take on their heavy, hardcore-inflected indie pop sound. Today, the Vancouver act shares the second single from the album, Let Me Wear The Mask. “This song felt like it was about so many different things during the writing process, and it ended up being sort of abstract as a result,” says frontman Giles Roy. “When we play it, I think of my own destructive tendencies, as well my attempts to curb them with what amounts to dishonesty. Sometimes I find genuine release in that escapism. That said, hopefully people will find their own meaning here. That’s really what I want for all of our music.”
15 | Porches | rangerover
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Porches, a.k.a. Aaron Maine, has returned with new single rangerover – his first piece of new music since 2018’s The House. Maine says: “I’ve been making music as Porches since 2009. Porches can be a country song, a dance song, a punk song, a pop song or anything in between. It’s an exploration of any sound or idea that I find interesting in that moment, the idea being that these seemingly isolated ideas will become unified in the context of the Porches catalogue. Porches is my love affair with music.”
16 | Tuskar | Beneath
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tuskar – Milton Keynes’ most sulphurous nuclear sludge duo – returned in 2018 with one of the year’s most critically acclaimed EPs, The Tide, Beneath, The Wall. No longer new to the fold, despite having only formed in 2016, for vocalist/drummer Tyler Hodges and guitarist Tom Dimmock, The Tide, Beneath, The Wall marked a significant shift in perspective. Recorded by Slabdragger’s Sam Thredder, it ushered in a sea change in scope and sound, which, over three chapters captured punishing progressive sludge and savage, sub-world vistas. Soundscapes shaped by moments of dark brooding doom and relentlessly riff-heavy and psychedelically charged movements. This November the boys are back with an EP to showcase just how ferocious they can truly be. Recorded with Gallows producer Steve Sears, The Monolith Sessions features four tracks of electric, live-wire sludge that for the first time really captures the band’s spirit and sound away from the studio.”
