The Record Summer let it go, I At Last awake, Amiena shines up her halo, Pink Stones make no bones about it — and don’t sleep on Holy Monitor, Jon Klages, DEAR-GOD and more in the bottom half of your Midweek Roundup. Let’s take it home:
19 | The Record Summer | Release
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Record Summer, aka songwriter Bret Rodysill, premiered a video for his latest single Release — the second from his debut album Lay It Bare, set to arrive March 5. Rodysill stated: “Release is about catharsis. The past few years, spending a lot of time in hospitals and in bed, I got to a place where things were so bottled up that I needed to let go of protecting myself. I needed to release all that bad energy. Release is meant to promote just that — letting it all go.”
20 | I At Last | Wake
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish metalcore metal band I At Last released the single Wake, from the upcoming debut EP Magenta, due March 26. Although I At Last declare themselves representatives of the metalcore genre, the EP embodies the band’s distinctive sound, breaking the prejudices associated with said genre. “Influences for the EP can be found in several different genres, but in the end when someone asks what I At Last sounds like, I would say it sounds like us. The sound of Magenta creates a good overall picture of who we are and what kind of music we want to create,” says guitarist Roope Lappalainen.”
21 | Amiena | Halo
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “International alt-pop artist Amiena dropped her new single Halo, a clever song about hypocrisy. In a world where it can be easy to blend in, she is not afraid to stand out and mix a blend of genres, powerhouse vocals, and unique storytelling. Diving into her personal experiences, the song’s storytelling mocks hypocrisy with snarky lyrics and reality checks. “It is about how people blindly follow others, the constant need to be liked and how we create a facade,” explains Amiena. “Basically, we miss out on real life trying to be someone else.” With flashing synths and hard beats, the music is the perfect counterpoint to the lyrics.”
22 | The Pink Stones | Shiny Bones
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Pink Stones will release their debut album Introducing…The Pink Stones on April 9. Today, they premiered the album track Shiny Bone, calling it “a pensive song about losing a sense of home.” Frontman Hunter Pinkston explains that the track is “a metaphorical ballad” saying, “I wrote it in my first apartment in Athens. I was living alone and feeling pretty lonely — that ‘not a lot of friends in a new town’ sorta feeling that comes from moving away from home and losing people in the transition … It’s about ‘killing’ those feelings and memories that make you feel alone or lonely, while still being able to dig them back up when need be.”
23 | Bernice | We Choose You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bernice share another new track from their upcoming album Eau de Bonjourno, out March 5. The intro of We Choose You begins with Robin Dann asking: ‘What are you saying?’ A vocoder voice answers, ‘The top.’ Let’s take it from the beginning again. “This is a song about the impossible nature of the present moment, as individual people on a planet that’s too hot, too crowded, too connected, too divided,” says Dann. “We can’t imagine how to do it, how to make it better, but we’ll do it anyway. There is a body of water in each one of us — we’re listening now. The waterfall in front of us is loud — but we can still speak. We can live in the future.”
24 | ViVii | One Day (Zoo Brazil Remix)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After delighting us with the luxurious new single One Day, their first new material of 2021, Swedish dream-pop outfit ViVii have recruited the talents of producer Zoo Brazil for a remix. Capturing the same bright and uplifting direction of the original, this version adds a new and distinct layer to the trio’s vibrant aesthetic. Giving the track a more groove-laden texture throughout, the Swedish producer aims to inject his own flair for fresh and euphoric atmosphere into this already joyous and dreamy delight.”
25 | Holy Monitor | Blue Whale
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Athens psych-rockers Holy Monitor are set to release their third album Southern Lights next week. Today they offer another preview with the single Blue Whale. They say: “We were in the studio jamming on new ideas for our new album when we came up with this 5/4 beat accompanied by a clean, reverb-soaked strumming guitar. It was the first time we tried something different than the traditional 4/4 so we kept the idea and started building a new track with a classic Rhodes sound, an aery playful vocal line and a distinctive guitar solo that would be memorable. Blue Whale was born with the addition of the story of a girl that was coming to life every time in different shape. A blue whale, a mountain, a ghost, the sand in an hourglass.”
26 | Jon Klages | 1133 Ave. of the Americas (For Enoch Light)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On April 1, singer-songwriter and guitarist Jon Klages — who helped create the Hoboken Sound as lead guitarist for The Individuals — will release Fabulous Twilight, a collection of original songs and instrumentals hailed as an exceptionally broad and rich work … mature but still playful, [that] shows off Jon’s considerable songwriting and musicianship skills proudly. 1133 Ave. of the Americas (For Enoch Light) is a fun and nostalgic lead track about his grandfather, ‘50s and ‘60s bandleader Enoch Light.”
27 | Frankie & His Fingers | Just Because You Are, Doesn’t Mean You Have To
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hudson Valley band Frankie & His Fingers present Just Because You Are, Doesn’t Mean You Have To, the latest single to be lifted from their new album Universal Hurt out March 26. Just Because You Are, Doesn’t Mean You Have To is a slice of riff rock in The Hold Steady mold, with a side of Thin Lizzy. Vocalist Frank McGinnis says, “For the past few years, we have been a part of an intensive songwriting group, writing a song a day for five days and submitting a stripped-down demo before each midnight. I set out to write this song for a day and suddenly remembered that playing guitar was fun.”
28 | Bealby Point | I’m So Bummed Out Right Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bealby Point have spent the better part of two years with one goal in mind: capturing the most cherished memory of your favourite summer and turning it into the perfect sound. Not unlike a gang of pesky neighbourhood kids from a Stephen King novel, Bealby Point spent their youth sneaking out to parties, riding bikes, and exploring the night in the sprawling suburbs of a coastal neighbourhood of North Vancouver, which also serves as inspiration for their songwriting, atmosphere and energy. Their newest single I’m So Bummed Out Right Now was inspired by missing out on opportunities to create memories with your best friends. The happy, uplifting guitar riffs contrast the sorrowful lyrics of dejection and create a melancholy feel that is essential to the message.”
29 | Far Lands | There Be Monsters
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On April 30, Portland band Far Lands will release their sophomore album There Be Monsters. Today the band present the album’s title track. Andy McFarlane says: “This is the kind of song that happens when you wake up from a dream with a melody stuck in your head and you go straight to your favorite chair and pull out that notepad that’s dedicated specifically for the first thoughts of the day, over coffee. In this case, that happened on three consecutive mornings and the resulting 40 or so verses ranged from sweet to heartbreaking, to completely goofy. After a bit of back-and-forth and a ton of laughter during the demo process, I arrived at the ones that made the cut and came the closest to telling some truth about where I was at that exact point in time.”
30 | The Waters | Mother Samwell
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “That’s right, we’ve reached a toker’s dozen editions of Brown Acid, the brilliant collections of long-lost, rare, and unreleased hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal tracks from the ’60s and ’70s. Clearly this has become a bona fide archaeological movement as each new instalment leads us to more exciting new discoveries. Like we’ve done throughout this series, all of these tracks were painstakingly licensed legitimately and the artists were paid. Make yourself comfortable and prepare for yet another deep, deep dive into the treasure trove of dank, subterranean, wild-eyed and hairy rock ’n’ roll.”
31 | Bones Of The Earth | Peaceseeker
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Arkansas hardcore/doom trio Bones Of The Earth will release their second full-length II. Eternal Meditations Of A Deathless Crown. In advance of the release, the band unveils their first single Peaceseeker. Notes the band of the climactic hymn: “Peaceseeker maintains the intense energy present in the rest of the album while giving the listener a glimpse into the now cold, dead world in which the chronicle takes place.”
32 | Jenny Owen Youngs | Follow You (John Mark Nelson Remix)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jenny Owen Youngs has announced that her Echo Mountain EP arrives March 10. The EP is a tidy collection of new singles detailing the messiness of life. Songs steeped in a hesitant nostalgia for the alternatingly carefree and unsettlingly uncertain times of our childhood and teens, as well as ruminations on the lasting impact certain decisions can have, and how we learn to live with and grow from them. Today we hear the John Mark Nelson remix of Follow You. Youngs says the song “is about wanting to go back to moments to which you can never return, or wishing you could sidestep to alternate outcomes of the path you didn’t take when the road forked.”
33 | Beams | A Flower Blossomed
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto psych folk band Beams are set to release their upcoming album Ego Death on March 26. The album works as a narrative cycle chronicling songwriter, Anna Mernieks-Duffield’s challenges with mental health and her journey towards self-acceptance. Yesterday the band shared their second single, A Flower Blossomed. The track combines gorgeous vocal harmonies, ’70s folk rock influences (think Fleetwood Mac or Cat Stevens), and some perfectly placed vibraphone.”
34 | Katie Malco | Cloudbusting
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I’ve put out a cover of my favourite Kate Bush song Cloudbusting, the song that made me understand Kate Bush. I’d never truly got her before I heard this song and it was a gateway for me. Although it’s lyrically pretty dense (it’s based on Peter Reich’s A Book of Dreams), when I first listened to it I interpreted it differently, particularly the chorus, and took away from it this deep feeling of looking forward with optimism and a meeting of the past and the future — melancholy yet hopeful. I loved the synth strings and Kate’s rich, soaring voice. I covered it accidentally, just singing it to myself one day after spending basically a year on my own in and out of lockdown, and it took on another meaning altogether — imagining a hopeful future and reminiscing about the life I used to have. It all got out of hand and now here we are. In the world we live in right now, I think a message of hope is really pertinent. And that’s what I felt when I sang “the suns coming out.”
35 | Clare Luna | 22 Moons
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “22 Moons is the new single from Clare Luna. The electro-laced song brings Luna’s musicianship to a whole new level. She shares: “This song is really about the layered emotions you can feel after a breakup. Not only are you feeling heartbroken, but if it seems like too much time has passed for you to still be hurting, you then feel this terrible shame for your feelings. It causes this additional layer of suffering for you. You battle these thoughts of “What is wrong with me? Why is this still affecting me so much?” I often like to express feelings like this with really upbeat songs. I think it helps characterize the complicated and confusing nature of these experiences and, in this song in particular, the desperate desire to be OK and happy again.”
36 | DEAR-GOD | Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “20-year-old experimental hip-hop and hardcore artist DEAR-GOD (Robert Ortiz) offers a fresh take of Deftones’ Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) today. Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) brings me back to so many fire memories of my late teen years,” DEAR-GOD explains. “Nights with my girlfriend driving around Brampton in my old shitty SUV. I took a weird approach to this cover, trying to compose it in a really unique way, adding melodies that hadn’t existed in the original. I made it all in one sitting and actually lost the stems halfway through mixing it, so it’s definitely got some ‘natural’ character.”
