Idles get you motivated, Jerry Cans take it outside, Kaonashi make coffee talk, Paradise hit the ground running and more in today’s Roundup. Am I the only one who’s been way too busy for a Tuesday?
VIDEOS OF THE DAY
1 | Idles | Mr. Motivator
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Says frontman Joe Talbot: “We want to start this journey with a means to not only encapsulate the album’s sentiment, but to encourage our audience to dance like no one is watching and plough through these dark times with a two tonne machete of a song and the most beautiful community of scumbags ever assembled. Let’s go. All is love.”
2 | The Jerry Cans | Swell (My Brother)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Iqaluit’s The Jerry Cans have always been, and will always be, a band from and for the north. But on Echoes, the Juno Award-nominated group’s upcoming fourth full-length record, they’re not the band they used to be. The record arrives with a wash of glassy, slashing electric guitars, thundering drums, effects-warped throat singing, and darkened violin work. These are sounds of love, anxiety, desperation, and grief, and the tangled relationships between these things. It is intense and heavy, a charred, deep-blue Arctic indie rock soundscape.The band recorded in early 2019 with producer Jace Lasek (Besnard Lakes) at Lasek’s revered Breakglass Studio in Montreal. The record’s tension is palpable, but it’s no less danceable or anthemic. On Echoes, The Jerry Cans continue a tradition of celebration and resistance marching in lockstep, acknowledging the vital and fortifying importance of both. The band is stepping boldly into the dark, but they’re doing it together, in the hope of carving out some place brighter.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
3 | Kaonashi | Coffee & Conversation
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Philadelphia emo mathcore outfit Kaonashi shared a new music video for their harrowing Coffee & Conversation. Taken off the band’s 2018 EP, Why Did You Do It?, the clip dives deeper into the story of their three concept characters — manic-depressive high school student Jamie, Morgan the bully, and love interest Casey — as they sift through the throes of Lemon House High. Directed and filmed by The Contortionist vocalist Michael Lessard, the video marks the last chapter of Why Did You Do It?, but it is not the last fans will see of the story of Lemon House High. The band are currently working on their debut full-length album, which will follow Jamie and the others through a new perspective. In the meantime, the band has been keeping busy connecting through the world of gaming, recently performing virtually on Minecraft festival Block By Block West, as well as starting their own Discord channel.”
4 | 박혜진 Park Hye Jin | Like This
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The highly anticipated follow up to her 2018 debut, 박혜진 Park Hye Jin will release her new EP How Can I on 12” and digitally on June 26. How Can I comes off the back of an incredible 18 months that have seen 박 Park (surname) 혜진 Hye Jin (first name) go from releasing her debut EP to playing shows at legendary venues such as Berlin’s Panorama Bar and Ibiza’s DC-10, with bookings at big international festivals like Primavera. Written as it was in 2019, it would have been impossible to conceive the circumstances in which this EP would come to be released. For Hye Jin though, it was important that she release the music as soon as possible, noting, pragmatically: “who knows if I might die tomorrow, but at least if that happens, I’ll die really happy.” Marking her first solo output since that 2018 debut, she was also acutely aware of the expectations of her fans, leaving them with a simple message, “Thank you for waiting. I appreciate you.”
5 | Paradise | Hitting On All Sixes
THE PRESS RELEASE: “In 2005, Paradise started a long hiatus, after the release of the album Hotel, now they have broken their silence with a new record and new videos to prove to fans they can still rock out after all these years. The self-titled album was released on March 13, to excellent global reviews. The band has a new video for the single Hitting On All Sixes, a track that comes with energetic lyrics over top of an old school car race, guaranteed to get your heart racing and headbanging. The band adds: “Hitting On All Sixes is a pedal-to-the-metal octane-infused rock and roll kind of track, the type of song that will get you speeding tickets if you listen to it while driving, even if you drive a shitbox.”
6 | Convertible | Not A Cloud
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Convertible had just finished production on the follow-up to Hans Platzgumer’s well-received musical fantasy, Holst Gate. The new record continues the story of Colin Holst, his band, and their lament or wonder about the world around them. The video to the single, Not A Cloud, would be a big production shot in L.A. — lots of notorious guests, drugs and mayhem amongst the Joshua trees. Some big-named actor signed-on to play Colin. The band would fly out for their cameos, maybe even play the Sunset Strip. It was going to be a huge party! Then the Corona thing happened. The desert party got nixed. Crestfallen, producer, Chris Laine rewrote the script so the same thing could be done in Austria. Different location, different faces, same party! Nope. Lockdown. #@%&! Director Max Parovsky, unable to leave his Vienna flat for the foreseeable future, suggested throwing the party digitally. The band sent photos of themselves from home, which Max composited into a big virtual generator party. The result couldn’t have been more fitting. Not A Cloud is a tale of liberation from a turbulent romance. But, more broadly, it’s about just getting-over it— whatever it might be— finding the light after a stormy night.”
7 | Brian Wilson & Van Dyke Parks | What a Wonderful World
THE PRESS RELEASE: “In 1966, when Brian Wilson prepared the follow-up to his masterpiece Pet Sounds, he employed the services of the Mississippi-born, L.A.-based musical jack-of-all-trades Van Dyke Parks as lyricist for The Beach Boys’ next album, SMiLE. As history would soon document, SMiLE became the most famous unreleased album in rock history, its “completion” not seeing daylight until a Grammy Award-winning box set, The Smile Sessions, was released in 2011. As SMiLE quickly grew in legendary terms, Brian and Van Dyke each went their separate musical ways, only to reunite briefly in 1972 for The Beach Boys’ classic Sail on Sailor. So it was perhaps with great apprehension and excitement that these two musical giants should finally reunite in 1994 for some unfinished business. This time, however, the mission would be complete. The musical terrain familiar: a paean to California. Omnivore Recordings is very proud to announce the release of the 25th anniversary special edition of Orange Crate Art, on June 19. You can check out the track What A Wonderful World today. Says Van Dyke Parks: “Brian Wilson and I embrace all those who feel isolated in long-distance love. We chose this song from our Orange Crate Art to remind us all — the fundamental things apply, as time goes by. It is A Wonderful World after all.”
8 | Karima Francis | Orange Rose
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Karima Francis lifts the veil on an elegant new track: Orange Rose. Making a welcome return to the spotlight, the singer-songwriter from Blackpool delivers an atmospheric and elegiac single for the soul, that emerges as her first new material of 2020. Wrapt in a haze of misty atmospherics and languid acoustics, at its heart Orange Rose is a love song straight and true. Though like almost all love stories, this one is not without its complications. Offering wistful rumination on how mental health can send shockwaves through even the most intimate and entwined of relationships, Orange Rose sees Karima strike a masterful balance of meditative and melancholy songwriting. “In a world where we sometimes feel we can’t speak out, we tend to take it the worst out on people closest to us.” says Karima, opening-up about the track’s fragile subject matter.”
9 | Emily Vu | Weekend
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Viral pop artist Emily Vu is releasing her new single Weekend. The new single was co-produced by multi-platinum producer Sir Nolan — who has worked with the likes of Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Khalid — and Andrew Schmidt aka SZNS. Anchored by an infectious guitar riff, an atmospheric pop production, and Emily’s hypnotizing vocals, Weekend is an instantly catchy listen.”
10 | Jordan Klassen | Ministry of Doubt
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jordan Klassen is sharing another new single from his upcoming album, Tell Me What To Do. Ministry of Doubt, with its orchestral beginning, is a hymn reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence. A song that reminds us that loneliness is an inescapable element of the human experience seems especially relevant in this time of self-isolation and social distancing… prophetic even. Ironically, with Klassen’s new release, Tell Me What To Do, no one told him what to do. This results in an album conceived and written independently, without artifice or pretension. Although recorded in the midst of potentially crippling professional challenges, with this album Klassen embraced his inner muse. He took full creative control, leading to musical stories that are true, unadulterated expressions of his own search for identity in a transient world.”
11 | The Foxies | Deep Sea Diver
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Nashville-based trio The Foxies are known for their explosive brand of rock ‘n’ roll, which combines electro-pop elements with thrashing punk energy. Today, ahead of the May 29 release of their EP Growing Up Is Dead, the band shared their latest song Deep Sea Diver. “Deep Sea Diver is a love song to yourself,” singer Julia Lauren Bullock explains, a fitting theme song for Mental Health Awareness Month. “It’s going to the deep end of your own soul to tell yourself, ‘Hey, I’ll be there for you.’ You’re going to have to live with yourself for the rest of your life, so you might as well be your best friend.”
12 | Jorma Tapio & Kaski | Aliseen
THE PRESS RELEASE: “With the new album Aliseen, legendary Finnish saxophone player Jorma Tapio and his group Kaski connect two traditions: local folk music and free jazz. Jorma Tapio formed Kaski in 2015. Kaski is the Finnish term to describe the traditional way of burning a forest to make the ground fertile again. The eleven songs that make up the album reflect on rural life in Finland, a country that has been occupied either by Sweden or Russia through the centuries; a nordic land with long dark winters, midnight sun in the summer, and deep links to the spiritual world. The album title Aliseen is the Finnish word for a shaman’s trip to the underworld. What makes this album so special is Tapio’s success in combining the Finnish dark, mysterious and spiritual traditional world with the cosmic sound of Don Byas, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and the great tradition of American jazz, free jazz, and improvised music.”
13 | Forming The Void | Trace The Omen
THE PRESS RELEASE: “U.S. progressive doom explorers Forming The Void unveil a high-end, hypnotic video for their single Trace The Omen, taken from their new album Reverie. Says frontman James Marshall: “Trace the Omen is one of the most pessimistic songs on this album. It has an end of days theme and takes an indifferent look at it. The video concept is a tree of life growing and creating humanity, only to be destroyed by its creation. Cycle of life and death.” With Reverie, Louisiana’s progressive metal psychonauts Forming the Void seek to further explore aspects of the sound they’ve shaped on their previous outings, guided by a desire to strike a balance between organic and intentional. The result is an album that reaches new levels of refined depth, mystical energy and cosmic transcendence. Reverie summons sonic fantasies from another dimension — ones that tear you away from your human condition to take you higher. With their luscious blend of mountain-like riffs, swirling Eastern melodies and majestic vocals, this fourth album is a divine take on modern heavy music.”
14-16 | James Krivchenia | Temptation Reduced + The Eternal Spectator + Touched By An Angel
THE PRESS RELEASE: “James Krivchenia, drummer of Big Thief and a many-armed sculptor of music, announces his new album, A New Found Relaxation, out June 26. Today, he releases three of the album’s tracks — Temptation Reduced, The Eternal Spectator and Touched By An Angel. Those unfamiliar with Krivchenia’s solo work may be surprised to discover a multi-faceted and abstract musical artist, one capable of deconstructing and rebuilding the auditory world around him. A New Found Relaxation is a refinement of Krivchenia’s method of transforming concrete found material into abstract crystals that still shine with their original glow. “Partly it’s my attempt at fast slow paced music. Partly, I was trying to take mundane or banal ‘beauty’ and process it — in the literal musical realm but also within myself,” says Krivchenia. “To me, the smooth chilled out background music of our world is often the most terrifying. I wanted to swim in relaxation signifiers but stir the pot, foul it, and have everything sort of bleed together and swirl with pace. Part of immersion for me also contains a sense of confusion and that’s the kind of immersion I’m going for.”
17 | Jaime Wyatt | Goodbye Queen
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jaime Wyatt will release Neon Cross next Friday, May 29. The 11-song set was produced by the two-time Grammy Award winning producer Shooter Jennings and features Neal Casal on guitar, harmonica, and Wurlitzer in one of his final recordings before his death in August of 2019. Today, Wyatt shares the album highlight Goodbye Queen. On Jennings as a producer, Wyatt said, “What really sold me on Shooter is that he understands grooves — he gets how to instruct a band to build a groove that is so powerful underneath a song. And it’s crazy because that’s what Waylon [Jennings, Shooter’s father] did. He always had these rad country songs with these super-weird, funky rock ‘n’ roll grooves under them. He would take things to interesting and unexpected places. Shooter has that same instinct.”
18 | Troy Junker | We Up feat. Thea May
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Troy Junker is a rapper who, by looks, won’t give you what you expect. A high school dropout-turned-Uranium miner — who left it all and moved from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to Toronto to follow his dreams — now has his feet firmly planted in the music industry. When it comes to lyrical flow, Troy shape-shifts between theme and tone, delivering uplifting bangers for fun and slower tracks with thoughtful messages. The Canadian Métis rapper drops We Up, the new single off his forthcoming EP, The Path — set for release on July 20. Drawing from Troy’s own personal experiences, We Up examines themes of hard work and perseverance, and Troy’s drive to steer himself in a positive direction to fulfill his musical passion. The track features vocals from Sudbury Indigenous artist Thea May, and was produced by Harmon1x (Thea’s producer).”
19 | Mister Tracy | Never Alone
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Mister Tracy believes in the power of creativity in harsh times and sees the lockdown as an opportunity for humankind. “As an artist, you learn how to get over the fear of being alone and having the possibility to create something amazing that you can spread to the world. Art comes from pain, suffering and boredom as well”. Mister Tracy is a classically trained opera singer and pianist with two degrees in opera and jazz from Paris and Montreal. His musical universe blends pop and jazz in an unconventional electronic approach. Greatly influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, Queen, Fairuz, Carole King, Alicia Keys and Chet Baker, he started writing music during childhood and never stopped. Meticulous about his writing approach, Tracy is obsessed with musical colours, voices and chord progressions. Mister Tracy believes in variety and a limitless possibility in what the human voice can achieve. His motto “I don’t care what you think” is his personal approach to dealing with criticism and bullying. In March 2020, Mister Tracy released an EP entitled Dreamers, a message of hope and solidarity.”
20 | Aidan Knight | Sixteen Stares
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver Island artist Aidan Knight is sharing his new single Sixteen Stares in line with which he is announcing details of his forthcoming fourth album Aidan Knight, due for release on Aug. 28. The new record arrives following previous releases that have secured support on both sides of the Atlantic and found Knight performing alongside Half Moon Run, Andy Shauf and Villagers, as well as marking an appearance at Glastonbury Festival. Aidan Knight marks a welcome return from a musician who spent his formative years writing and performing alongside the likes of Hannah Georgas, The Zolas and Dan Mangan. This new record captures an artist in transition and development, it’s a collection of music moulded by different environments — be that Berlin, Vancouver Island, or somewhere in between — that tells unflinching tales of personal growth, all hemmed with a tongue-firmly-in-cheek sense of humour.”
21 | Zombi | 2020
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Zombi’s new album 2020, their first in five years, showcases the songwriting prowess that has pushed the duo of Steve Moore (synthesizers, guitars, bass) and A.E. Paterra (drums) to evolve throughout their storied, 20-year career. Zombi has strived to build upon and expand their sound with every release. Now more than ever, the band stays true to their ethos. From the pulse-pounding, dramatic opener Breakthrough & Conquer, to the melodic bass whirls found in XYZT, 2020 proves to be Zombi’s most riff-intensive album. Synthwave and neon crescendos are furloughed in favor of Blue Oyster Cult inspired progressive epics. A truly therapeutic loop of immersive instrumental rock, 2020 might just be Zombi’s most ambitious album yet.”
22 | Marie Dahlstrom | I Don’t Wanna Wake Up
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Danish London based artist Marie Dahlstrom shares the final taster of her upcoming debut album Like Sand, with new single I Don’t Wanna Wake Up, featuring South London soul singer James Vickery. Like Sand is out this Friday, May 22. Pairing soft synth lines with a groove-laden rhythm section, I Don’t Wanna Wake Up tells a story of desire. Speaking on the collaboration, Marie said: “I’ve been a fan of James’ voice for a while. James and I had a session at mine, and this song just came about so naturally, we just started humming melodies over the chord progression and not long into the session we had the line ‘I don’t wanna wake up’. I produced this song myself and I remember leaving the production for a while before actually committing to finishing it and that’s when I got my friend Liam Joseph to jump on some bass and Qmillion to get involved for the mixing.”
23 | Home State | Call Me / Leave Me
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Home State are a New York-based rock band who rarely stick to the status quo. Their new track Call Me / Leave Me boasts a variety of unique flavours delving into the rock and electro-pop space. Call Me / Leave Me is proving the heaps of quality that the three-piece outfit possess. The sound which the track boasts could be mistaken for a larger band with its high octane riffs and bold and out of this world melodies. Vocally, Alex Friedlander delights with a sublime vocal which many would find hard to fault. David on the drums thumps away given the rhythm a robust and hard to resist foundation. And the slick guitar riffs which guitarist and keys player Matt delivers is enough on its own to drag you into the vortex.”
24 | Fiona | Auburn
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Fiona Harte is a singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland who has won the hearts of many with her poetic lyrics and ambrosial vocals. She began to develop an early interest in the story’s being told behind songs on the radio and at the age of 8 years old started to write her own music. Fiona continued to hone her craft and has since penned hits for a range of artists such as Duke Special and Rachael Sage. “Auburn is the second single from my new EP titled Home Recordings. Inspired by these trying times I decided to start a project during the isolation period writing and recording songs from my bedroom, no studio, no band, just me. The arrangement is just guitar and vocals and to me that’s enough for this track. The song asks the question “why do we always seem to think the grass is greener on the other side?”
25 | MXXWLL | Light Turn Green
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Los Angeles and Australia lie thousands of miles apart, yet the Sydney-born producer MXXWLL more than embodies the California Love. MXXWLL announces the release of his debut album with single and official video Light Turn Green features a line-up of impressive collaborators including LA’s John Givez, Rae Khalil as well as NY producer Carrtoons. MXXWLL explains: “I’d just arrived in LA and I hit up John Givez, he came through to chop it up, we ordered burgers and the track was created that night. We were playing unreleased vault tracks and then we had the idea to make a song which narrates just one car trip, kind of a-day-in-the-life. I had recently put out a sound pack for producers and this dude Carrtoons had purchased it and made this crazy bassline using the pack. We thought it was so fire that we straight away asked if we could flip it for the track. We didn’t know each other at the time, but it was just one of those perfect timing things. Rae Khalil and her manager came over the next day, at the time our managers were just having a meeting, so we got in the studio, she jumped on the hook that day and that was that. I low-key love that the song follows the story of one day and the track also got made in one day”.
26 | Frontside | Give It Up
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Frontside’s upcoming fourth release Closer to Closure EP is due June 12. Frontside are pleased to announce the EP’s opening track Give It Up. In Give It Up, elaborate guitars flow over assertive, emotional vocals from Walter Stanley like a cool Autumn wind. The instrumental technique explored in Give It Up is reminiscent of Dance Gavin Dance and The Dangerous Summer, with a faster punk twist.”
27 | Grayson Foster | Tongue Tied
THE PRESS RELEASE: “I’m a Nashville based indie-artist and I recently released a new single called Tongue Tied. I wrote a song about my constant indecisiveness, both in creativity and life, and despite my father’s plea to pitch it as another Nashville Country tune I decided to release it myself. Sonically I went into the studio ready to make another soft rock song but the amps just sounded better on this one all the way up. I got to work with my friend and fellow artist Katie Toupin, whose voice you will hear in the bridge. I hope you dig the tune, I had a blast making it. While you listen I’ll just go to my happy place and re-watch Empire Strikes Back.”
