Neck of the Woods bring the ire, New Wales take you to Winnipeg, Anthony Hüseyin sings pretty, Shopping pleasure you and more in today’s Roundup. If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, where do you bury the survivors?
1 | Neck of the Woods | The Annex Of Ire
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver-based progressive extreme metal collective Neck of the Woods will release their new full-length The Annex Of Ire March 20. Captured by producer/engineer Jesse Gander at Rain City Recorders in Vancouver, the relentless seven track offering capitalizes on Neck of the Woods’ already ravaging recipe of rabid, methodical, and absorbing extreme/death-tinged metal. In advance of the release of The Annex Of Ire, here’s the band’s captivating video for the title track. The eight-minute clip was directed by R. Zawistowski with a concept scripted by Zawistowski and vocalist Jeff Radomsky and features Mitch Ray as The Survivalist, Milton Stille as The Stalker, and Adam Sharp as The Annex Of Ire.”
2 | New Wales | Winnipeg
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Winnipeg’s own New Wales have released a brand new video named after their hometown from an upcoming EP. “With the thermometer at 30 below zero and the wind behind them, a person walking on Main Street in Winnipeg knows which side of them is which.” So theorized Stephen Leacock, describing a well understood absolute among Winnipeg ‘lifers’. It’s easy to underestimate Manitoba and its capital city of Winnipeg, hometown of indie-alternative band New Wales. The vast prairie seems simple at first glance, but don’t be fooled, there are deeper layers to be found. The Hudson Bay Lowland, the Canadian Shield, the Interior Plains, and endless rivers and lakes all provide deeper interest.”
3 | Anthony Hüseyin | Pretty Boys
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Pretty Boys is the 4th music video of Berlin based singer-songwriter Anthony Hüseyin, from his second album The Lucky One. The new video is a cooperation with the Berlin based Lebanese video artist Cynthia-ël Hasbani. Pretty Boys is a critique through parody of conventional beauty standards and our love-hate relationship with them. it’s about the destruction of those who reinforce these standards blindly in our daily miserable dating lives. In this video we keep seeing only a certain type of body, gender and colour and we as an audience get a glimpse of the answer on who is imposing – promoting these normative and conventional, able beauty standards to our lives.”
4 | Shopping | For Your Pleasure
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Shopping releases a new single/video, For Your Pleasure, from All Or Nothing, their new album out Feb. 7. The songs that make up All or Nothing are the band’s boldest yet; confident, elastic, streamlined grooves that crackle with energy and intention. Along with cleaner, new production values, ‘80s synths and electronic percussion add new textures to their signature minimalist dynamic. For Your Pleasure is frenetic and propulsive. The accompanying video was directed by Lessa Millet and features several notable musicians, including Sam Sparro, Janelane, and members of Ought, French Vanilla and Mo Dotti. “For Your Pleasure is a song about frustration, the feeling of always wanting more, needing material things to distract or gratify us,” says Shopping. “It’s about consumerism but also searching for meaning in life. That feeling of longing that never really goes away even when you have the things, the job, the status or the person you thought you wanted. I think people who create music or art know what that feels like particularly.”
5 | Tom Keifer | Hype
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tom Keifer has released a compelling, high-energy music video for Hype, the raucous, heavy, second single from Rise. The song and video speak directly to life in our current culture. “Hype reflects the over stimulation, endless information and clever deception that we are bombarded with in today’s society,” explains Keifer. “Computers, devices, Internet, news, social media, politics, television…all coming at us from every angle around the clock. It’s becoming harder and harder to separate reality from illusion. The song and video mirror the world of overload we are all living in and its exhaustive effect.”
6 | Crepuscle | In The Winds Of Glory
THE PRESS RELEASE: “California-based symphonic/melodic death metal quintet Crepuscle has issued a video for In The Winds Of Glory, an epic track from their second LP, Heavenly Skies. “We are proud to present our live video for In The Winds Of Glory,” Crepuscle writes. “Our Bay Area battalion heeded the call and showed up full force on December 21st, 2019. It was a night of celebration and merriment as we played our new album, Heavenly Skies, in its entirety. Reinforcements from Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Canada traveled from their respective lands to join us on this very special evening. We were received by one of the best crowds we have ever had the pleasure of headbanging with and are thrilled to show the world how much fun was had by all.”
7 | Josh Stevens | Home
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The new single from Los Angeles’ multi platinum singer/songwriter/producer Josh Stevens is Home. The track features heartfelt lyrics, glowing piano melodies and a dramatic rhythm section. The anthemic single narrates how a home just isn’t the same when your loved ones aren’t there. Stevens’ early career was based around hip-hop working for the likes of Warren G, Snoop Dogg, The Game and Clyde Carson. However, Josh found his modern sound in pop/indie-rock/dance working with the likes of LMFAO, Pitbull, J-Lo, Steve Aoki, Young Jeezy and Ne-Yo.”
8 | Margaret Glaspy | Killing What Keeps Us Alive
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy is returning with her highly anticipated new album Devotion, due out March 27. Devotion is Glaspy’s first full-length since her acclaimed debut 2016 Emotions and Math and marks an entirely new sonic chapter for her. Glaspy has built a reputation as a skilled guitarist, and Emotions and Math was notable for its swaggering electric guitar sounds; on Devotion she shifted gears and built songs with completely different instrumentation as their base. The results – co-produced with Los Angeles’ Tyler Chester – are rich, sweeping, and melodic, a fittingly enchanting sound for a collection of 12 love songs. “It’s about letting love in even when you don’t know what will happen when you do,” says Glaspy. “It’s about devoting your heart to someone or something, against all odds.”
9 | Jennah Barry | Big Universe
THE PRESS RELEASE: “As she prepares for the arrival of her highly anticipated sophomore LP, Holiday, Jennah Barry unveils a video for Big Universe. The slow motion video follows Barry as she prepares to take the stage in a hazy, rural dance hall. Underpinned by the track’s Bacharach-esque orchestral flourishes, warm tropical guitars, and the songwriter’s intimate rosewater voice, the clip – directed by Kat Shubaly – is a stunning accumulation of the mood, timbre, and aura captured on Holiday. “There was a period in my life where I read my horoscope not matter how goofy the source was. I was circling the drain a bit and was desperate for someone to tell me what to do. The horoscope writer for US Weekly did not help me with this. Big Universe is about that,” says Barry about the track. “Despite the confusion I was feeling in the song, I worked with three really great women on the music video and had a very life-affirming experience (something that doesn’t necessarily happen very often in the biz). We went overboard with a haze machine and created a storyline for a woman who plays big for no one.”
10 | Stefan Alexander | Photograph
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Cry Again is the aftermath of a traumatic period in my life, getting back in touch with my emotions, all these emotions I had bottled up for so long and didn’t allow myself to feel,” says queer NYC artist Stefan Alexander about his new EP Cry Again, which gets released independently in late March. “It’s this fear that if you let it go, the floodgates will open, and it will all come out and you won’t be able to stop it. There was this subconscious thing happening where my body would not let me cry, and would not let me go there.” The first single off the EP, the R&B-infused Photograph, is about how all those dating apps can often lead to “empty promises.” He explains: “All you have is four or five photos and three sentences. It’s so irrational, and then you’re left waiting to see if they swipe right like you did on them.”
11 | Two Car Train | The Door
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Two Car Train has released their debut single The Door off the upcoming debut album Off The Rails. The Western hard soul experience is ecstatic to be able to share the music they have been working on feverishly since 2017. They explain that it is both new and innovative while holding on to familiar elements. They expand: “The album will be well received because it’s unlike anything out there right now, yet, it has a familiar vibe that harkens back to the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s that takes the listener on a musical journey through which they can relate in a way that can’t be put into words.” The Door is based on the indie film of the same name. In the movie, the protagonist has an affair with his neighbour. While that is happening, his daughter drowns in the pool. He discovers a way to go back in time and murders his old self. This grim tale is echoed in an indie rock manner by Two Car Train.”
12 | Psalm Zero | The Last Faith
THE PRESS RELEASE: “New York City-based Psalm Zero prepares to release their third LP, Sparta, in late February. With the action now only a month away, the band’s new video for The Last Faith arrives. After nearly four years of writing, rehearsing, and solo project excursions, Psalm Zero – the art metal outfit led by guitarist/singer/songwriter Charlie Looker – delivers another statement of their truly unique vision of heavy music.”
13 | Caribou | Never Come Back
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Dan Snaith aka Caribou’s first album in five years, Suddenly, will be released Feb 28. Snaith today shares a new single from the album, Never Come Back. Immensely satisfying and playful, Never Come Back encompasses the heart at the centre of Suddenly as repeated samples build around Snaith’s confident vocals to effortless euphoria. Speaking of the track, Snaith says: “Never Come Back was the first track from Suddenly that I finished. It came together very quickly and was one of those tracks that is a lot fun to make. As soon as I landed on the main synthesizer chords and the repeated refrain the rest came together very quickly and naturally. I felt like it was my job to get out of the way and not over complicate or over think it. Sometimes the best pleasures are the simple ones.”
14 | Little Dragon | New Me, Same Us
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Little Dragon return with their new studio album New Me, Same Us on March 27. Entirely self-produced and recorded at the pioneering Swedish four-piece’s long-term home-built studio in Gothenburg, the album is another chapter in the continuing evolution of Little Dragon. The album’s infectious lead single Hold On is a message about breaking away and moving on, and is a slice of classic Little Dragon awesomeness. “It started out as a slick house track but transformed once Fred played the base through it and we all worked it together,” the band explains. “It became something raw and soulful. It’s a simple groove that makes us dance. We can’t wait to play it live because once we play it live it most certainly will change again.”
15 | Melkbelly | LCR
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago-based band Melkbelly – comprised of Miranda Winters (vocals, guitar), Bart Winters (guitar), Liam Winters (bass), and James Wetzel (drums) – announces their new album, Pith, out April 3. In conjunction with today’s announcement, they present the album’s lead single, LCR, and an accompanying animated video. LCR similarly shapes Pith’s dynamics and mood. Its shifting signatures held steady by James’ frantic beat, the track is a purgatorial homage to motion, ultimately propelled by its tangled guitars and layered vocal harmonies. “It’s about how having conversations with the dead can scoot you along in life, even when you’re really only hearing one side of the conversation or making up the other half.”
16 | Crash Adams | Ooh!
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Crash Adams just released their brand new pop/alternative single Ooh! “With Ooh! we worked hard creating a unique sound that belongs in the future, but is inspired by the past. We wanted to pay homage to icons that helped pave the way for the artists of my era, but we’re also pretty sarcastic so we put our own spin on it. Our video basically represents the scene that we were seeing in our mind as we sat down writing it. A “walking down the street” kind of vibe with everybody having some fun listening to it. Our full EP will be out in 2020 and we even more songs than that finished. Hope you enjoy!”
17 | Windy and Carl | Crossing Over
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Legendary Dearborn duo Windy and Carl have been crafting inner space electric guitar and bass vistas for nearly three decades now, but their latest feels as vital and vaporous as any peak opus in their vast catalog. Written and recorded across six years, the songs swirl between shoegaze minimalism and stargaze drift, over which Windy Weber whispers veiled poetic narratives of transformation, isolation, and escape. Allegiance and Conviction is their first album since 2012’s We Will Always Be. The six compositions are something of outlier in their catalog, shorter in nature than most on their previous releases. All of the tracks are saturated with Carl Hultgren’s signature guitar work, intimate constructions of murmurs, drones and his trademark layered filigree, gently amassed into alternately lighter and heavier than air atmospheres.”
18 | Nature | Voix
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Cleveland Afro-Darkwave/Coldwave artist Nature has announced his debut album Voix. Voix was inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’ idea of “Double Consciousness” and finding one’s inner voice. These ideas come out fluently in the lyrics, drum patterns and synth composition on the Voix. The debut of Nature is only the beginning of Nate Eberhardt’s journey into electronic music and leaves the listener in anticipation. Afro-coldwave has arrived. Eberhardt explains why he started Nature: “With love on our minds and fire in our hearts this album invites the listeners into the world of Nature. I wanted to create a project where people can dance and feel inspired to create despite the day to day hardships we all go through. I feel I brought the listeners to a place that was familiar to me.”
19 | Cayley Thomas | Blue Jean Baby
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Cayley Thomas is a singer, guitarist and songwriter from Edmonton, Alberta whose natural affinity for constructing catchy melodies reveals her striking vocal range and character. Cayley’s upcoming album, How Else Can I Tell You?, is a collection of songs that reflect upon a period of subconscious overwhelm and the subsequent shift into conscious thought and awareness. Cayley just released a new single today, Blue Jean Baby, which weaves sensitive eccentricities under a guise of simplistic pop.”
