Shad aims high, Bart Budwig socks it to you, Circa Waves get in line, Adaline sees shadows and more in today’s Roundup. What do you call a hippie’s wife? A Mississippi! Thank you and good night!
1 | Shad | Sniper
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto MC Shad has released the music video for Sniper, the latest visual instalment from his album A Short Story About A War. Sniper is a testament to Shad’s intense attention to concept – the video is a neo-noir surrealist look into power structures, as a “sniper” preys from a safe distance. As Shad explains it: “The sniper character is a metaphor for anyone who enjoys a higher position in our competitive society. Higher education, higher status, higher income. Not necessarily the super successful but folks who enjoy relative safety and advantage in our often war-like economic and social system. Also, the same way that a sniper participates in violence from a safe distance, likewise the more privileged in our society can be removed from the harm that we cause — economically, environmentally, and relationally — through our spending, investing, our spiritual relationship to land and place, and who we choose to include and exclude.”
2 | Bart Budwig | Sock Song
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Dec. 4 is National Sock Day, and to celebrate, Bart Budwig is releasing Sock Song and its accompanying video. The song posits that the dynamics of intimate relationships boil down to one sock’s tendency to wander from its destined partner as soon as it hits the dryer. The concept was inspired by an Austrian friend of Budwig’s who “once said dropping a musician off at the airport is like ‘socks in the washer. They never come back.” Luke Zwanziger, a Portland improv comedian, wrote and directed the Sock Song music video during the recording session for the album. The next day, the band went to the laundromat behind the OK Theatre and got all the filming done.”
3 | Circa Waves | Jacqueline
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following the announcement of their widely anticipated fourth studio album Sad Happy, Circa Waves have unveiled the playfully sinister video for Jacqueline, the first single to be lifted from the new record. Sad Happy will be released on March 13. Shot in the lavish setting of a 70s themed mansion once owned by the Prince of Jordan, the Bousher & Gee-directed visuals see the band get wrapped up in a spot of bother at a party they’re performing at. As the mood of the party shifts rather dramatically, the band follow suit, seemingly possessed by what can only be described as the conga line from hell. “Do you like conga lines? Of course you do! Who doesn’t?,” says frontman Kieran Shudall. “After writing a song the perfect tempo for conga it only seemed right that we rent a millionaires house and make a colorful 70s-themed conga horror video. Not suitable for children or grown-ups scared of conga lines.”
4 | Adaline | Waist Down
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Directed by Olivia D’Oliveira, the video for Waist Down sees Adaline being led by a mysterious shadow through a storage locker that has been magically transformed into a colourful alternate reality. Adaline chases the shadow through the fantastical worlds contained in each locker until eventually the shadow chases her. On the video, Adaline had this to say, “The shadow represents the pursuit of sexual gratification, which is the central theme of the song – an insatiable and futile chase that turns on you in the end.”
5 | Phlake | Baby Steps
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Danish experimental R&B duo Phlake unveil the futuristic visuals for new R&B-tinged pop single Baby Steps. Throughout the sci-fi-influenced video, a mysterious infection spreads like a malware via the phone glitch filter, infecting the gender fluid character played by dancer Elie Autin. Absorbing into their skin, the virus evolves from sporadic glitches into becoming a weird creature taking full control of the character’s body. “We only develop as human beings when we leave ourselves open to be influenced by the external world”, explains the band talking about the concept behind the video.”
6 | Sheenah Ko | Wrap Me Up
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sheenah Ko is best known as one of the core members of Montreal-based indie darlings Besnard Lakes, and as the touring keyboardist for Canadian ska/reggae/rock icons Bedouin Soundclash. Her new single Wrap Me Up is the first release from her forthcoming sophomore studio album Nowhere In Time, produced by Navet Confit and slated for release in early 2020.”
7 | Gavin Haley & Ella Vos | The Way I Am
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Gavin Haley & Ella Vos’ official music video for The Way I Am was directed by Jared Asher Harris and stars Ella Vos, Gavin Haley and YouTubers Olivia Rouyre and Luke Korns. The Way I Am single is featured on Gavin Haley’s debut EP Long Game.”
8 | Sam Weber | Probably Not
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist, Sam Weber is sharing the new lyric video for big picture rock’n’roll single Probably Not taken from his third album, Everything Comes True, which was produced by L.A.-based Tyler Chester (player with Andrew Bird, Joan Baez, Jackson Browne). Tipping hat to the sprawling guitar sounds of Bruce Springsteen, Alice Coltrane, and The Band, Probably Not pulls on buzzing riffs and a wanderlust swagger that places itself amidst the vast American landscape, sonically paying testament to the themes of the album. It’s a record well-versed in a road worn wisdom with Weber saying of the new single: “Probably Not is about driving through the night like one of those fish with the lantern on its head that lives in the deep ocean. You follow the road into the abyss and listen to the radio and thoughts pass through your mind as you drive, contemplating existence, overthinking everything.”
9 | Caribou | You and I
THE PRESS RELEASE: “In October, Dan Snaith shared his first track as Caribou in five years – the warm and addictive Home. Today, Snaith follows up with the news that a new Caribou album, Suddenly, will be released on Feb. 28. Along with the announcement comes a new single, You and I. Snaith says: “You and I was one of the first tracks on the album that I started, and one of the last tracks I finished; it existed in some form or other throughout the whole arc of making the record. It also captures a lot of what the record, and the title of the album, are about – the track changes suddenly and unpredictably, and it is about a change in my life that happened out of the blue.”
10 | Brandon Watt | Fall
THE PRESS RELEASE: “London, Ont.-based pop singer/songwriter Brandon Watt has just released his debut single Fall, from his forthcoming EP (releasing in Spring 2020). Fall is emblematic not only of his prowess as a songwriter, but the soulfulness of his vocal performance is truly exceptional, conveying a plaintiveness and vulnerability that is instantly connective with any listener who is desperate for the person they love to love them back with the same sort of abandon and depth of passion. “It’s not meant to be a sad song. It’s a hopeful song where I am saying to the person I want to be with that I have lost so many things, I’ve been disappointed and heartbroken before, and so have you, but I just want us to fall in love, and maybe if she would just let go and let it happen, maybe it would be something great for both of us. It’s about the wonderful things that can happen sometimes if we just take a chance and let go,” Watt explained.”
11 | Son Little | Mahalia
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Son Little — moniker of L.A.’s Aaron Earl Livingston — shares Mahalia, a new single from his forthcoming album, aloha, due Jan. 31. The track marries sparse, distorted guitar tones with clean, dense vocal harmonies. “That song’s an apology delivered at the start of a relationship, instead of the end, when it all falls apart,” says Little. “I’d been thinking a lot about how I find myself repeating the same mistakes in different areas of my life. I find myself drawn over and over to the same qualities in different people, and sometimes the dynamic can become toxic. Pointing the finger is easy. I’m trying to be better at acknowledging my part of the problem.”
12 | Bill Fay | Love Will Remain
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Bill Fay releases Love Will Remain, a new single from Countless Branches, his new album out Jan. 17. It follows lead single/video Filled With Wonder Once Again. Countless Branches sees a serene Fay at his most hopeful – retaining the awestruck, inquisitive feel of his early songs. His newest songs, alike his older material, evoke landscapes, ancient and sacred places, as their author traverses the outdoors to marvel at it all. And he is doing it all from that corner of his room at the piano, while the word about his work continues to grow and spread like so many branches. For decades now, Bill Fay’s songs have been his ambassadors.”
13 | Bad Ambassadors | Up For You
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Effortlessly collaborative and uniform, ear candy for you to indulge in, definitely hip-hop, but not really, Bad Ambassadors are here to announce their debut, self-titled EP, out Jan. 10, and present the project’s lead single, Up For You. The Chicago duo of Rich Jones, known for both his own solo work and collaborations with the likes of Nnamdï, Mykele DeVille, and The O’My’s, and Walkingshoe, who’s spent time producing for himself and others, notably Ness Heads, Frank Leone, yU, ShowYouSuck, and Qari, Bad Ambassadors explores the determination to pursue your passion in the face of the inevitable obstacles life places in your way. Musically, the project combines elements of surf-rock, psychedelic hip-hop, and dance beats into a quick, easy-to-swallow pill that will get you your fix on first listen all the way to your tenth.”
14 | Pablo Paddy | Lost Holiday
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Pablo Paddy is an indie rock project formed by singer-songwriter Patrick Beedling. After cutting his teeth as a solo artist in St. Catharines’ downtown music scene, Beedling recruited local players to bring his songs to life. The music — eclectic, and moody — draws from a range of influences, including folk, alternative, art-rock, and indie. They just released a new single called Lost Holiday — a percussion driven, eclectic indie rock track showcasing dynamic musicality. According to the band: “Lost Holiday is a song with Latin-infused verses and a dreamy chorus. The lyrics are about some of the difficulties of the immigrant experience in Canada — tenuous work, financial hardship, feelings of alienation- and are inspired by friends and people I’ve worked with as a psychotherapist. My hope is that it comes across as sensitive to different cultural experiences and not culturally appropriative.”
15 | Jennah Barry | Pink Grey Blue
THE PRESS RELEASE: “After an eight-year wait, Jennah Barry releases her highly anticipated sophomore LP, Holiday, on March 27. The vintage-tinged record follows a lengthy break due to vocal surgery — an experience that left her unable to speak for weeks and ultimately led to a re-examination of her craft before writing again. Holiday is a reflection of maturity, of worn-in and worn-down experience, and, like all of Barry’s work, it is intimate and intricate, timeless and universal. A new glimpse at the album arrives today via Pink Grey Blue, which melds the warm hum of nylon strings with Barry’s stunning rosewater voice before sharing the precious space with gracious orchestral flourishes that feel right at home on AM radios of the past.”
