Spang Sisters play with their food, Kiwi Jr. crank open the cooler, Digawolf takes it to the streets, Luka Kuplowsky make the most of the golden hour and more in an unexpectedly busy Tuesday Roundup. Today we’ve got not one but two new Covid anthems, along with artists doing double (and even triple) duty — but for my money, the track of the day belongs to Hot Laundry. Listen for yourself and tell me I’m wrong.
1 | Spang Sisters | Eddie Murphy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Spang Sisters are purveyors of R&B-infused bedroom folk-pop from the south of England who capture a feeling of days gone by. With a reputation for raucous live shows and an impressive fan-base growing on both sides of the channel, the duo are ready to step into public consciousness with Eddie Murphy. Written in Bristol and recorded in Brighton, “Eddie Murphy depicts the breakdown of a relationship,” they explain. “Wherein the one antidote seems to be an extraneous and seemingly irrelevant source. In this case, it is an Eddie Murphy movie.” The accompanying video is a puppeteering piece which documents a very human love story between a fish finger and a sausage. Worth 3.5 minutes of anyone’s time.”
2 | Kiwi Jr. | Cooler Returns
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto’s Kiwi Jr. will release Cooler Returns, the group’s new album and the followup to their acclaimed debut Football Money, on Jan. 22. Today the band share the official video for Cooler Returns, the album’s title track and new single. Singer Jeremy Gaudet comments: “No one is able to play live shows, so using the latest technology we have replicated the most accurate version possible of what Kiwi Jr. shows once looked like.”
3 | Digawolf | High Arctic
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Juno nominee Digawolf shares the video for the title track of his latest LP High Arctic. Diga says: “High Arctic was originally released for Hockey Day in Canada when it was in Yellowknife last February. My daughter was chosen as one of the kids to receive hockey equipment and take part in the celebrations. It seemed like a great idea to connect the video and the song with an empowering message for young hockey players, particularly young women and girls in hockey. It was a lot of fun making the video, lots of laughs! I don’t want people to take it overly seriously, it’s meant to be fun!”
4 | Luka Kuplowsky & The Stardust Players | Live At The Golden Lion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Luka Kuplowsky is sharing the new video of his performance with The Stardust Players, live at The Golden Lion, a Ukrainian dining club in south Etobicoke. “The Golden Lion is not too far from where I grew up,” says Kuplowsky. “I remember going there around 11 or 12 and being struck by how vast and ornate the space was. We were celebrating my Baba’s birthday and my brothers and I were wearing stiff white dress shirts and black ties. We filmed the performance in early January of this year. The owners kindly allowed us to take over the space for an evening and within the span of three hours we had constructed our own universe. To briefly revisit a childhood space … is a real trip.”
5 | Tom Freund | Corona, Corona
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tom Freund, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for his upright-bass-as-lead-instrument work, has kept active during the pandemic months of 2020. A day after sharing the video for Freezer Burn from his most recent album East of Lincoln, he’s back with a new adaptation of an old blues song Corina, Corina, re-titled Corona, Corona. Says Freund: “I took a traditional blues song recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Joni Mitchell and Taj Mahal and I am letting the virus know that it’s not welcome here anymore! So I grabbed my trusty upright bass. Drums came from Piero Perelli in Italy. And my Venice friends joined me: Stan Behrens on harmonica on my front porch, with Steve McCormick from his home studio on guitar.”
6 | Tele Novella | Words That Stay
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tele Novella will release their sophomore album Merlynn Belle on Feb. 5. It is a collection that respites in country, meshed with a sentimental indie-folk shimmer. Today, they offer a peek into the eclectic collection with the Words That Stay. Flamenco claps and acoustic guitars create a dreamlike underscore for frontwoman Natalie Ribbons’ haunting vocals as she laments the loss of a friend who seems to have mysteriously disappeared.”
7 | Mear | Soft Chains
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mear is an indie-pop collaboration between singer-songwriter Frances Miller and electronic composer Greg Harrison. Together, their music combines catchy melodies and poignant lyrics with their shared love of experimental music. They released their debut single Perfect Mess earlier this year and are following up with new single Soft Chains. The song is upbeat, but lyrically leans darker, touching on toxic relationships. This theme is translated in the video — trying your hardest to make something work when it’s completely and fundamentally unworkable.”
8 | Alaska Reid | Oblivion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Known for her critically acclaimed band Alyeska, Alaska Reid is stepping out on her own for the Big Bunny EP, a collection of short stories in songs out Dec. 11. Out today is expansive single & video Oblivion, featuring production work from A. G. Cook (Charli XCX, Jónsi, PC Music) and Rodaidh McDonald (David Byrne, Adele, The xx). Joni Mitchell meets Dinosaur Jr. in Alaska’s poignant lyricism and fuzzed-out alternate tunings — merging organic and electronic in captivating stories about her & her sister (actress/artist Lilliya Scarlett) growing up in Montana chasing rabbits, singing in local bars & rodeos … And the move to L.A., grappling with displacement between her two homes.”
9 | Boondox | K7-Lethal (ft. Saving Abel)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Boondox has released his new single K7-Lethal, featuring hard rock heavyweights Saving Abel. K7-Lethal is the first single from Boondox’s album Krimson Crow, slated for a Dec. 18 release. “It was really cool to team up with Saving Abel for this song. They really added an edge to it, and made this track special,” said Boondox. “The song itself is very loosely based on K7-Leetha, the neural parasite that is attached to Spawn. If I could be anyone out of a comic book, it’d probably be Spawn. He basically destroyed heaven and hell. Now that’s power! Well, I thought about what I would do with that power, and started writing. It eventually turned into something a little different, but that influence was still there.”
10 | Ricky | New Day
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “San Diego musician Ricky (last name: Schmidt) of Western Settings and Hey, Chels has dropped another track off his debut solo album Palm Trees, which will be out Friday. Ricky says, “This song is kind of about the idea that change is gonna happen whether you like it or not. Maybe a little of “the old guard will die out soon.” Progress will be made and the world will go on and this song is a reminder of that. While we may live in a shitstorm today, tomorrow is a new day.”
11 | Low Island | Don’t Let The Light In (faded)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Low Island have released their new single and video Don’t Let The Light In (faded). An intimate version of their latest single, it contrasts to the Tame Impala-inspired grooves of the original, presenting the song in a new light; introspective and stark. This version, Carlos Posada describes, “shows how the song was written originally; just voice and piano, and we then built the production around it. We wanted to have a version that shone a light on the more intimate side of the lyrics, all about trying to capture the initial moment of falling in love and preserving it, but being unable to.”
12+13 | Attic Salt | Mud + Undiscovered
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Earlier this year, Attic Salt performed a short set for the Live from the Rock Room series. The band ripped through four tracks from their new record Get Wise, and you can stream Mud and Undiscovered right now. Melodic, aggressive, catchy, unapologetically pop; all have been used to describe Attic Salt. Residing in the vibrant punk scene of Springfield, IL, Andy Harmon, Fred Malcom and Skip Davis have been friends since the late ’90s and have spent a majority of that time playing in bands together. In late 2015, the group befriended Alyssa Currie.”
14-16 | Owen | A New Muse + Dead For Days + On With The Show
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter Owen (aka Mike Kinsella) kicks off his Avalanche Live series, which features unique one-take recordings of each song from the album The Avalanche. The first set includes Dead For Days filmed in front of the iconic Wrigley Building, A New Muse performed from the harrowing heights of the Chicago Skydeck, and On With The Show in front of a cozy rooftop fire pit. Additional sets of videos from the series will be released on Nov. 17 and 24.”
17 | French Cassettes | Santa Cruz Tomorrow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “French Cassettes just released their latest single Santa Cruz Tomorrow, from the San Francisco quartet’s upcoming sophomore album Rolodex, set to arrive Dec. 11. Songwriter/vocalist Scott Huerta stated, “Most of the song came from fooling around on my friend’s Omnichord, which has a sound that’s pretty hard not to love. So I tried to keep that charm when writing the rest of the tracks’ instruments … When thinking about ideas for the video I recalled how one of my favorite musicians said they once wanted to write 100 songs for an album and fell short. So I thought it would be funny if someone did the same thing but went on national television to brag about it first and could only finish one.”
18 | Pat Robitaille | Fearless Woman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto singer-songwriter and producer Pat Robitaille returns with his latest single Fearless Woman, a soulful, groove-heavy, nu-disco jam that pays tribute to all the women in his life. Robitaille had this to say, “In a world that is perpetually set up to hold women back, these are the bravest, strongest, most resilient and inspirational people I know. The birth of my own daughter and how my wife so fearlessly brought her into this world … it was the most amazing thing I had ever witnessed. The wonder and mysteriousness of how gracefully all women navigate this world is pure inspiration. I can’t measure up to that but it motivates me every day.”
https://youtu.be/mQcEKu9TgmA
19 | Neon Pattern Sundial | Winter
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Melbourne’s Neon Patter Sundial (FKA Ben Alpine) releases the lush new single and video Winter. The track is accompanied by the announcement of the project’s upcoming debut EP One Moment Never Meant A Thing, out Dec. 4. Ben Rizio shares: “I tried to keep the lyrics quite ambiguous and indirect, which honestly came from a place of shyness and not knowing how to write what I felt without fear of criticism. They paint with broad strokes a depression that you just want to be over. The concept is sad, but the sentiment is quite optimistic.”
20 | The Antlers | It Is What It Is
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Antlers have shared a video for their new single It Is What It Is. Directed by Derrick Belcham and Emily Terndrup, the video features the world-renowned contemporary dancers Bobbi-Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. “It Is What It Is is a song about hindsight,” singer and songwriter Peter Silberman said. “It considers what might have changed had you handled things differently back then, and the reluctant acceptance that it’s too late for all that now. It’s the inevitability of changing seasons, transitions that feel like loss in the moment, but come to represent growth over time.”
21 | Fang | Minneapolis
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fang were among the leaders in the West Coast’s hardcore scene, and were part of early East Bay punk scene. Now they’re are back with a blistering new single and video, Minneapolis. “On Thursday May 28th, 2020 the 3rd precinct of the Minneapolis police dept. was set on fire and burned by protesters following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops. This and many other recent and historic events are the impetus for the new Fang song Minneapolis. There is, and has been, a war going on for far too long in America and every citizen, every person with a voice and a body needs to rise up and join the fight. This song is a call to arms and a condemnation of the diseased history of the United States and the continued systemic racism that exists.”
22 | Alison Brown | Here Comes the Sun / Åguas de Março
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In the spirit of better days to come, Grammy winner Alison Brown is premiering a video featuring a mash-up of The Beatles’ classic Here Comes the Sun and Brazilian composer Tom Jobim’s Águas de Março (Waters of March). “Here Comes the Sun is a song I’ve loved for years,” she says. “But I never thought about playing it on the banjo until I was inspired by stories of hospitals playing it over their PA systems to encourage staff and patients in their battle against COVID. As I started working on it I realized that the tune has a lot in common rhythmically and harmonically with Águas de Março, a Tom Jobim classic that’s one of my favorite melodies and recordings. So I put the two together and came up with this mash-up — setting the low banjo against a tapestry of piano and jazz flute.”
https://youtu.be/b6415pC5Jmg
23 | Kutiman | Maasai In Dub
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kutiman’s Tanzania-meets-psych-jazz album Wachaga, released earlier this year, is an epic and incredibly uplifting work of art, blending traditional Tanzanian sounds with free jazz, psychedelia, afrobeat and soul. Maasai In Dub is the first single taken from new EP Wachaga In Dub, which sees Kutiman turn inward, amplifying the deepest sounds within the album’s standouts, in turn creating a far more psychedelic experience.”
24 | Elle | Blind Mirror
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Elle is the name of the band, and also the title of their debut album. Elle are Marco Calderano, Miriam Fornari and Danilo Ramon Giannini. Blind Mirror is a song about not recognising your own face’s reflection. It sounds like a black and white photo, with trees covered in mist. Or like an organ playing at the bottom of a cathedral’s nave, with rays of light cutting the dusty darkness from the top. It’s a song about the loss of identities, about walking randomly in a psychic labyrinth, with walls covered in wadding. More than just post-rock, you could call it — now — post-everything.”
25 | Tycho | Japan (Satin Jackets Remix)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tycho have announced the Dec. 18 release of a new album Weather Remixes, which follows on from the release their Grammy-nominated 2019 album Weather. The first single Japan (Satin Jackets Remix) is online now. Speaking about the remix, Scott Hansen of Tycho said “I’m a big fan of Satin Jackets’ production and super excited to share his remix of Japan. He took it into a disco space, which I love.”
26 | GA-20 | Sit Down Baby
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following the recent release of their chart-topping EP Live Vol.1, Boston blues trio GA-20 are dropping a cover of Otis Rush’s great 1956 single Sit Down Baby. Guitarist Matthew Stubbs says of the song, “We love Otis Rush! In my opinion he was one of the most soulful blues artists of all time. This was one of the first songs we covered when we started GA-20 back in 2018 and we still include it in the set on almost all our live shows.”
27 | Michael Doucet | Covid 19 (Don’t Want No)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Michael Doucet, the Grammy-winning Cajun singer, songwriter and founder of BeauSoleil, has shared his new single Covid-19 (Don’t Want No). Joined by Sarah Quintana [vocals, guitar], Chad Viator [guitar], Chris French [bass] and Jim Kolacek [drums] — the group Doucet assembled for his most recent album Lacher Prise — he delivers this raucous, darkly humorous take on life during the pandemic in his signature style. “I was merely playing around with what was happening to all of us at the end of April when I awoke to the grim fact that this was our new reality; cancelled gigs, face masks, Dr. Fauci, etc.,” Doucet says. “The song came out complete in 30 minutes. What I had never considered before suddenly became a routine everyday mantra.”
28 | Autocatalytica | Zippler
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Autocatalytica is a bubbling cauldron of scatter-brained prog-metal insanity helmed by guitarist/vocalist Eric Thorfinnson. The newest release for the band, Powerclashing Maximalism, came out last month. Today the band is sharing their latest lyric video for Zippler. A song written about the illusion of free will, it splits down the middle in the vein of the likes of Protest the Hero and the Mars Volta. It’s zippy, groovy, and has got some chaos thrown in for good measure.”
29 | Sara Noelle | Emerald River Dance
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sara Noelle is a Los Angeles singer-songwriter. Her upcoming covers EP Four Songs revisits a few timely classics for this moment of tumult, including Judee Sill’s Emerald River Dance. “There’s a subtle beauty in Judee Sill’s lyrics that becomes clearer with each listen. In her poetic and vulnerable Emerald River Dance, two lines particularly resonate: ‘It seems like everyone’s so afraid of emotion cause they can’t bear the pain’ and ‘Listen to the bleating absence of sound, and you will hear what is.’ In this meditation, there’s hope in the unknown and truth in a moment of silence.”
30 | Badge Époque Ensemble | Just Space For Light (ft. Jennifer Castle)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto’s Badge Époque Ensemble are sharing Just Space For Light (ft. Jennifer Castle) from their upcoming LP Self Help. The song “weaves a few BÉE themes together,” says Max Turnbull. “The collision of disparate moods between sections, lyrics which touch on the meditative experience, and collaboration with a distinctive vocalist; in this case Jennifer Castle, whose soulful presence on our album is a blessing.”
31 | Ilsa | Preyer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Preyer is the latest single from Washington D.C.’s Ilsa. The mauling new tune comes off the band’s sixth full-length of the same name, set for release Nov. 20. Comments frontman Orion: “There’s a long battle ahead and little time for platitudes, old aches, and pains that slow the pace. Preyer is simple and forceful, our spell for Hell on Earth.”
32 | Charles Ellsworth | Blessed
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn transplant (by way of Arizona) Charles Ellsworth will be releasing his latest studio album Honeysuckle Summer on March 5. Just as the pandemic was taking seed around the country earlier this year, the singer-songwriter managed to recruit several musicians from the Brooklyn music scene — including Jared Schapker (Grandpa Jack) and Blake Suben (Dirty Bird) — to help him record this album with producer Joe Reinhart (Hop Along, Algernon Cadwallader) at his Headroom Studio in Philadelphia. Blessed is the first single.”
33 | Hot Laundry | Shake
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hailing from San Francisco, Hot Laundry’s new single Shake is a full throttle rock ‘n’ roll revolution. Soulful lead singer Janette Lopez from Detroit brings her classic Motown style and her love for 1960’s bad-girl garage groups to the performance. Hot Laundry is heavily influenced by The MC5, The Stooges, 1970s East Coast punk and Delta blues. The music grabs you and you can’t let go. The band combines its love of Detroit horsepower, NY punk rock and groundbreaking rock ’n’ roll.”
34 | Speed Control | Headlights
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hailing from Canada’s North in the Yukon, Speed Control’s captivating sound has an energy that will leave you smiling, singing, dancing, and wanting more. Brothers Graeme and Jody Peters have been joined by new members Eric Holland (drums, vocals) and Greg McLaughlin (lead guitar, vocals). Headlights is the latest single the forthcoming LP. “In the Yukon, you can always see people coming, headlights on — sometimes one is burnt out, but we’re still rolling.”
35 | Favvkes | Black Dove
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bringing you ’90s nostalgia with a 2020 attitude, Favvkes (pronounced “fox”) is an exciting, emerging Canadian artist and songwriter. Hard at work on her solo debut, she unapologetically touches on sensitive subject matter surrounding mental health. Her songs deliver strong messages on what it means to deal with social anxiety, depression, acceptance and inclusivity. Her single Black Dove was inspired by her journey through life, getting through all the hardships and using them as fuel for success and personal growth.”
36 | Gina Naomi Baez | Christmas Candlelight
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gina Naomi Baez has just released her new song Christmas Candlelight. The song is Baez’s way of offering some light during such dark and unprecedented times. The song is inspired by the beauty of simplicity, with Baez sharing, “The holidays might feel dark and cancelled in a sense this year, and I hope this song reminds others of the importance of the season and what truly matters most.”
37 | Ember Knight | Cheryl
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ember Knight’s new LP Cheryl is not a rock record, musical, storybook, or ballet. It is some combination of these things. Self-described as “a symphony about ur mom,” Cheryl is a fable which follows a young woman committing herself to an asylum for being unable to remember her favorite color. It’s an on-the-nose metaphor for the futility of achieving wellness. But while deceptively straightforward, the story explores parallels between mother and child, ancestral trauma, and — ultimately — the grace of death. Sonically evocative of Kate Bush, WHY?, and Tenacious D, Ember Knight is a magical new voice in indie that needs to be on your radar.”
38 | Cardinal Wyrm | Nightmarchers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Oakland doom metal band Cardinal Wyrm are preparing to release their fourth album Devotionals on Dec. 11. Devotionals can be described as heavy, intricate, driving, progressive, and genre bending music that seeks to tell a story. The album features Pranjal Tiwari (S.C.R.A.M.) on drums and lead vocals, Nathan A. Verrill (Terebellum, Fyrhtu) on guitars and backing vocals, and Leila Abdul-Rauf (Vastum, Hammers Of Misfortune) playing bass and providing additional vocals.”
39 | Leif Vollebekk | Long Blue Light
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Leif Vollebekk shares Long Blue Light, a new original song. Leif explains: “Long Blue Light was recorded during the sessions for New Ways, live with just myself and a drummer, Homer Steinweiss. I had all but abandoned it but this year I kept coming back to it. I added some overdubs and had Cindy Cashdollar finish it off with a gorgeous dobro part. It was supposed to fade out but I rather liked how it just falls apart at the end.”
40 | Silent Eyes | Homeward Bound
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “At the darkest point of his life, multi-instrumentalist Keelan Butterick picked up the acoustic guitar that would eventually lead him back to the light. Spending New Years Eve alone and depressed, he stared down the barrel of an uncertain future, and out of him poured music. Sincere and emotionally charged — though a world apart from Keelan’s progressive metal band Stare At The Clouds — this potent infusion of roots, folk and alternative rock would go on to become Silent Eyes.”
41 | Julien Manaud | Save Me From Myself
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “French-Canadian musician Julien Manaud‘s new single Save Me From Myself is the first from his forthcoming EP Adaptation Vol. 2, which is set to drop in the new year. Putting his own piano and vocal spin on Save Me From Myself — originally an upbeat, dance-pop tune by Radiant Baby — Manaud gives the song an intimate and timeless transformation. “This track struck me with its dichotomy — an ’80s dance sound that accompanies this desperate message ‘save me from myself’, which works perfectly with the chosen chord line, filled with great melancholy.”
42 | Under The Influence | Body Parts
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Under The Influence deliver a vicious and intense thrashy, hardcore brand of punk that will satisfy metal fans as well as punk devotees. Body Parts is real-life psychosis in a song. It’s dark, it’s diverse, it’s crazy and it’s real … or was it really a dream? Whilst living a life built on lies, deception and stress You find yourself slowly falling and dealing with psychotic episodes and hallucinations of your own demise. Which include witnessing your own body parts scattered across the road. It’s a fiery cauldron of mental confusion.”
43 | Stefanie Clark Harris | Spirit Moves
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Stefanie Clark takes a step into the spotlight, as she brings her debut solo track into the world. Known as the frontwoman for The Feverfew, she breathes a new life into her music this Fall. Stefanie is the writer behind the band’s bittersweet songs, spinning a sound that’s part country twang, part hymnal … these elements come further into fruition on Spirit Moves. On the track, Stefanie holds onto her roots while steering her music into a bold new direction.”
