Lou Canon gets next to you, Dizzy brings the magic, Arthur does the tengo, Silverstein share the madness, Lettuce play house and more in today’s Roundup. Scroll down for some audio treats from dark Mark Lanegan, Steve Earle and other.
1 | Lou Canon | Next to You
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Our resident noir-pop songstress Lou Canon has released a new single. Next to You, the second single off of her upcoming record Audomatic Body. This new track is both sultry and serious; as Canon explains, “Next to You is not about a one night stand. Or a fleeting relationship. It’s about the decision you make every day — day after day — to be with your partner.” Next to You has been released with an accompanying, crowd-sourced music video; “A call was put out to friends, family, and followers, to contribute bedroom footage. ‘Write this line somewhere on your body and film yourself’.”
2 | Dizzy | The Magician
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Sun and Her Scorch, the forthcoming record from emerging Canadian band Dizzy, is set for release on July 31. The Sun and Her Scorch follows the release of their 2018 Juno Award-winning debut album, Baby Teeth. In conjunction with the announcement, Dizzy’s latest single, The Magician, debuts today. “The song is about wanting to magically bring a friend of mine who passed away back to life. To me The Magician reeks of naivety and innocence in a way that really hurts my heart. Hoping she’ll walk into my gig at the local pub, hoping to see her mom at Sobey’s just to remember how similar their laughs were. Hoping for magic. It’s a really emotional song for me but is masked by tricky, pretty production to make it sound almost joyful,” says frontwoman Katie Munshaw.”
3 | Arthur | No Tengo
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Philadelphia-based musician Arthur releases the new single/video, No Tengo, from his forthcoming album, Hair of the Dog, out May 15. No Tengo is a moving mass of sounds — arrays of synth, Arthur’s joyful vocals, and jockeying percussion. The accompanying video, directed by Jack Wedge, reflects the track’s meticulous, surreal energy. The animation is equally manic and the distorted visuals only intensify with color and sound. “I wanted to write a more positive song but it still came off as having everything and nothing at all,” says Arthur. “Some kind of nightmarish internal exorcism, like being in the movie Alien but in the comfort of the sparsely decorated room in the back of your small apartment. Love flicking on and off like a light switch, here for a moment and then gone.”
4 | Silverstein | Madness (feat. Princess Nokia)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Silverstein are celebrating their 20th anniversary with their newest and ninth overall full-length, A Beautiful Place To Drown, which was released last month. Today the post-hardcore legends have shared an official music video to accompany album standout Madness, featuring a charged performance from critically acclaimed rapper, Princess Nokia, with the band’s trademark aggression serving as an unexpectedly natural fit for her dynamic vocals. Says vocalist Shane Todd: “We’d seen Princess Nokia mention that she was a fan of ours and we had the chance to hang out last time we were in NYC and just hit it off. Madness was one of the early songs we had musically and it kept evolving until we knew it needed a strong female voice on it to put it over the top. The first person we thought of was Princess Nokia. She had an amazing take on the vibe and meaning of the song and absolutely killed the verse.”
5 | Lettuce | House of Lett
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-nominated funk-jazz-soul-hip-hop-psychedelic-jam-experimental titans Lettuce are renowned for their remarkable live shows. While unable to tour due to the worldwide pandemic, the band has been rolling out exclusive live content to give fans new performance footage to enjoy while quarantined at home. Today, the acclaimed sextet has issued the official live video for their funky new single House of Lett, the latest track off Lettuce’s forthcoming seventh studio album Resonate, set for release May 8. “House music can be funky!,” shares drummer Adam Deitch. “The driving force of the beat can lift you up and make you MOVE. Until we can all be together grooving again, we hope you enjoy the vibe of this live video of House of Lett and that it gets your blood flowing during this difficult time in history. Turn it up and get your at-home dance party on!”
6 | 6th Crowd | You’re Not An Island
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Electronic producer 6th Crowd presents her new electro-wave single You’re Not An Island, complete with video. This infectious vibing track is a welcome taste of her debut Avoid The Void EP. The solo project of Dari Maksymova, she has a knack of luring us into her adrenaline-inducing musical world, where analogue and digital thrive together. Written well before the dire COVID-19 situation, the new single carries even greater significance in our newfound world of social distancing, lockdown and self-monitored quarantine. The author has a message for friends and followers alike “We all go a little crazy here in a month of lockdown, huh? Huge thanks and all the credits to my friends for going crazy in the video and for being amazingly patient with me these days.”
7 | The Texas Gentlemen | Ain’t Nothin’ New
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Texas Gentlemen will release Floor It!!! on July 17. The band’s sound is steeped in ‘60s and ‘70s rock & pop with elements of funk, soul, country, R&B, southern rock and gospel (just about all of them played in churches early on). The album includes woozy, brass-fueled Dixieland-style jazz, to slinky, chicken-scratch country funk to lushly orchestrated pop-soul balladry all within its first ten minutes. There’s a dreamy, spacey, and occasionally progressive element to what they do that seems to detach the music from belonging to any particular place and time. It’s a rich and righteous ride. Today, they premiered the album track, Ain’t Nothin’ New. Co-frontman Nik Lee said, “This is undoubtedly the best I’ve ever felt about the music” while Daniel Creamer offered of Ain’t Nothin’ New, in particular, “I think it’s the perfect introduction to the sound on the new album.”
8+9 | Enterprise Earth | Metal Prolapse + Erase Me
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Enterprise Earth guitarist Gabriel Mangold has unveiled stunning acoustic renditions of Metal Prolapse from Bay Area deathcore titans Rings Of Saturn and Erase Me from Australian metal unit Make Them Suffer. Each track is beautifully captured on film in various locales of New Mexico. Mangold elaborates, “Ring’s song was a result of being on back to back tours with them and not being able to get the extremely catchy chorus melody from Mental Prolapse out of my head. Make Them Suffer had also just released that killer track and the melodies and lyrics seemed to suit themselves very well for an acoustic rendition. Both of these bands are also my good friends so I’m sure that had something to do with my decisions as well! Both songs also have great melodies which make translating to acoustic quite enjoyable.”
10 | Rising Appalachia | Stand Like An Oak
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Long now stewards of resilience, sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith, better known as the frontwomen of Rising Appalachia, know when to raise their voices and demand to be heard, but also when to harmonize softly, focusing messages of support to the ears of those who might need it the most. Stand Like an Oak is the latter. The first new music release since Leylines, Stand Like an Oak features Rising Appalachia at their most intimate, encouraging listeners to “put away your cares” and “fold up your fears” in the face of trying times — fitting in that this song is being released in conjunction with Earth Day. “Now, in the time of corona, we are seeing the necessary roles of music and healing practices in our abilities to see through this pandemic and stay steady on our course of compassion and strength,” says Chloe. “I wrote this song for a loved one going through the wave and arc of depression and anxiety, someone whom I wanted to sing a reminder to, to find her roots and footing when the wind blows strong.”
11 | Kelly Lee Owens | Night
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Convention-blurring techno producer/musician Kelly Lee Owens releases a new song, Night. The track appears on her new album, Inner Song, which has been moved to Aug. 28. Night opens with a monopoly synth and Owen’s soft, intimate vocals, before transforming with a danceable, staccato rhythm and jockeying beat. “This track speaks as to how feelings and insights are more accessible to us at nighttime — how the veils are thinner somehow and therefore how we are more able to connect to our hearts true desires,” says Owens. “I wanted to release this track as a gift to you during this crazy time, to give a part of my heart to you all.”
12 | Amo Amo | Canta
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Los Angeles psych pop band Amo Amo shared an entrancing song for Earth Day, Canta. Last year, the quintet released their self-titled debut album, produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket. The band explains the new track advocating for communities living symbiotically in the world: “The beauty, cooperation & abundance found in nature embodies the earth’s deep love for us all. Each part of life sings its existence and contributes to this great love song! Bees pollinating flowers, whales singing to one another, even when one being dies to nourish another we see the cycles & interconnectedness of life. Canta, meaning Sing in Spanish, asks us to think deeply about what it truly means ‘to love’ & implores us to do our part to care for all life, all earth, with our actions.”
13 | Galaxians | Chemical Reaction
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Leeds-based disco-funk trio Galaxians have announced their second album is due for release on June 26. Today they share the video for its title track Chemical Reaction, summoning a neon-lit, joyous and communal sound that skitters wildly across dancefloors past and present. With their polished yet primitive high-energy pop potion, fuelled by “too much coffee and too many donuts”, Matt Woodward (drums), Jed Skinner (synths) and Emma Mason (vocals) bring a human touch to electronic music with live drums, earth-shaking vocals and gold-plated grooves, recalling the likes of Roisin Murphy, Hercules & Love Affair, Lynda Dawn and Sink Ya Teeth.”
14 | L.A. Guns | Crawl
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The legendary L.A. Guns have released their new single Crawl off their upcoming album Renegades. If there was a band synonymous with the infamous Sunset Strip it is L.A. Guns. Born into a scene that will never be replicated, L.A. Guns rode alongside Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses, Ratt, Poison, Quiet Riot and co. in one of the biggest movements in music history. L.A. Guns are without a doubt Hollywood Rock Royalty. Now after some down time, the band is back and firing with the return of Kelly Nickels on bass, Steve Riley on drums, Scotty Griffin on lead guitar and Kurt Frohlich on lead vocals and guitar.”
15 | Mark Lanegan | Stockholm City Blues
THE PRESS RELEASE: “With his new album Straight Songs Of Sorrow due for release on May 8, and his memoir Sing Backwards And Weep due to publish on 4/28, Mark Lanegan has shared Stockholm City Blues, a sparse, beautiful, strings and finger-picking meditation on the remorse code of addiction, and one of the many standout tracks from the LP. When considering any great work of art, be it a painting, a novel, or a piece of music, it’s natural to wonder what might have inspired it: ‘the story behind the song’. Lanegan’s new album flips that equation. Here are 15 songs inspired by a story: his life story, as documented by his own hand in his forthcoming new memoir.”
16 | Steve Earle & The Dukes | It’s About Blood
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Steve Earle & The Dukes will release Ghosts of West Virginia on May 22. Ghosts of West Virginia centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed 29 men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Today he premiered the powerful It’s About Blood, in which Earle blazons the names of all the men who died. “I thought that, given the way things are now, it was maybe my responsibility to make a record that spoke to and for people who didn’t vote the way that I did,” he says. “One of the dangers that we’re in is if people like me keep thinking that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist or an asshole, then we’re fucked, because it’s simply not true. So this is one move toward something that might take a generation to change. I wanted to do something where that dialogue could begin.”
17 | Ric Wilson & Terrace Martin | Chicago Bae (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago-based hip-hop artist Ric Wilson and LA-based producer/musician Terrace Martin announce their collaborative EP, They Call Me Disco, out May 8. Entirely produced by Martin, the Grammy-nominated artist who’s worked extensively with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Lalah Hathaway, Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, and more, They Call Me Disco is built on a retro backbone, seamlessly fusing funk-forward rhythms, Wilson’s playful and poignant lyrics, velvety vocal layers, and percussive beats. Today, they present its lead single, Chicago Bae, a snappy earworm which was co-produced by Ted Chung & J Trx and features BJ The Chicago Kid.”
18 | Marchelle Bradanini | Red White & Blues
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Critically acclaimed musician Marchelle Bradanini has returned with a tongue-in-cheek, politically charged new single Red White & Blues. With influences spanning Angel Olsen & Jenny Lewis to folk icon Leonard Cohen, the moody, goth-noir song features Nashville-based singer/songwriter Tristen and was produced by her longtime collaborator Adam Landry with Amy Wood on drums.”
19 | Close the Hatch | Death Of Wolves
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Ohio doom/atmospheric metal unit Close the Hatch will release their Modern Witchcraft full-length next month. In advance of the record’s release, the band is pleased to unveil opening psalm Death Of Wolves noting, “This track is about fighting your internal dialog; the self-doubt that comes from taking risks. All the worry about how you will be perceived by others for doing something you, in your heart, know is what you’d like to do. The unrealized dream … Death Of Wolves is about removing those levels of doubt to just do the thing you want to do regardless of the reception. It opens the record because it’s essentially whole concept behind the record and the band’s shift in style.”
20 | Joan As Police Woman | Not The Way
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Joan As Police Woman has announced Cover Two, a stunning second covers collection out May 1. Joined by Parker Kindred (drums, vocals) and Cole Kamen-Green (trumpet, EVI), Joan has released her propulsive rendition of Cass McCombs’ Not The Way, transfixing listeners with a heart shattering, electrified opus. She shares, “Not The Way is from Cass McCombs’ first EP. I’d listened to the song for years before I realized what the lyrics were and then just wanted to create a version of my own. The verse describes being judgmental and difficult which leads to the blithe chorus “That’s not the way to make friends”. Effortlessly humorous without being funny.”
21 | Oracle Sisters | Most Of All
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Paris-based Oracle Sisters release Most Of All, the second single from upcoming EP Paris I due for release later this spring. Most Of All was originally conceived as a challenge by Lewis (lead guitar) and Chris (lead vocals) to come up with a melody for a pub ballad that can be “sung in the way that people stand on tables and bang their pints like gavels in bars across Ireland and Scotland around closing time”, countries they both lived in soaking up the roots folk and balladeer troubadour culture. Chris presented the melody and they set about developing the song from there together. The song’s evolution took many turns, with and without a band, recorded on tape, on a church organ, and as stripped down as possible. In kind there are over 10 recorded versions of the song.”
22 | Christine Nguyen | Better Days
THE PRESS RELEASE: “i wrote this song about wanting to grow up my entire childhood and realizing that i should have cherished my youth and imagination. i have lost that naivety and happiness that i had as a child and i can’t turn back time, but i think about what i would tell my younger self. embrace your differences that set you apart from everyone else and never lose your spark!!!”
23 | Kyler Tapscott | Home
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Born in Harwood, Ontario, Kyler Tapscott began playing the guitar at age 11. His recently recorded EP, Kyler, marks his debut as a solo artist, and showcases his talent not only as a guitarist but as a singer-songwriter. Produced by Darcy Yates of the Juno-winning band Bahamas and featuring a lineup of Toronto’s top musicians, the EP is an eclectic mix of Kyler’s influences, which range from rock to roots. Kyler’s new single Home encapsulates the feelings of nostalgia of home.”
