Alex Kapranos and Clara Luciani split some summer wine, Monro speaks in tongues, Wilmette share their Adderall, Le Ren loses it, Electric Mud make a killing and more in your Tuesday Roundup. Really? It’s only Tuesday? Damn. I find that hard to believe.
PICKS OF THE DAY
1 | Alex Kapranos & Clara Luciani | Summer Wine
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and acclaimed French chanteuse Clara Luciani have teamed up to cover Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood’s Summer Wine. Sung in English and French, the track is accompanied by a charming video directed by Ryder The Eagle. Talking about the track and video, Alex said: “Back in October, Clara asked me to join her on stage at the Olympia in Paris, where we first sang Summer Wine together. We are both big fans of Lee and Nancy, and enjoyed the interaction that the song allows you. Clara translated the chorus into French, and the performance is bilingual, which really suits the song.”
2 | Monro | Tongues
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tongues is the latest release from U.K. producer Monro (Doja Cat, Sinead Harnett, Jhene Aiko, Flohio). Currently working towards the release of his upcoming EP, he unveils the video for its first single featuring Jalen Santoy. Seeping in synths, bass and deep pulsing rhythms, Tongues is bouncy and bold with dance flair, plus an unapologetic energy that evolves throughout the song, and is certainly everpresent throughout his catalogue. Jalen’s infectious personality and wordplay lights up the track and is the befitting piece to Monro’s forward-thinking concept.”
3 | Wilmette | Adderall
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Illinois-based pop-punk band Wilmette debut a new music video for the new song Adderall, the first single off the band’s just-announced self-titled EP, out Sept. 25. Says Peyton Day (bass/vocals): “This video is supposed to be the epitome of hindsight in a relationship. As the aliens rummage through the crashed spaceship, they find a log of events that detailed how the astronauts crashed into their planet. They know they were too late in helping, and all they can do is watch the aftermath. Only 2/5s of the group come back, signifying a change in their reality, while the aliens are obviously unscathed.”
4 | Le Ren | The Day I Lose My Mind
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Le Ren, moniker of 26-year-old Montreal-based musician Lauren Spear, shares a new single/video, The Day I Lose My Mind. The track appears on her debut EP Morning & Melancholia, out July 31. The Day I Lose My Mind, written by Dallas Frazier, reckons with fading memories of a loved one. It strolls with guitar, woozy pedal steel, and Spear’s assured voice. The accompanying video, directed by Zoë Robertson and shot on an iPhone, is composed of miniatures that are instep with Spear’s colorful and playful aesthetic. “Director Zoe Robertson kindly arranged a meeting with Sssally (the snake) and after many stories, drinks, hisses and haws we discovered we had a lot in common,” says Spear. “It was a no brainer to cast her as the lead in this video and have Zoe capture a day in her life. Though her apartment is physically small, her heart and story are as big as can be.” Robertson adds: “The Day I Lose My Mind video is a reflection on loss, and how grief distorts time and memory.”
5 | The Electric Mud | The First Murder on Mars
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Florida-based stoner/retro rock unit The Electric Mud will release their Burn The Ships full-length Sept. 25. In advance of the record’s release, the band is pleased to debut a video for opening track, The First Murder On Mars, shot at Sonic Studios in Fort Myers, Florida by Matt Anastasi. Crawling from the humid, mangrove-choked banks of the Caloosahatche River, The Electric Mud drifted from late night jam sessions, backyard keggers, and a revolving cast of members until one night, Peter Kolter, Pierson Whicker, Tommy Scott, and Constantine Grim found themselves in an old fashioned Morricone-style standoff. Each had reputations around their Florida town as serious musicians and hard workers, and after throwing lightning bolts around the room for a few hours it became clear that they had found not just a band, but a sound. Alongside their love for The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd and their shared Florida roots, came also a deep appreciation for the proto metal of Black Sabbath and the prog metal of Mastodon, and the band aimed to slow cook it and serve it to the masses.”
6 | Anna von Hausswolff | Sacro Bosco
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sacro Bosco is the starting point for Anna von Hausswolff’s new album All Thoughts Fly, incoming on Sept. 25. Sacro Bosco (Sacred Grove) is a garden, based in Bomarzo in the center of Italy, containing grotesque mythological sculptures and buildings overgrown with vegetation, situated in a wooded valley. Created during the 16th Century, Sacro Bosco was commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini, some say to try and cope with his grief following the death of his wife Guilia Farnese; others speculate the purpose was to create art. Von Hausswolff explains, “There’s a sadness and wilderness that inspired me to write this album, also a timelessness. I believe that this park has survived not only due to its beauty but also because of the iconography, it has been liberated from predictable ideas and ideals.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
7 | Yves Jarvis | For Props
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Montreal’s Yves Jarvis announced his third album Sundry Rock Song Stock will be released digitally on Sept. 25. Filmed at the Tree Museum in Gravenhurst, Ont,, watch Yves perform under the trees in the video for new single For Props. Jarvis says: “What does it mean to earn a fortune? I’ve demonized people who can’t empathize and can’t reciprocate, because that’s how it feels. I’m just playing a role there. On the other side, everybody is pandering for props, even the good ones. That disgusts me, but I don’t want to criticize it in the real world. I just want to criticize it in a song. I see people going back and forth arguing and it seems like a nightmare to me. You have to listen to my music if you want to know what I think about anything.”
8 | The Gooms | God’s Target
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Los Angeles indie-rock quartet The Gooms share their song and animated video for God’s Target from their album Laugh, due Sept. 4. The Gooms said, “There is an absurdity to the idea that an omnipotent, ‘God-like’ character would care enough about the problems of one single person to target and ridicule them. This song is about those who blame anything or everyone instead of taking responsibility for their own choices. Also, it’s got a pretty catchy chorus.” The 12-track album is a collection of upbeat songs with dark undertones of mingling comic and tragic elements including various emotional dissonances that animate the band’s exploration of social relationships, isolation and personal limitations related to tragedy.”
9 | Moscow Apartment | Halfway
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Teenagers Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla are the duo behind Moscow Apartment, the Toronto indie-rockers who recently released their self-produced sophomore EP, Better Daughter. Today, the band has released a new video for their single Halfway. “The video is partly filmed in the area of Toronto that we live in and shows some of the places that are really special to us. Our recently released EP, Better Daughter, is very much a product of us growing up in the west end of the city by the lake. We both live near the southern end of High Park and feel really connected to Parkdale and Roncy village. We like that this is shown in the video for Halfway, which was the lead single from the EP.”
10 | Angel Olsen | Whole New Mess
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Angel Olsen will release Whole New Mess, her first solo album since her 2012 debut, on Aug. 28. A super-intimate and vulnerable emotional portrait that shows her grappling with a period of personal tumult, Whole New Mess presents Olsen working through her open wounds and raw nerves with just a few guitars and some microphones, isolated in a century-old church in the Pacific Northwest. In conjunction with today’s announcement, Olsen presents the lead single, Whole New Mess, with a video directed by longtime collaborator Ashley Connor.”
11 | Quinn DeVeaux | Good Times Roll
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following the release of his retro R&B soul extravaganza Book Of Soul, Nashville musician Quinn DeVeaux is offering another look into the passionate and electric synergies of his live band with the second single and energetic studio performance video Good Times Roll. “I wrote Good Times Roll after meeting a couple I had a crush on,” says Quinn. “I was about to play their wedding and their vibe was just so cool. Their love was infectious, and I went home and wrote a song about what it felt like to me. I don’t think I ever told them. I hope they’re well. I get tired of writing about myself, so I love when I meet people that I am so obviously inspired by. I like to step outside of my mind for a while and pretend to be other people. Just good fun.”
12 | Obscura Hail | Doomer
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Doomer is the new single from Obscura Hail — the indie rock trio helmed by songwriter Sean Conran. Balanced out by Tamara Issa (bass, vocals) and Kaelan Edmond (drums), Obscura Hail combines biting guitars, beautiful harmonies, atmospheric acoustic percussion, loops and drum machines to deliver something dynamic and existentially curated. Doomer was written when Sean was watching Greta Thunberg’s impact on the world. About Doomer from Sean: “The instrumentation is our heaviest yet, to give a voice to the guilt, shame, anger and frustration that comes with feeling powerless. It’s rhetoric is about the purpose of power in the presence of crisis and its roots are in the motivation and awareness given to me by punk songs growing up. I wanted the narrative to express the discovery of this voice breaking through blissful ignorance, in favour of real change extending beyond experience.”
13 | Realize | Disappear
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Arizona’s Realize channels Godflesh, Nailbomb, and Meathook Seed with their sophomore full-length Machine Violence, assembling an abrasive and hyper-aggressive take on industrial metal. The band amalgamates crushing metal riffs with driving, yet often unorthodox industrial rhythms and dissonant noise. Machine Violence will be released Sept. 25. Realize tackles stark themes such as isolation, altered reality, simulations, and anxiety, taking inspiration from science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick and Frederik Pohl.”
14 | D Tiberio | Jeffy Just Needs A Hug
THE PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. beat scene producer D Tiberio presents a new animation video for his Jeffy Just Needs A Hug single. It’s a brand new animation by artist Calvin Trezise, an artist exploring leftfield movements in dance, experimental & computer music. “When I was working on the tracks I came across this tag in my neighborhood that said, Jeffy Just Needs A Hug. It gave me a sweet feeling but also some undercurrent of melancholy. These are uncertain times. I’m not sure what Jeffy’s struggle is but someone is thinking of him.”
15 | Lauv | Love Somebody
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lauv releases the video for Love Somebody, a track off of his surprise Without You EP released last month. The intimate video was directed by Hunter Lyon. Lauv’s Without You EP (released last month) featured four tracks that were all written and produced during quarantine with Amy Allen, DallasK and Johnny Simpson, among others.”
16 | iNTeLL | Legacy Drip
THE PRESS RELEASE: “2nd Generation Wu leader and 1/2 of the GFTD duo, iNTeLL wants you to know that his Drip has always been rooted in his Legacy. On his latest offering appropriately titled Legacy Drip, iNTeLL reminds his world audience that lyrics are more important than flashiness when trying to build and maintain an everlasting legacy like the one Wu-Tang has provided to not only the rap game but for global culture as a whole. The music video, shot by Alex Antigua, opens up with a promotion for iNTeLL’s new frenetic, neon, early ’90s workout video (jokes) and provides a hilarious visual throughout to go along with the acrobatics of his word play and mind flipping lyrics. Is that a wig? Nobody knows for sure. When asked about the inspiration for the video, iNTeLL had this to say: “Guy HipsterBlak is my Hip Hop 2020 homage to Richard Simmons. My wife Prema777 started a juicing company so we’re becoming a family unit focused on better nutrition along with health & fitness and I’ll always find a way to tie it into my music because I’m a genius.”
17 | Thrasherwolf | The Vortex
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in 2016, Thrasherwolf are a new force in U.K. thrash metal. They’ve been building their reputation and honing their skills with incendiary performances on the underground gig circuit and working feverishly on material for their debut album. That album is now complete and ready for launch, so prepare yourselves for We Are Revolution, nine tracks of prime, jaw-breaking, blood-spitting thrash, going for the throat on Sept. 19! To whet the appetite and heighten the anticipation the band today reveal a lyric video for album highlight The Vortex’ This wild carnival of riffs, hooks and pure adrenalin will have all true thrashers hungry for the revolution!”
18 | Blaqk Audio | Hiss
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Blaqk Audio — the electronic duo featuring AFI icons Davey Havok and Jade Puget — have announced their new album Beneath The Black Palms. The album is being released in two parts. Side A arrives today and features five songs. The entire album drops on Aug. 21. “Beneath the Black Palms is an affirmation, exaltation, and momentary illumination of rich, arcane shadows fortified by blinding and rapturous light,” Havok says. “Musically a bird sister of Only Things We Love, our latest record more deeply traverses our EBM and futrurepop roots while also extending into moods unheard from us before. I am deeply excited to have the opportunity to share it with all.” The band has also shared the video for the new track Hiss. “Hiss is a lovely slice of noisy darkness,” says Puget. “Listen closely and you can hear the susurration of the palms.”
19 | Hailey Blais | Rob the Original
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver-based singer-songwriter and musician Haley Blais premieres a shimmering new song titled Rob the Original, an “empathetic single balancing a concern for mental health with guitar-and-piano led instrumentals brimming with positivity.” As dissonant guitar strings fire and a bass drum pulses, Blais softly lulls us with the record’s ethos “With all these magic moments sparkling, this one’s mine.” Of this Tennis-produced single, she shares that “Rob the Original is inspired by a close friend of mine who has dealt with depression and various mental health issues their entire life, and recollections of how it feels as though an alien completely takes over your body. The title coincidentally derives from the Wikipedia page about E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, so big alien vibes.”
20 | Tricky | Thinking Of
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Pioneering producer Tricky shares new single Thinking Of, the captivating opening song of his forthcoming album Fall To Pieces, out Sept. 4. It demands repeat listens, drawing you in further with the unique signature that could still only ever be attributed to Tricky. The track features Marta Złakowska on vocals — the singer he discovered during a Polish tour when he was left without a vocalist on the opening night: the local promoter suggested a girl who worked in a nearby bar, and when she arrived she had already learned the chorus to Tricky’s song When We Die. It sounds fortuitous — much like when Tricky encountered his original female vocalist Martina Topley-Bird by chance when she sang outside his front door. But of course he has an intuition too. “Yeah, I can tell when someone is humble and down to earth. Marta doesn’t care about being famous, she just wants to sing.”
21 | Behind The Horror | Outland
THE PRESS RELEASE: “With the wind from their debut EP still strong under their wings, Modern Metal duo Behind The Horror prepare to release their first full length album — Burn Up This Truth. Their campaign of carnage will unleash its full wrath onto the world 08/10/2020 and will demonstrate the full power of Behind The Horror. The band released Outland, the perfect track to sow the seeds of anticipation and give the world a taste of what is to come. Says Gabriel Alves: “A lot of our songs are conceived from long jam sessions, blasting out riffs, mashing them together and making them around until they fit. “The inspiration for the Lyrics is a bit cliche but it was what I was living at that moment. Outland talks about a broken heart. When you have something, you don’t realize the value of it and you only get to know that when you have lost it, you discover how important that thing was, and you realize that You Are Not Prepared.”
22 | Moot | I Want To Be Like Clint Eastwood
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Delivering a restrained-yet-moody vibe, Australian garage punk act Moot pay homage to Clint Eastwood in a Sex Pistols meets The Good, The Bad and The Ugly kind of way. Driving into the territory occupied by the Dead Kennedys, Radio Birdman and Black Flag, Moot deliver it with ease, showcasing a wealth of experience and talent. Their music is fast and their lyrics are sharp. No subject is above pulling down. This is a band which knows their punters have opinions, a sense of humour, understand sarcasm and are just as frustrated as they are at what is going on.”
23 | May Have | May Have (Misunderstood)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Saturday night dance party. Gut-wrenching lyrics. Perfectly placed synths. May Have’s new EP, Misunderstood, draws influences ranging from Sylvan Esso to Daft Punk. Ahead of the EP release on Aug. 28, May Have just dropped the official first single/title track. Unlike any other May Have song to date, May Have (Misunderstood) is a duet. The two voices, almost doubled the whole way through, seem to sing to one another suggesting something like ‘in it together’ or ‘I hear you’ or even ‘me too, I’ve done that.’ The sustained keyboards at the very beginning offer a kind of calm after a storm’ mood. They seem to hold you throughout May Have (Misunderstood) in a soft and safe place while you attempt to open up a difficult conversation.”
24 | Boy Made Flower | Text Me
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Boy Made Flower aka Henrik Lund is a lo-fi pop artist from Oslo who channels everything from the lyrical flow of Mac Miller and Kendrick Lamar to the sombre vocal melodies of Westerman and Role Model. Casting a forlorn figure on new single Text Me, he plays the archetypal unrequited lover. In a predicament that all of us can empathise with, he agonises ‘Just f—ing text me’. Razor sharp snare hits punctuate layer upon layer of harmony, complementing and reflecting Lund’s sardonic sense of humour. He tells us the song is about “the fact that I had a bit of a crush on a close friend. At that point I had already decided not to pursue my feelings. I remember sobbing all the way home after having passed out on the street, without even opening my third beer for the night. I was completely out of it, and I wrote the verse the morning after, based on the things I could remember from the incident.”
25 | Heshoo Beshoo Group | Armitage Road
THE PRESS RELEASE: “With a unique sound founded on a persuasive mix of American and African jazz, Armitage Road, originally released in 1970, was the only studio recording released by South Africa’s Heshoo Beshoo Group. As a highly prized collector’s item, a re-issue, remaster and re-appraisal of this lost gem from the apartheid era has been long overdue. The Heshoo Beshoo Group were formed in 1969 by Henry Sithole following his work with Dalton Kanyile’s Keynotes, Gibsen Kente’s Sikalo, and Mackay Davashe’s Jazz Dazzlers. The group included his brother Stanley Sithole, guitarist Cyril Magubane — who penned much of the material on this LP — Ernest Mothle and Nelson Magwaza.”
26 | Kilfeather | King Creep
THE PRESS RELEASE: “K. Kilfeather is an American guitarist/singer/songwriter based out of Las Vegas. He delivers a sound that can best be described as “psych garage punk”. How heavy is the head that wears the crown? Kilfeather’s brand new single King Creep is an upbeat guitar freak-out spanning a multiverse of punk, rock ‘n’ roll. King Creep shifts unpredictably as it winds somewhere between The Misfits and Black Sabbath.”
