Dethlehem get it in motion, Zolle play to win, Bombino come alive, Lexsoul Dancemachine serve up jelly, Henriette Sennenvaldt expands her skill set and more in your Midweek Roundup. Hope you’re in the mood for a little quirkiness. Actually, better make that a lot of quirkiness.
ON REPEAT
1 | Dethlehem | Escape From Wolf Mountain
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pittsburgh metal band Dethlehem are sharing the stop-motion video for Escape From Wolf Mountain — years in the making — from their latest album Maelstrom of the Emerald Dragon, released in July. Inspired by characters from Dungeons and Dragons, Dethlehem produced the film to tell the story of their song. The band says, “the warriors of Dethlehem are in the middle of their campaign to defeat the dark elf Veldras. During this quest, they must summit Wolf Mountain and retrieve a legendary item that was left at the top! A frenzied and stylized battle ensues against undead wolves and more!”
2 | Zolle | M’accetta
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Italy’s off-the-wall noise metallers Zolle share their hilarious new video for M’accetta, from their latest album Macello. M’accetta stages a crazy childish video game co-starring cartoon Slash and James Hetfield. The heavy noise duo deliver another protein-charged priceless footage, highlighting thunderstruck riffage and corrosive rhythms. Zolle say: “Macello (Italian word for “slaughterhouse”, but means also “mess” or “shindy”) is the crudest expression, in all senses, of the coexistence of end and beginning, death and life, absence and presence, tragedy and opportunity. A significant place, a time suspended, a powerful ritual, a real mess.”
3 | Bombino | Azamane Tiliade
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Nov. 27, Niger-born Tuareg guitar virtuoso Bombino will release his first-ever live album as a solo artist, Live in Amsterdam. Recorded in November of 2019 while Bombino and his band were touring behind his acclaimed latest studio album Deran, the release features a searing performances of Azamane Tiliade, which originally appeared on Bombino’s 2013 album Nomad. Live In Amsterdam is dedicated to the loving memory of longtime Bombino bandmember Illias Mohamed Alhassane (rhythm guitar, vocals), who sadly and suddenly passed away in September of this year. Live In Amsterdam features Illias in his final recorded performance with his ‘brothers’ in Bombino’s band.”
4 | Lexsoul Dancemachine | Carambola Jelly
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lexsoul Dancemachine, the Estonian groove monster that never ceases to amaze, has teamed up with Wakaliwood director Nabwana I.G.G. to bring you the video for Carambola Jelly, from the band’s new album Lexplosion II. It all started when Lexsoul discovered the Ugandan director at local film festival. Nabwana has garnered a cult following for his low-budget action movies set in the slums of Kampala. In 15 years of activity he has created more than 50 action-packed films, earning him the title of Uganda’s Tarantino. Fortunately for the band, the busy film creator agreed to get behnd the camera at his Ramon Productions studio to accompany LSDM’s music with a visual story. What follows is a rescue mission like no other.”
5 | Henriette Sennenvaldt | New Skill
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Henriette Sennenvaldt — who you may recognize from her work with the widely acclaimed Danish band Under Byen — will release her debut solo album Something Wonderful on Nov. 13. Alongside announcing her album, Sennenvaldt has released her first single, New Skill, and an accompanying music video directed by Kim Richard Adler Mejdahl. Sennenvaldt explains, “It’s about how the relationship to yourself and to the world can be absolutely new, about discovering yourself as company.”
6 | Okey Dokey | Wine Friends
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Okey Dokey, the Nashville indie-pop band-turned-community, have just shared their newest single and video for Wine Friends, from upcoming album Once Upon One Time, out Oct. 23. Co-produced/mixed by Filip Nikolic of Poolside, the song takes an upbeat approach to the usually dismal subject of death. The record combines new and old sounds to explore anxiety, sobriety, breakups and self-love featuring additional behind-the-boards work from Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel, Darkside’s Dave Harrington, and The Shins’ Yuuki Matthews.”
7 | Brit Drozda | Avalanche
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt-folk singer-songwriter Brit Drozda shares her new video for Avalanche from her upcoming EP Seashells & Stories, out this Friday. Avalanche lives up to its title as Brit’s voice builds progressively and culminates into a momentum filled refrain with effortless vocal acrobatics and seamless jumps in range. Brit shares, “the song was written as a metaphor for the power of fear. How a few small thoughts can ‘snowball’ and turn to a powerful force of destruction.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
8 | Sofiane Pamart | Nara
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “French piano virtuoso Sofiane Pamart just released his latest emotive composition and video, Nara. The video is a moving tribute to a good friend of the pianist who passed earlier this year, and features Pamart’s signature dark and poetic neoclassical stylings. Both a Gold Medalist of the National Conservatory of Lille and renowned collaborator of choice for the French hip-hop scene, the 28-year-old artist’s international debut album Planet Gold is out Oct. 30. This record follows last year’s critically acclaimed Planet and includes the album’s original 12 songs plus six new compositions, each named after cities and places that inspire him, from Paris to Chicago, Alaska to Madagascar.”
9 | Charley Crockett | Wreck Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Country singer Charley Crockett has released the video for Wreck Me from his latest album Welcome To Hard Times. The song and video have an old-fashioned feel of country Inspired by the spaghetti western-style music of the 1950s and ‘60s. “I really just wanted to make simple videos like you might’ve seen on regional country music television programs in the 50s and 60s,” says Charley. “Skeeter Davis famously sang into a rotary phone on Country Style USA early in her career and the effect it had on me basically turned into this particular video. We get a lot of the most important news of our lives on a phone, or at least we used to.”
10 | The Casket Lottery | More Blood
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kansas City indie-rock band The Casket Lottery have unveiled another new track titled More Blood, along with an accompanying video. More Blood appears on the band’s first new record in eight years, Short Songs For End Times, due out on Nov. 6. Singer/guitarist Nathan Ellis says, “More Blood was the first idea that showed up complete for Short Songs for End Times. One minute it didn’t exist and in the next I sat down with my guitar, bass and microphone at the computer and within 15 minutes had the complete demo. The song knew what it had to say and I just received it. It’s a song about knowing what you offer the world and choosing to work on that instead of ignoring it.”
11 | Slift | Altitude Lake
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Slift’s dark animated video Altitude Lake exalts the beauty of an intense contemplative state by mean of stellar, magnetic and powerful riffs. The Toulouse-based trio’s progressive sound is a colourful and legendary journey to the edge of Kraut and stoner rock. The video was created by Jérémy Griffaud, and the track was recorded by Olivier Cussac at Studio Condorcet.”
12 | Miko | I Wasn’t Made To Fall In Love
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “21-year-old singer-songwriter Miko likes to bring an abundance of sleek pop and ’90s rugged vibes. The Montreal-raised popster continues to showcase his poetically gritty blend of alt-pop and rock in his newest single and video for I Wasn’t Made To Fall In Love. Miko says: “I wrote I Wasn’t Made to Fall in Love last summer with my homie Mat (Mathieu Sénéchal). It was the first time we ever made music together and we came up with this song. Mat is the master of not overthinking shit and that’s what I like the most about him. It’s also my first song for which there is a video clip! My favourite shots didn’t make the cut because we could’ve been in trouble, but we had a lot of fun making it.”
13 | Porches | I Miss That
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Porches, the one-man-band project of New York-based musician Aaron Maine, is back with new single I Miss That and a lyric video shot by Dev Hynes. On top of a galloping pop tune carried along by bright, taut snare hits and warbling synths, Maine laments in his signature honey-coated raspy vocals, “I couldn’t believe what I had / So I threw it away I was bad / Just thinking I liked that, I liked that, I liked that / I miss that, I miss that, now I miss that.”
14 | Matthew Cardinal | Mar 12th
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Matthew Cardinal is sharing the new video for Mar 12th, the third track he has shared from his debut solo album Asterisms — a dazzling collection of ambient electronic audio journal entries that crystallizes moments in the amiskwaciy (Edmonton) artist’s life. “With the exception of the opening track on the album which was recorded years before the others, this is the oldest recording on the album,” says Matthew. “Mar 12th is a very simple track with a Moog at its core, the pulse becoming syncopated by a few delays and the sound expanding as I slowly open and close the filter. Other sounds are an old Roland string machine and a downtuned sample of my fiddle, a gift given to me by my mooshum. I recorded this sitting on my bedroom floor, playing my synths and recording it all on my sampler’s digital 4 track.”
15 | 3409 | Pistol
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto urban pop band 3409 effortlessly moves between dance, hip-hop, and world music to create a blend of rhythm and blues wrapped in youthful enthusiasm. Using laid-back atmospheric production, their songs are centered on the contrast between Dante’s swagger-laden storytelling and Ro’s vulnerable delivery. Together the four-piece create anthemic memoirs for those pursuing self-discovery and happiness, despite the trials life may throw their way. 3409’s new single Pistol, was inspired by Houstatlanta trap with the addition of Spanish guitars for a western feel that shows off the group’s playful approach to creating music.”
https://youtu.be/DrHRL6QzjPc
16 | Kasbo | Lune (ft. Vancouver Sleep Clinic)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Swedish producer and electronic artist Kasbo returns with the final single ahead of the release of his sophomore album The Making of a Paracosm, set to release on Oct. 23. Lune features Tim Bettinson of Australian ambient band Vancouver Sleep Clinic. Says Kasbo: “I started Lune right before my Places We Don’t Know tour in late 2018 where Tim was supporting me. I remember working on the song in the back of the tour bus and thinking to myself that Tim would be the perfect fit for the song, having been inspired by falsetto vocals from Bon Iver and Sigur Ros when making the instrumental. We never ended up recording anything on tour but in March this year, I convinced him to come to Gothenburg to hang out and record in my studio.”
17 | Wild Pink | The Shining But Tropical
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Wild Pink announce their new album A Billion Little Lights alongside their new single and video for The Shining But Tropical, starring newly-minted Emmy-winner Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek). The album will be released on Feb. 19. Of the track, Wild Pink’s leader John Ross explains: “It was inspired by Carl Sagan’s Cosmos as well as If I Needed You by Townes Van Zandt, this song is named for a grim retirement home in Florida. It’s about somebody who was born sheltered, realizing how large the world is and how unimportant they are.”
18 | Spencer Burton | Memories We Won’t Soon Forget
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Country-folk artist Spencer Burton releases a single titled Memories We Won’t Soon Forget — about loss, greed and change. The warm visual from the newly signed artist was filmed on a Super 8 camera by photographer and friend Vanessa Heins. “Vanessa accompanied me on a drive down to Nashville in the fall of 2019 where I was to be recording at Andrija Tokic’s studio named The Bomb Shelter,” Burton reflects. “She took shots of me at various stops during moments of interest or beauty. It’s crazy the things one can get up to on a 13-hour drive.”
19 | Skyler Cocco | The Drive
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Skyler Cocco invites us into her dream-like world as she takes a drive to clear her mind in the new music video for The Drive. In keeping with her DIY approach to music (she writes and produces all of her work), Skyler self-directed and edited the music video with a helping hand from cinematographer Nino Sammarone. Shot in and around the tristate area, the duo whipped around in their friend’s 1982 European Mustang IMSA (one of seven ever made), shooting until the sun went down. “The music video is meant to feel as though you’re looking through a colorful lens at an intimate moment of self reflection,” Skyler writes. “I wanted to illustrate the time spent alone with my thoughts while driving down empty roads and wandering through flower fields, knowing you’ll need to face some things when you get home.”
20 | Cheat Codes x Bryce Vine | Stay
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The genre-smashing Bryce Vine and Cheat Codes team up for new single Stay. Together, the multi-platinum Los Angeles artists are a powerful pop force, swirling up Vine’s smooth flow and Cheat Codes’ slick electronic production into a post-party anthem that’s both banging and brooding. Vine says, “Me and my friends wrote Stay almost a year ago when the world was still normal. It’s about all those good times you don’t want to say goodbye to, but you appreciate them when they’re gone. It’s about the hopefulness that those times will come back, which I think we can all relate to right now.”
21 | BK Pepper | Colours
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dublin composer and producer BK Pepper is releasing his debut single Colours ahead of his forthcoming debut album Territories, out Nov. 20. A beautiful simplistic piece with melodies that take the listener on a reverie to a simpler time, Colours’ solo piano intro is joined by a chorus of strings that rise and fall to leave us pining for what’s to come. Colours was the first track to be recorded for the album with the string orchestra recorded in a converted swimming pool studio in London. BK says: “Territories reflects how borders have become increasingly visible in recent years, with migration, trade disputes and now a global pandemic reshaping how territories are perceived, defined and enforced around the world.”
22 | Jovian | Better
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn hip-hop and R&B recording artist Jovian is merging sounds in a way truly only he can, being born with the rare disorder, synesthesia. Able to smell, taste, hear, feel and see colours in his head that he’s never seen before, he treats the sounds he creates with similar otherworldliness, as evidenced on his recently released single Better. Making music as, in his own words, “he can’t be a star traveller”, Better is accompanied by a super-chilled, hyper-cool video.”
23 | Mors Principium Est | My Home My Grave
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Finnish melodeathers Mors Principium Est are back with their seventh album, the short and snappily titled Seven. Out Oct. 21, it’s no less impressive and epic than its predecessors. It’s a perfect continuation from where they left off with Embers Of A Dying World in 2017: Death Metal, which is almost progressive in its brutality, combined with sophisticated orchestrations that, used sparingly, never drown in bombast, and fuse with dramatic, melancholic melodies. Check out the video for My Home My Grave.”
24 | Jessie Wagner | My Darlin, My Dear
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Popular touring vocalist Jessie Wagner (Lenny Kravitz, Chic, Duran Duran, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul) and frontwoman for NYC rock/soul band Army of the Underdog has dropped My Darlin, My Dear, a new single off of her upcoming debut solo album Shoes Droppin, set for release on Oct. 9. Says Jessie: “There’s always that guy that you know is no good for you, but you keep going back anyway. This song is an amalgamation of the guys I wished would love me and not just keep me around for convenience.”
25 | Arcana | Wings
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Arcana begin their cinematic and poetic saga with Letters From A Lost Soul | Act I: The World One Forms, which will prove to be a real treat for progressive metal fans across the globe. The space rock-opera concept is full of layered voices and lyrics, which paint a grandiose portrait of thoughtful concepts and grand tales. The debut EP is just the tip of the iceberg with several more releases planned to tell various stories across a widespread universe. Wings is the instrumental track on the EP and acts as a kind of overture to the whole project, displaying a variety of sounds that will be used and called back upon throughout the EP and future releases.”
26 | Suuns | Breathe (ft. Jerusalem In My Heart)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Suuns — Ben Shemie, Joe Yarmush and Liam O’Neill — share the single Breathe (ft. Jerusalem In My Heart) from their forthcoming EP Fiction, out Oct. 30. “Typically when we work together, the process is slow and exploratory, but in this case Moumneh had a specific form in mind, functioned as band director, and the song came together quickly,” O’Neill said. “We all sat around one microphone playing acoustic guitars (this is probably the least on-brand thing Suuns has ever done) over a drum loop. The real flavour of this jam comes from the Boss HC-2, a dedicated hand clapper, which Moumneh insisted had to be played very fast, relentlessly, the whole time.”
27 | Larry Keel | American Dream
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Larry Keel is a prolific songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has appeared on nearly two dozen albums, including 12 that he produced himself, and has collaborated with everyone from Bill Monroe to Billy Strings. Today, he announces his solo album American Dream. Set for release on Nov. 6, Keel single-handedly produced, recorded, and wrote each of the 10 tracks on the album, a project that was predominantly created during quarantine this past spring. This influence is evident in the album’s first single Try. Keel says Try is about his personal approach to figuring out life’s mysteries and challenges, saying, “Big concept, simple approach: all you gotta do is try.”
28 | Jeen | Idols
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jeen just released a self-titled full-length featuring the track Idols. It showcases Jeen’s progression from bedroom production to the big, anthemic alt-rock sound found on the new album. Jeen started in the music industry busking on Queen West in Toronto at 16. After two subsequent solo albums, Jeen was invited to share lead singing/songwriting duties on Broken Social Scene member Brendan Canning’s Cookie Duster album When Flying Was Easy. She then dropped her last name and self produced three more solo albums in succession.”
29 | The Grand Sbam | Yi Yin I Li (Le Feu)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Grand Sbam, a French bastard music ensemble, announce a new album Furvent for a Dec. 11 release. With Furvent, The Grand Sbam embark on a new journey in octet, to meet the wind and the natural elements. Carved in the continuous flow of sound, the music of the ensemble is a de-fluence, a circumvention, an inflection of air and time. An impetuous flow of sound defying musical boundaries. Nowhere between rock, contemporary music, ancient music, jazz, electroacoustics, it draws sharp lines and curves on the back of our disintegrating present. It plunges the listener into a familiar universe with an unpredictable future, caresses him like a soft zephyr and propels him straight into the eye of a cyclone.”
30 | 30 | Your Skin Crawls
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alternative musician 30 has released his single Your Skin Crawls. It comes off of his forthcoming album The Introspects of a Psycho, set to drop later this year. The track is the perfect introduction to the genre-fluid musician who pulls inspiration from artists like Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco, The Kooks and Cage the Elephant. The alt-rock-influenced song details the topic of insecurities and self-doubt that plague many 20-somethings living in a world of unattainable beauty standards and social media criticism. Explains 30: “The song is about how painful love can be. I was in love with a girl who was her own worst enemy, you know.”
31 | Vân Scott | Starry Eyed
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt-pop singer / songwriter Scott Oatley aka Vân Scott returns with Starry Eyed. A sought-after singer in the Hollywood session scene, Oatley has had the quiet success many only dream of. He’s had the opportunity to sing for renowned film composers like Danny Elfman and Michael Giacchino, along with influential music producers such as Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins and Mike Elizondo, and he’s appeared on blockbuster film scores, TV shows, commercial jingles and more.”
32 | Record Thieves | Sacrifice
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “By most accounts, this has been a pretty lousy year. Civil unrest, political uncertainty and a pandemic make for some depressing times. However, there have been a few random highlights sprinkled into the shit stew that is 2020. One of them is certainly the reemergence of Denver punks Record Thieves (feat. members of Authority Zero, Allout Helter and Boldtype), who have been disturbingly quiet since 2017. Luckily, their lack of public appearances doesn’t mean they weren’t busy! While they were off our radar for a few years, they were working hard on their debut LP titled Wasting Time, which is due Nov. 24. Stream the first single Sacrifice here.”
33 | Jono Dorr | Deep End
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter and acclaimed producer Jono Dorr has returned with his new single Deep End. Dorr channeled his own experiences with dark emotions to create a track that is wrought with passion and intensity, based on the immense amount of grief felt at the end of a relationship and how it can take you the brink. “It’s about feeling like you need help. Real help from real friends when you’ve gone to the edge of your mind.”
34 | Burry | 3 Birthdays
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Halifax’s Burry shares the deeply personal new single 3 Birthdays. “3 Birthdays is about dealing with your parents divorce, and its effects, at any age,” said Burry. “It’s about spending every birthday and holiday trying to navigate your parents’ separate plans, while wanting to make your own. Being nostalgic for a time when everyone was together.” 3 Birthdays is the second glimpse of Burry’s Yellow Paint EP, which arrives Jan. 20.”
35 | Harry Jay-Steele | Not Quite Like This
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “East London songwriter, guitarist and producer Harry Jay-Steele shares Not Quite Like This, a cut from his debut album Boundaries, due out on Dec. 4. “It’s a song in defiance against being labelled and judges but also about the fluidity of self,” explains Harry — a message amplified by the shifting effect of the artists AutoTuned vocals. “Explaining the production work behind the track, I used AutoTune on this track partly because its Afrobeats influence but also due to the chameleon-like tonal affect it has one my voice. I felt its shifting nature sat well with lyrical message.”
