CrowJane takes it like a man, Drones get animated and alienated, Polyphozia feel foolish, Friendship Commanders hit the exit, Dirty Projectors show some spirit and more in your Tuesday Roundup. Ready, set, watch:
1 | CrowJane | It’s A Man’s World
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following the release of her debut album Mater Dolorosa in September, L.A. experimental post-punk artist CrowJane is premiering the new video for her show-stopping and unnerving cover of James Brown’s It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (which she shortened to It’s A Man’s World). She says, “Lyrically, it seemed fitting for everything I was trying to express, even though this song was sung by a man that was accused of assault and sexual harassment. For me, that doesn’t take away the meaning of the words, especially if and when it is coming from a femme perspective or someone that has felt oppression/discrimination.”
2 | Drones | Josephine
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Drones are back with their first single since their highly conceptual 2018 album Exiled. Josephine is a deeply personal journey into vocalist Lois McDougall’s past unhealthy relationship with alcohol. “Growing up in Britain with its normalised binge-drinking culture, I never thought much about the fact I was relying on alcohol to feel relaxed and to have fun,” she says. “It wasn’t until recently that I was forced to tear myself away from it and realised how badly alcohol had been affecting me and my relationships. I wasn’t in control and was abusing myself with alcohol to try and suppress my depression. People started referring to the intoxicated me as Josephine. At first this was funny. Josephine was a clown. But there’s nothing funny about self-abuse. This song is about me realising that.”
3 | Polyphozia | Foolish
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Foolish is an intoxicating new track from Wenzhou, China’s Polyphozia. The song precedes the trio’s debut album Suitcase of Voices, set for release in November. Guitarist/vocalist Christopher Henry offers, “We wrote Foolish during one practice when (bassist) Zim suggested we ought to have a song about driving. He came up with the main bass riff and the rest fell into place quite naturally. By the next practice, we were ready to take it to the stage.”
4 | Friendship Commanders | Stonechild
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nashville’s Friendship Commanders are pleased to present the official video for their new single Stonechild. The melodic heavy duo of vocalist/guitarist Buick Audra and drummer/bassist Jerry Roe filmed the video for Stonechild in part at Nashville’s Exit/In. The song honors the life of a Stonechild Chiefstick, a 39 year-old Chippewa Cree man killed on July 3, 2019. Jerry Roe says: “Buick wrote such a great song in that, if you didn’t know the specifics of the story or Stonechild’s murder, you would still get the correct set of feelings, melancholy, and grandness that her words and thoughts about Stonechild intended to create. We wanted the “narrative” part of the video to get the same feelings across too.”
5 | Dirty Projectors | Searching Spirit
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Nov. 20, Dirty Projectors will conclude the cycle of EPs they first commenced in February with Ring Road, the fifth and final instalment. Ring Road presents Dirty Projectors’ dynamic full-band sound, weaving the emotional and sonic threads of the previous four EPs into a whole with dual guitars, vocal interplay, and ear-catching refrains. Watch the music video for Searching Spirit, directed by Noel Paul.”
6 | Aaron Lee Tasjan | Up All Night
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Aaron Lee Tasjan writes pop songs with a twist, a little overdriven, far too honest at times — performing them like ragged rock tunes that careen a little too close to the edge without actually falling over into the abyss, and autobiographical to a fault. The Nashville singer-songwriter’s next album Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! arrives Feb. 5, but the video for Up All Night premiered today. Up All Night is part agit pop, part glam, an unexpected millennial anthem about modern romance without being precious.”
7 | Gord Downie | The Least Impossible
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gord Downie’s estate released the posthumous double album Away Is Mine on Oct. 16, the eve of the third anniversary of his passing. Today brings the animated video for The Least Impossible, which includes the album’s most oblique sonic textures and starkly emotional reckoning. Director Sara Basso and illustrator Laura Arango explore the view from the edge of the abyss. “The Least Impossible is about a journey into the unknown. I wanted to visualize this by exploring a psychedelic trip within ourselves, one that pushes the limits of our imagination and tries to make sense of the things that defy our relative understanding,” says Basso. “We transition through realms beyond our world, where space and time are abstract, mimicking the attempt to reach a higher state of consciousness in search of the greater truth.”
8 | The Freedom Affair | Give A Little Love
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Freedom Is Love is the debut album from Kansas City’s newest soul juggernaut The Freedom Affair. The album explores themes of love, heartache, empowerment, and togetherness through a varying landscape of hard-hitting funk, luscious soul, and everything between. The Freedom Affair is a unique collective featuring three powerhouse female vocalists in front of a dynamic six-piece band. On Freedom Is Love, each of the ladies get their time to shine individually, but the magic is on full display when all three come together in unison and harmony, symbolically embodying the messages that they sing about.”
9 | Leila | Go On Young Soul
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Leila couldn’t be further from your typical indie artist. Hailing from Neverheardofit Penn., her sound and lyrics carry their humble roots. Her upcoming debut album Glass Highways is a breakup album exploring the stages of romantic loss. Beginning with doubt and moving all the way through to reflection. Leila confides, “I tried not to be too prescriptive in my lyrics, but rather acknowledge the varied and at times dissonant emotions we face amidst heartbreak.”
10 | Boundaries | I’d Rather Not Say
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Connecticut metal group Boundaries share their latest single I’d Rather Not Say and the accompanying video. Taken from their debut album Your Receding Warmth, due Nov. 13, the track features some of the most ferocious and jaw-dropping moments on the record. Lyrically, the song confronts the fear that love can only be felt once and life is spent chasing the feeling after experiencing it wholly for the first time.”
11 | Dan Mangan | There’s A Tumor In The White House
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dan Mangan is sharing his new protest song There’s A Tumor In The White House. “Generally, in my songwriting, I’ve aimed for the timeless approach with social criticisms and political notions — never too on the nose, and never too specific,” says Mangan. “We’ve got this bully in the highest seat using the lowest form of mudslinging and name-calling and unfortunately it just seems to keep working for him. The poor man’s rich man. The weak man’s strong man. I just wanted to call a spade a spade — bootlickers, chokeholders, chest-puffers … Is it ironic? I don’t know. Is it a joke? I worry that it isn’t.”
12 | Johnny Nocash and The Celtic Outlaws | Burned Alive
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Johnny Nocash and The Celtic Outlaws fuse country and rock, sodden with whisky and beer to create an organic, original sound. Their new single Burned Alive is a heavy hard rock song with some dusty western elements scattered throughout the leads. The band explains the track in their own words: “Our new single Burned Alive is a combination of the time we’ve spent on the road mixed with all of us coming together as a unit, a brotherhood if you will, to create something that moves people. We feel that this will not only be received well from our fans now but will pull outside audiences in for a closer listen to what we have to say.”
13 | Joey Molland | I Don’t Want to Be Done With You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Renowned Badfinger guitarist, singer, and songwriter Joey Molland recently returned with his first album of new material in nearly a decade. The full length, titled Be True To Yourself, includes the new single I Don’t Want To Be Done With You. Says Molland: “This was the first song [producer] Mark Hudson and I recorded together, it came from an idea I had sent to Mark. He loved the idea and melody but not the lyric so he wrote a new one.”
14 | Real Estate | Gone
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Real Estate have shared a video that also gives fans the limitless opportunity to create their own. While the official visual shows the band performing their song Gone from the insides of a refrigerator — moving between trays of grapes, clams and eggs, a pile of frozen fish and a half-eaten birthday cake — they’re offering downloads of the raw footage, pre-prepared with a green screen for anyone to put them anywhere. “We’ve always wanted to play inside of your refrigerator,” Real Estate says. “We unearthed this live in-studio performance of Gone from way back in December, and our friends Callen were kind enough to make our dreams come true.”
15 | Hell-Born | Axis Of Decay
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hell-Born unleash the first single from the upcoming album Natas Liah, titled Axis Of Decay. The album consists of nine songs of old school black/death metal, laced with Hell-Born’s unmistakable iron melodies. The band was started in 1996 by Behemoth co-founder Baal and former member Les and Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski joined them in the studio as a special guest on Natas Liah.”
16 | Jasmine Rodgers | Flies
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jasmine Rodgers has a rapidly growing reputation for fusing influences from rock, blues, soul, folk and country into lush musical textures layered with poetic lyrics. Four years after the release of her acclaimed album Blood Red Sun, Jasmine is back with Flies, the first single from her forthcoming EP. Flies is a lyrical study of survival and mortality and the minutiae of life that signpost hopes and frustrations. Building slowly from its guitar- and vocal-led core, Rodgers gradually and subtly elevates the track through the introduction of piano and layered reverbs.”
17 | David Duchovy | Layin’ On The Tracks
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “David Duchovny released his single Layin’ On The Tracks today. Says he: “I just wanted to go on record in a way that was both personal and political. A kind of snapshot of my mind and where I see us but not literal. Like a photo from a speeding train. Imagistic. Personal, but not personal. Putting a stop to the runaway locomotive things as they are — Laying on the tracks. Making music against the chaos — laying down the tracks. Don’t forget — Laying down a groove.The personal is political and the political personal these days. Vote the bums out.”
18 | Emma Miller | Sail Away
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sail Away is the new single from Scottish artist Emma Miller. Experimenting with soft electronics and shimmering harmonies, Sail Away is a beautiful offering from the young artist. Releasing music since 2017, Emma has taken a noticeable step back over the past two years. Instead, as she quietly watched and supported her peers to find success in their own musical projects, she chose to diligently focus on her songwriting and began working on a body of music she could be proud of.”
19 | Joshua Van Tassel | Shadows Smile For You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There’s a lot of really ugly shit happening in the world,” says Joshua Van Tassel, “and I wanted to make a really beautiful album.” Like the instrument that inspired it, the Ondes Martenot, Dance Music: Volume 2 is elegant and expressive, the score to a movie inside your head. Shadows Smile For You is a piece written for my son, who has a great conversational relationship with shadows. A shadow can be seen as a companion, a follower, a guide, or a dark reflection of yourself.”
20 | Matthew Cardinal | July 23rd
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Matthew Cardinal just released his debut solo album Asterisms — a dazzling collection of ambient electronic audio journal entries that crystallizes moments in his life. To celebrate, the amiskwaciy (Edmonton)-based artist is sharing the video for the album’s final track, July 23rd, by director Stephanie Kuse. Cardinal says, “I needed to do some work and needed a soundtrack for myself. I made a generative piece and, instead of doing work, I decided to build on this. Adding some analogue bass, a shimmering organ lead and the only drum machine on the album, I came out with one of my favourite tracks I’ve ever done.”
21 | Andrew Bird | Christmas in April
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Friday, Andrew Bird will release his debut holiday album Hark! Today he shares what may very well be the world’s first COVID-inspired Christmas song. Written at home in Los Angeles during the pandemic’s most disorienting phase this spring, Christmas in April wonders where we will be — physically, spiritually — when the holidays come around this year. Over a warm, waltzing arrangement of acoustic guitar and whistling leads, Bird’s melodies capture the melancholy that’ll soon be fueling fireplaces, when we too start asking: “When will we know if we can meet under the mistletoe?”
22 | Brit Drozda | I Don’t Want to Dream Without You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt folk singer-songwriter Brit Drozda shares the video for I Don’t Want to Dream Without You, from her Seashells & Stories EP out now. Brit offers, “I originally wrote it as a ballad on the piano. Scott Jacoby (producer) brought the tempo up and it just came to life. Inspired by a nightmare, I realized that my greatest dream is getting to experience my dreams with my husband and my children. I think there is a pull to be a successful individual and sacrifice for your dreams, the cost that is too great is losing the people who cheer you on in the process.”
23 | Aerial East | Try Harder
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Warm and wistful, unvarnished and intimate, Aerial East makes anthems for sitting in our own groundlessness and finding a specific peace within it. Her new album Try Harder, out Feb. 12, draws from East’s teenage years in suburban Texas, resulting in a beautiful ode to those of us who feel like our edges are rough, that perhaps we don’t always quite fit in. Today, East shares the title track, accompanied by a music video directed by Adinah Dancyger and filmed on NYC’s East River. “It’s about being on the outside and noticing how some things that seem easy for others might be harder for me. I wrote it quite a while ago and have been playing it live for several years with different arrangements. As the album started to come together, I realized how well this song fit into the emerging theme of alienation.”
24 | Francois & The Atlas Mountains | Coucou
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Banane Bleue, the new album from Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains, is due on Feb. 26. Along with the album announcement, Frànçois has shared the video for lead single Coucou. The quasi-Californian lead track, with its soft bassline and beaming guitars, sets the tone perfectly. “I hate this word, ‘coucou’ (which loosely translates as ‘hey there’ in French),” Frànçois notes, “because, for me, it expresses a form of indifferent, slightly fake naivety. What’s even more absurd is when it comes from someone with whom you were once madly in love.”
25 | Taumel | There Is
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Taumel is the musical formation comprising Sven Pollkoetter and Jakob Diehl. With the album There Is No Time To Run Away From Here, Taumel present the first part of the music series Traum, which will be developed further over several albums. In this series Taumel concentrate on a slow minimalism in instrumental quartet formation: piano/rhodes, electric guitar, flugelhorn and drums.”
26 | Slow Pulp | Track
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago band Slow Pulp — Emily Massey (vocals/guitar), Alexander Leeds (bass), Theodore Mathews (drums) and Henry Stoehr (guitar) — released their self-produced debut album a few weeks ago, and today they share a video for Track. Massey explains: “I was waiting for the train one day to go home to my parents. There was an older woman who was also waiting on the track and she reminded me of my late grandmother, who I had not thought of in a while. She passed away of Alzheimer’s when I was in high school. My mother often worries she is going to get it as well. The song acts as a letter attempting to reassure her that she will never be forgotten even if she forgets.”
27 | Gimmy Flowens | Away For A While
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Known as the hypnotising lead singer and guitarist of dreamy psych band The Oogars, Gemma Owens is an artist expressing herself in many forms. Her solo project as Gimmy Flowens is a new adventure and her single Away For A While is an impressive start. Away For A While was created during a transformational time of suffering and detachment in understanding that life is change. “It’s about the loss of self after a relationship separation and realising that people will come and go. I also express my observation of people around me not living a happy life within societal norms and feeling the fire to vocalise, wake up and live!”
28 | Record Thieves | Work It Out
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “By most accounts, this has been a pretty lousy year. However, there have been a few random highlights sprinkled into the shit stew. One is certainly the reemergence of Denver punks Record Thieves, who have been disturbingly quiet since 2017. While they were off our radar for a few years, they were working hard on their 11-track LP Wasting Time, set to release on Nov. 24. The band says, “These are crazy times! Trying to navigate through all the sh*t the universe keeps dumping on us. Here’s a new track to help get you through!”
29 | The Ed Palermo Big Band | Glad
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Are you sick & tired of 2020? So are we. Sadly, we don’t have a cure for 2020. But we do have something to build strength and help ease pain, a tonic to help us keep calm and carry on. An organic remedy, a musical restorative made from laughter, joy & love. It’s the music of Ed Palermo Big Band, an antidote for 2020’s dark and dire times. On Nov. 6, they release a new album. Called The Great Un-American Songbook V. III: Run for Your Life, it celebrates The Beatles and other British (“un-American”) rock and pop masters such as Traffic, Procol Harum & many more. And THAT, dear friends, will be reason to be Glad.”
30 | Juhan Ongbrian | Sail On
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Los Angeles jazz fusion artist/producer/guitarist Juhan Ongbrian released his new single Sail On. The track serves as a mirror to Juhan’s oscillating persona, as it is full of organic elements and authenticity in his sounds. Sail On features the talents of Juhan on guitar, Adrian Michael on drums and Austin Smith on bass. While combining New Age, lo-fi and jazz, Juhan experiments with new sounds on this release. Applying his guitar techniques and performance to showcase his reflections on today’s fast-paced life. It’s an instrumental track for those who are looking to step back and take the time to reflect.”
31 | Ghxst | U R My Night
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grunge-noise duo Ghxst will release their EP Dark Days on Nov. 16. They have now shared a new track from the EP. Even if U R My Night moves at a slower pace than what the band got us used to, it still showcases their signature sound of haunting, drown-out vocals blending into a wall of reverb and heavily downtuned guitars. Ghxst say: “We built the beats to sound like an 808 booming out of a Cadillac window in Bed Stuy.” Guitars range from intimate Mazzy Star acoustic tones to dreamy feedback. And through it all, hazy vocals from some nowhere highway. They add: “We hope someone blows out a speaker playing this record.”
32 | The Nursery | Demons
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Formed by singer-songwriter/video artist Alex Pulec, The Nursery are an alt-rock trio with songs commenting on the intense emotions of youth, contrasting themes of fear, rebellion, obsession, desire and alienation. The Nursery teamed up with Michael Fong and Nick Boyd to produce their forthcoming album Candy + Gloom. The single Demons was inspired by the idea of romanticizing the darker parts of humanity. Recorded in the studio The Nursery built, many echos, creaks and noise from the space lay throughout the track. You can barely hear them, but it’s there, and their energy is felt.”
33 | Tenant From Zero | ZRH
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tenant From Zero, the recording persona of Brooklyn singer-songwriter Paul Darrah, premieres ZRH. The track appears on the debut album Flight, which comes out Jan. 22. Darrah sees Tenant From Zero as a continuation of the proud British pop lineage of the artists he has loved since his youth. “I’m drawn to artists with a sense of melancholy, romance, intelligence, and style,” he says. “I modeled my voice whether consciously or subconsciously on David Sylvian and Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl. After decades of listening, their voices are in mine now.”
34 | Jesse Mac Cormack | Let It Go / Incomplete
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jesse Mac Cormack is keeping busy during these strange times with new songs Let It Go and Incomplete. Jesse shares: “Let go of the things you can’t change. Two individuals have entangled themselves in a relationship that from the outside is clearly based on manipulation and control. What can you do? After such a long time, you wonder if they can still remember what feeling free feels like.” About Incomplete, he adds: “That’s me having a conversation with God. Now he’s living on the streets and is a victim of his own invention. It was never his intention to corrupt, lie and hurt. Now that the blue world is dying and that the extreme left and right are meeting at the bottom of the circle, he wishes for a change.”
35 | Divided Heaven | They Poisoned Our Fathers (ft. Lydia Loveless)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s difficult to put into words how deadly our current president and his team have been since stepping into office. His cruelty has seeped into the veins of this country in such a way that it’s nearly impossible not to have your own story of shouting down some emboldened racist or misogynist. With Election Day just a week from now, the stakes feel higher than ever to remove this ghoul from the White House, and that’s exactly what Divided Heaven wants you to do. “Touring during the Trump years has been telling. I’ve had countless conversations with people who share their grief and abhorrence that a fascist president has emboldened the worst traits of many of our fathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors, and coworkers. They Poisoned Our Fathers is meant to serve as a personal statement of resistance: resistance against trump, his poisoned minions and the spineless politicians enabling it all.”
36 | Zenith Moon | Illuminate
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Melbourne’s Zenith Moon have created quite a stir over the last few months. Their latest single Illuminate is a run-in with self-doubt. When doubt settles in, the very things that give you joy can become your greatest nightmare. Illuminate is about seeing your way through the darkness. With a groove built upon African cross rhythms, Andie (drums/keys) throws his full musical weight behind the kit, making every note heavy with emotion. Kalliope (vocals) is powerful yet beautifully intimate in her performance and Matt (guitars) juxtaposes beautiful colour and an emotive rawness that delicately draws you in.”
37 | Death By Piano | Nightwalk
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following on from the acclaimed Emergency and Newer Light, NYC darkwave duo Death By Piano share Nightwalk, the final instalment in their trilogy of 2020 singles. As the band say: “Nightwalk is sort of an answer to Emergency. Before things are about to blow, it’s an effort to air our grievances. A vesper turned midnight dance tune. An effort to get to Newer Light by dawn and put the past to sleep.” Nightwalk is yet another quality example of the Death By Piano’s ability to tell a story using both their lyrics and production.”
38 | Plants | Friend
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sydney, Australia punk rockers Plants show off yet another side to their music with their new single Friend. The upbeat tune sits somewhere between ska and punk and even has a few disco-influenced beats in the bridge. Bassist Nathan Briggs’ vocals take centre stage — rough and booming contrasted with the backup harmonies. Friend tells a classic Aussie tale of a mate who’s always late and never returns the favour for a lift home — and yet you still keep around anyway.”
