Teke::Teke mix, match and marry musical styles, Rest Easy have plenty of bad ideas to share, Anna Wolf gets pulled into the darkness, Liz Phair celebrates Lou and Laurie’s love — and we’re just getting up to speed in your double-strength Wednesday Roundup. Get it on:
1 | Teke::Teke | Meikyu
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Meikyu (Labyrinth or Maze in Japanese) is the new single and video from Teke::Teke’s upcoming album Shirushi. The Montreal septet fuse traditional Japanese instrumentation to punk guitar, creating their own universe. And the video — made by the band — takes you there. Ferocious and hypnotic guitar and bass. A tribal beat and a distant flute. The trombone is haunting. The mysterious female voice pulls you right into the psychedelic tale. After taking inspiration from Japanese surf rock, Brazilian psychedelia, Bulgarian folk and more — and then tearing those compositions apart — Teke::Teke have built a beautiful new beginning out of destruction on Shirushi. Japan meets Montreal meets psychedelia.”
2 | Rest Easy | Bad Idea
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rest Easy is a newly formed punk rock band from Vancouver, consisting of members of Daggermouth and Shook Ones. Their Sick Day EP was recorded in the fall of 2020 by Tim Creviston (Misery Signals) and mixed/mastered by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios in Orange, CA (Death By Stereo, Thrice). It comes out on Friday.”
3 | Anna Wolf | Gong
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “South African-raised, London-based artist Anna Wolf ushers in 2021 with Gong, her most striking single to date. Haunting and ethereal, it may bring to mind such female powerhouses such as Tori Amos and Kate Bush, but it’s a sound all her own. Like the ancient percussive instrument that it takes its name from, Gong issues a resonant signal for music lovers to join Wolf as she continues her journey of exploration into making music that is as singular as it is absorbing. Through a conversation between two people, she reflects on that liminal space between life and death — in this case, after an accidental overdose. “I have been following Mac Miller’s incredible artistry for years and when he died in 2018, I was gripped by the thought of what it might feel like to realise that you have killed yourself.”
4 | Liz Phair | Hey Lou
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Liz Phair has released her first new song in two years — a genius ode to the romance of, well, geniuses (Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, specially), entitled Hey Lou. Produced by longtime collaborator Brad Wood, who helmed her seminal albums Exile In Guyville and Whip-Smart, Hey Lou is everything that Liz Phair does best. It’s a song packed full of wry lyrical observations, a perfect, killer chorus, angular guitar lines that only Liz could write, and so much more. Says Liz: “Have you ever wondered what love looks like for your favorite celebrity couple behind closed doors?” Hey Lou imagines a day in the life of two music legends, whose union was an inspiration for rock bands and a source of curiosity for die hard romantics.”
5 | Darling Boy | Tea Drinkers of the World
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Continuing his no-nonsense approach to 2021, Darling Boy — the alias of actor, writer and musician Alexander Gold — shares the animated video for his single Tea Drinkers of the World. Wanting to steer away from common indie-pop themes, the new video is Gold’s take on visual joy. Animated and directed by Matt Hutchings, it takes Darling Boy back to his childhood love of 16-bit gaming. “One of the big misconceptions bands have is that the concept of watching them play a song from start to finish in a room makes an entertaining music video. It does not,” tells Gold. “With this in mind, for Tea Drinkers I wanted to put something together that was a joy to look at, told a story and was festooned with colour to counteract these grey old times. I used to be a huge gamer as a kid and thought a classic 16-bit look would be a timely throwback to a more innocent, simple age, where a pandemic was something that happened on a busy kitchen-top.”
6 | Hey, King! | Sorry
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Natalie London and her partner, vocalist and percussionist Taylor Plecity, approach music with a childlike curiosity and adventurous spirit — fitting for a band named Hey, King!, a phrase from the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are. With energy reminiscent of Front Bottoms and orchestration evoking Florence and the Machine, Sorry is a humorous, up-tempo romp that turns an argument into a love song. In the song’s new music video, an aggravated yet adorable elderly couple rediscovers their love for each other. “I think now more than ever, after this insane last year, couples know how easy it is to get into tiffs over the tiniest things,” Plecity and London explain. “Sorry turned the classic, tired, love song on its head, because we wrote it with all the hilarity, frustration, honesty, and ruckus that’s part of our relationship. The truth is we love each other, bickering and all, and as long as the day ends in each other’s arms we feel like the luckiest.”
7 | Detritus | Bloodstained Glass
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Renowned Bristol thrashers Detritus are returning to the fray with a new album Myths. Now that they are just days away from the release, Detritus have unveiled a second taster of their amazing new material. Today we bring you Bloodstained Glass, one of the standout tracks from Myths, complete with a superbly constructed video.”
8 | Gisun, Sans Soucis, Joy Morales, Ada Lea, Bianca Muñiz, Luz Pinos | Gracias A La Vida
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Music provided sonic support for the world during 2020, and it is helping us move into a new year. For Toronto and Vancouver– based singer-songwriter Gisun, this arrives via the Gracias A La Vida Project — a collaborative, philanthropic music initiative crossing an array of countries and communities. Today, Gisun launches the project with the release of Gracias A La Vida, a cover of Chilean singer Violeta Parra’s iconic 1966 song. Produced with friends and former colleagues from her time at the New School and beyond, Gisun gathered a diverse ensemble of five vocalists to create a unique take, each person contributing a verse with their own flair.”
9 | Sarah Neufeld | Stories
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sarah Neufeld, the Juno-winning violinist, composer, and long-time member of Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre, has announced her third solo album! The announcement of Detritus, out May 14, comes with the release of her stunning new track Stories, and an accompanying music video by Jeremy Mimnagh. Detritus offers a patient, gorgeous evolution of Neufeld’s sound: a soft and open-hearted musical landscape, where the sound is abiding and reflective. Neufeld, who trained in various dance modalities throughout her youth, brings her customary kineticism to these pastorals, like the song of shapes in motion. Yet the movements are different than they have ever been: Inward-turning and outward-facing, deliberate and generous, acknowledging the world with a love that will not flinch.”
10 | Madi Diaz | Man In Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nashville’s Madi Diaz marks a full restart of her artistic career with Man In Me. It’s a taste of how Diaz has worked at perfecting the craft of delivering a full spectrum of emotions via songs stripped to their most confrontational and raw form. “Man In Me was the first song I sat down to record for myself in about six years, which is the reason I thought it was so important to release first. It’s a very intimately visceral moment, a sort of play-by-play inner monologue, taking my first steps through a really hard time.” The accompanying video, directed by Stephen Kinigopoulos, “emphasizes the intensity of a moment held and held and held. For me, this video is like holding a stare for so long that it hurts. It’s like knowing you should let go, but you keep holding on cause you can’t say ‘when,’ and playing with that tension lying right beneath the surface. You know something’s up, but you just can’t put your finger on it.”
11 | Mel Chante | Magnificent
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mel Chanté is a poet, artist, musician and author. Today, the Brooklyn-based poet returns to announce her new EP Flo, due out on March 12, and shares the video for Magnificent. Discussing the new video, Mel added, “I wanted the visual to take people on a self-care journey, everyday things that keep me grounded and inspired. It’s a peek into who I am, and I want people to feel that. Above all else, I hope it inspires more love.”
12 | Corvair | Unsubtle Lake
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Corvair, the Portland “super duo” of Brian Naubert and Heather Larimer, will release their self-titled debut album on Feb. 19. Today the band shared the lyric video for Unsubtle Lake. It was one of the last songs recorded on the album, so the band permitted themselves to be looser and more spontaneous as they overdubbed this track in their home studio during the first COVID shutdown. They pulled out instruments from deep in the closet, including Brian’s vintage orange Flying V, some kids’ bongos that they then phased and distorted, and an old percussion “frog” that has appeared on many of Heather’s records over the years. The song is a retelling of a first encounter. Heather explains: “It’s so strange that you usually don’t have the luxury of knowing that you’re experiencing a moment that is going to totally change your life. This song was us playing out the fantasy of total omniscience, being able to go back to a crucial scene and watch it unfold again, knowing the butterfly effect that was starting right then and there.”
13 | Bonfire | American Nights
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bavarian rock legends Bonfire go back to their roots on the upcoming album — a classic single from the legendary 1987 album Fireworks morphed into a classy modern number. The timeless song and hooks can survive the years, but now have been upgraded by up-to-date audio production. It’s a year of anniversary for Bonfire — they’re turning 35! Therefore, let’s celebrate this old classic and new version of American Nights.”
14+15 | Gentlemen Rogues | Do The Resurrection! + Bloody Rudderless (in Ursa Major)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Austin’s Gentlemen Rogues have debuted their video for Do The Resurrection! The clip was filmed, directed, and edited by Daniel Fried (Radioactivity, Mind Spiders and Drakulas). The B-side Bloody Rudderless (in Ursa Major) is a cover song consisting of 70% Rudderless by The Lemonheads, 25% Destination Ursa Major by Superdrag, and 5% When You Sleep by My Bloody Valentine. A ’90s indie-rocker’s dream come true? At the very least, it’s a unique idea and hard to argue that it’s not pretty badass. This two-song single finds the band blending lush, lyrical and instrumental textures to create a sonic cocktail sure to intoxicate discerning ears.”
16 | Distant Voices | Lights of The City
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Based in London, Distant Voices is the solo project of Valdis Stekelis, who wrote and began writing these tracks in 2019, finally finishing a year later due to the delayed realities of the U.K. lockdown. The band name was chosen during that period to reflect these unusual times, where live music (as we have previously experienced it) is a scarce occurrence and where we consume music with a less personal connection to the people making it. Like the tracks on the album as a whole, Lights of the City was inspired by Stekelis’ travels around Europe, based on events from that extensive journey. This lead track reflects the beginning of this trip with all its excitement and promise, but also a light sense of anxiety about what lies ahead.”
https://youtu.be/iocT4eqi90U
17 | Pop Evil | Breathe Again
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Michigan’s Pop Evil debuted the video for their latest single Breathe Again, the latest in a string of hit singles the band has dropped during the turbulent year of 2020. The video is the first from their sixth full-length Versatile. The futuristic and partly animated video, directed by Johan Carlén, captures Pop Evil in a new light as they dive into their greatest stylistic shift to date, striking on some of their heaviest moments as a band while still balancing their unflinching groove with cinematic melody.”
18 | Annabelle Chvostek | Belleville Rendez-Vous
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Juno-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annabelle Chvostek shares her stunning re-working of the classic Belleville Rendez-Vous, written by Benoît Charest, Sylvain Chomet and Matthieu Chedid. The song is taken from the former Wailin’ Jennys member’s upcoming sixth album String of Pearls, which is due March 26. Annabelle says: “This song hit the airwaves in 2004 with the release of the animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville. It was the first time I’d heard a gypsy-jazz guitar style as the basis for a huge mainstream hit, and the way it grew into its booming beat and harmonized chorus was so incredibly exciting.”
19 | The King’s Death | Mountainess
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dutch metal combo The King’s Head have released the single & video for Mountainess, a track taken from the band’s self-titled album out now.”
20 | Terez | Hot Mess
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian musician Terez has just released her single Hot Mess, along with a video. In the song, Terez pokes fun at herself for making silly mistakes and the video is the perfect visual representation of that. “This song was born out of leaving my wallet in an Uber after a night out (don’t worry, I got it back), and was written to poke fun at myself for doing so. I hope that this song can pick people up if they’re having a rough day, give them humor instead of frustration, and the license to be imperfect and love themselves for it!”
21 | Everture | Closure
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish modern melodic metal band Everture are set to release their debut album Emerge on March 19. The band released their fourth single Closure today. Guitarist Matti Hautakangas comments: “The lyrics tell an aftermath where so much has been experienced and you need some kind of closure. This makes the song a perfect fit for the closing song of the Emerge album. It’s the understanding of things in the end of all that has happened. It’s about the fact that from the chaos we undergo, beautiful things are born but nothing will ever be perfect. And eventually all things must end and still you can be OK with that.”
22 | Etienne Dufresne | Jolicoeur
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Etienne Dufresne has released Jolicoeur, a peculiar modern cinematographic and poetic blues with the very original lo-fi 3D animated video telling a boy-meets-girl story. Dufresne grew up submerged in his parents’ prog rock, somewhere between Victoriaville and Magog. Once in Montreal, he infiltrated the music scene as a photographer before fulfilling his own singer-songwriter aspirations. It was only after a series of professional and romantic downfalls that he started instinctively composing song fragments on his acoustic guitar, that he later enhanced using his computer and technology. The circumstances of the moment led him to follow a very personal writing style and a rather experimental production process. Fuelled by an urge to express himself, his solo project has taken flight.”
