Yves Jarvis uses his words, Teenage Fanclub are in the dark, Hi Frisco drift off, Sean Healy drifts around, The Wardens pay homage to a hero — and we’ve reached the summit of your Midweek Roundup. It’s all downhill from here:
20 | Yves Jarvis | Body Of Work
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Eclectic autodidact Yves Jarvis has shared the new song Body Of Work today. Jarvis says he’s “having fun with forms. I’m a man of many motifs!” Created with a process similar to the video for Projection, the Body of Work video was “foolishly printed and scanned one word at a time.” Though he maintains an air of mystery with his lyrics, Jarvis’s whisper-soft words can be interpreted as both deeply personal and politically motivated in ways we haven’t heard from him before. “When you better yourself, you better the world,” he concludes. “Even if you only interact with one person in your life, the effect of trying to see things for what they are is vast. Change can feel like a fantasy, but I’m not fatalistic about it. I make music because I get results that way. It’s why I promote creativity, whatever that means for anyone.”
21 | Teenage Fanclub | The Sun Won’t Shine On Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With their new album Endless Arcade now due for release on April 30, Teenage Fanclub share another new track, The Sun Won’t Shine On Me. A wistful gem written by Norman Blake, the song comes with a visualiser created by long-time collaborator Donald Milne. Blake says: “This is something of a rarity for Teenage Fanclub — a song in waltz time!”
22 | Hi Frisco | Drift
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following the release of their debut album Goodbye, Blue Monday last year, Hi Frisco willrelease a new collection of stripped-back renditions of songs from initial full-length. Dubbed The Living Room Versions, the new four-track EP features reworked and lo-fi examples of some of the record’s offerings. On the new version of Drift, the pair take a more cosy and laid-back approach, creating a more intimate atmosphere and adding a new layer to their dexterous sound. The band say: “These versions happened whilst making other plans… We wanted to do a live stream with our rhythm section as company, but due to lockdown we didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Instead, we stripped the songs back from their many many layers, playing them as the two of us + our beloved miniPops drum machine.”
23 | Sean Healy | Drift Around
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Emerging folksinger-songwriter Sean Healy has released his debut single Drift Around, accompanied by an animated video. Pulling listeners into a confidential embrace, Healy sets a dysphoric tone as he gently strums to his own, unhurried, pace. Says Healy: “I wrote this song when I was studying Chinese in Shanghai. It was the year after I finished college in Ireland. I wrote the song without forethought but looking back I think it’s about searching and finding energy as time goes by and challenges arise, and reconnecting with energy that you had before.”
24 | The Wardens | Thousand Rescues (ft. Tim Auger)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Wardens’ new “pop-up” video pays homage to legendary Banff mountain rescuer Tim Auger. He had first ascents up many famous rock faces, nearly lost his life on Mount Logan, was part of the 1982 Canadian Everest expedition and even had a first ascent up the UBC library building. His life is captured in song on The Wardens’ latest release Thousand Rescues. “Tim saved countless lives in his 30-year career,” says The Wardens’ Scott Ward, who penned the song. “I worked directly for him for 17 years and had the utmost respect.”
25 | Twin XL | Slow Heart
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt-pop band Twin XL release their new single Slow Heart. Says Cameron Walker-Wright: “Slow Heart is about the internal dialogue between your head and your heart and the idea that it’s impossible to love if you are unable to love yourself. The verses are like a confession. I’m spilling all my biggest regrets out on the table and owning up to my worst mistakes. I’ve never felt totally secure in my own skin and I have a habit of letting my emotions and insecurities get the best of me. The chorus is filled with desperation, melodically drawing inspiration from bands like The Cure. I want people to be able to feel my desire for love not only from others but also for myself. I want someone to figure out what’s wrong with my heart and make it work better.”
26 | Hurricane on Saturn | Outsider
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Italy’s Hurricane on Saturn released their debut album Killing Field in November. Today the band share the single Outsider. It was mixed by Matt Dougherty and features Dakm on drums.”
27 | Alase | Vailla Nimeä
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Vailla Nimeä continues Finnish atmospheric metal band Alase’s new, more progressive path. There are two vocalists in the song: Juha Tretjakov, who sang on Alase’s previous song Poissa Silmistä, and Markus Hirvonen, who has sung on several Alase songs and has also been the band’s live vocalist. Guitarist Janne Lunnas says: “Markus’s and Juha’s voices fit together very well and sometimes it’s even hard to tell which one is singing at that moment. However, the use of two vocalists in the song allowed more versatility in vocal arrangements — we’re extremely happy with the result. There are more djenty style rhythms in this song than what we usually have had and at least to me it is an interesting addition to the Alase sound. Still, melody and clean vocals play a major role this time too.”
28 | Wratheon | In Seance
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The five songs that make up Wratheon’s exhilarating thrill ride Black Thrash Mass are each perfectly crafted slices of venomous metal. These are all magnificent, headbanging masterpieces that demonstrate remarkably accomplished song writing skills for a debut release — or indeed any release! Lyrically these bitter hymns rage against all forms of oppression, being a screaming war cry against the rich, the religious and the authority figures that lord it over us all; the passion and intensity in the vociferous vocals matching that of the savage, scything riffs every step of the way. Black Thrash Mass is uplifting and life-giving to the metal hordes and a sword to the throat of the bloated deceivers in their palaces of hypocrisy and vanity. It has been a long wait for the fury of Wratheon to finally be unleashed, but at long last the Black Thrash Mass is upon us. This incredible opening salvo will blast forth on March 26, so be ready to heed the call to war. Kneel to no-one and fight ‘til death!
https://youtu.be/eL604k9ZSbQ
29 | Grillijono K.O. | Marinaadien Hautaan
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish turborock band Grillijono K.O. released Marinaadien Hautaan, the third single from their upcoming debut album Napalmia Korville, due on March 26. Marinaadien Hautaan is one of the oldest tracks on the album. Lobo-Tommi explains: “In Finland we have this thing called ‘being marinated’ which basically means being seriously drunk, a very common habit/phenomenon here in the north throughout the year. So, the song tells about the consequenses of being marinated — what it’s like to end a drinking bout.”
30+31 | Evie Sands | Beautiful Lie + The Truth Is In Disguise
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Evie Sands sought inspiration as she got in gear for a new album after a two-decade wait. “I was in a meditation, a thing I only do once in a while,” she says. “And these words came to me: ‘Forgive yourself. Get out of your own way. All will follow.’ ” Putting that into practice, she got home and within hours had the song that would become the title — and philosophy — of her new release, Get Out of Your Own Way, due out April 23. Today she share the video for Beautiful Lie and the song The Truth Is In Disguise. “The Truth Is in Disguise came on as an insistent, powerful feeling with lyrics and impressionistic imagery intertwined inside a solid guitar pulse. The song seemed to come through me from another place in time, but deep down, I felt it was my inner voice speaking to me with a sense of urgency. The words echoing a message about not being taken in by appearances and shiny things.”
32 | Glaare | Divine Excess (ft. Ross Farrar)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. band Glaare share Divine Excess, the latest single from their sophomore album Your Hellbound Heart, out April 30. Divine Excess features guest vocals from Ross Farrar (Ceremony / Spice / Crisis Man). Brandon Pierce says, “The narrative is essentially a conversation with your shadow where you’re ridiculing your actions and mutilating yourself by failing to understand the nature of your ego. Having a rigid core of beliefs that you take as doctrine and what happens when you break them. The judgment and lack of ability to reconcile with yourself.”
33 | Gift Of Tongues | The Art Of Loneliness
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn’s David Johnston of Gift of Tongues aims to create work that mixes performance, motion, graphics, & original music and is preparing for the release of The Perfect Son, a 15-song collection of folktronica synth-pop that utilises music to face the darkness of a lonely childhood. “The Art Of Loneliness is a dance-pop song which sounds triumphant, but upon closer listen feels tragic,” he says. “The lyrics here are the closest I get to a private monologue with me trying to convince myself that loneliness isn’t such a painful situation. I’m trying to trick myself into thinking being alone isn’t so bad and the artful way I do it.”
34 | Paul Bergmann | The Other Side
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Paul Bergmann presents The Other Side, the title track from his album out April 2. Bergmann says, “The Other Side is an ugly tune living some kind of essential truth; existing only to make friction. The execution of the song was deliberately rash, and the edges left exposed. The lyrics were written the hour before, and the first vocal take was used; then months of tape-saturated instrumental layering formed the song as it is now.”
35 | Needles // Pins | A Rather Strained Apologetic
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Maybe it’s the endless pieces of soft, soothing music being described as ‘a soothing balm for the stresses of the pandemic age,’ but don’t you sometimes find yourself wishing for a solid rock ’n’ roll record to cut to your core and send your fists soaring towards the sky? OK, our moshpits may not extend much further than the faces in our living rooms right now, but goddamit, some of us really just want some punk rock to help us feel alive. Here’s where Needles // Pins’ mighty fourth album comes in. This is a record that takes your emotional concerns and bundles them up into sweet little packets of raw-throated, chest-swelling, moves-into-your-brain-and-never-leaves melody.”
36 | Half Past Two | Mean Green
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Half Past Two are a nine-piece blend of ska, rock, reggae, and pop punk from Orange County. The new single Mean Green is from the band’s upcoming full-length. “While Mean Green is a return to ska-punk form for us in many ways, we wanted to really challenge ourselves to take everything that makes Half Past Two and dial it up to 11.”
37 | Koji | To Carry (On And On)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sunday, Someday is a compilation album created by a group of like-minded musicians who began meeting virtually each Sunday after their planned tour was cancelled due to the pandemic. Alt/punk band Nervus (UK), pop/rock trio Potty Mouth (LA), indie/folk/punk songwriter Koji (PA), singer-songwriter Solstice Rey (PA) and multimedia artist Full on Mone’t (PA) contributed to the album, which comes out March 26. “When pandemic and uprising hit, our instinct was to turn toward one another, to create together, and to support one another,” says Koji. “Whether we’re doing mutual aid, community care, or we’re out at a protest, we had each other to make sense of the world and what was going on.”
38 | Neighborhood Brats | Confines of Life
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Neighborhood Brats is a California punk band formed in 2010 by vocalist Jenny Angelillo and guitarist George Rager. In 2021, Neighborhood Brats will release their third LP Confines of Life, which was recorded in 2020 as Los Angeles shut down in response to the incoming pandemic. The album will be released on May 28.”
39 | Piers Faccini | All Aboard (ft. Ben Harper and Abdelkebir Merchane)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “British-Italian artist Piers Faccini has released All Aboard, also featuring Ben Harper and Abdelkebir Merchane. The track is the latest to emerge from his forthcoming album Shapes Of The Fall, due for release on April 2. A dystopian flood myth narrative is the backdrop to All Aboard. “All aboard, pull the oar and row, all aboard to the poles we go,” sing Faccini and Harper while the Moroccan master’s intervention brings a shift into a major key as he asks the Gnawa saint or djinn El Fqih for blessing and healing. In this way, ruin or repair and hope or despair are the album‘s parallel narratives; with All Aboard, it swings back toward light, toward hope.”
