Tony Joe White serves up a slice of bass, Allison Russell runs a fly-by-night operation, Broken Bricks increase their personal space, Claptone have your number — and just like that, we’re off and running on another marathon Weekend Roundup. Remember to tape your nipples!
1 | Tony Joe White | Bubba Jones
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Leave it to the late, great Tony Joe White to write what may very well be the only bonafide-badass bass fishing song and never get around to sharing it with the world. That is, until now. Appearing on his upcoming posthumous album, Smoke from the Chimney, Bubba Jones follows a mostly fictional character on his chase to land a world-record largemouth bass. “My dad loved to fish. It was his favourite hobby,” says White’s son Jody. “He would travel many miles to find the best fishing holes, or to explore places he heard about where large fish had been caught.” Jody describes the character as “a hybrid, fictional character that Tony Joe made up in his head, combined with his inner self who had a burning desire to catch the world record largemouth bass.” Along with the greasy production from Dan Auerbach, Bubba Jones’ tale unfolds with a rollicking backbeat and deep and smokey vocal delivery — not to mention sweltering slide guitar from Marcus King. Auerbach pegs Bubba Jones as quintessential Tony Joe. “No-one else could do it like Tony Joes does. When is the last song you heard name-check Red Man and Gatorade?”
2 | Allison Russell | Nightflyer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On May 21, Allison Russell will release her first solo project Outside Child. Russell, a poet, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago, unpacks her youth in searing detail throughout the album. Today, she shares the first single Nightflyer and its video directed by Silvia Grav. Russell notes: “When I was 16 I read The Thunder: Perfect Mind for the first time — it’s an exhortatory poem discovered among the Gnostic manuscripts in the Nag Hammadi library in the ’40s. It has never left me. I’ve been meditating on the nature of resilience, endurance, and grace more deeply since becoming a mother. I was trying to bridge the divide and embrace shame and my inner divinity equally with this piece.”
3 | Broken Bricks | NASA
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “NASA is the second single from London electro / disco-punk / indietronic trio Broken Bricks, which includes producers Warren Borg (Worgie) and Lee Hughes (Yewzi), plus vocalist Christianne. NASA is an atypical love song; the story of yet another breakup, it could be depressing or mournful but instead features a driving tempo and a big, dirty bassline to make you jump up and down, all mixed up with a lush singalong chorus.”
4 | Claptone | Zero
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Claptone, a musician who maintains a mystery that few artists can match, finally drops some new music. His single Zero is a driving beacon of house indicative that dance floors commanded over by his golden mask’s charm are set to return very soon. Zero’s illuminating crescendo and playful yet commanding vocal is as evocative as it is affecting, and underpins the beginning of one of Claptone’s most transparent musical moments without compromising what made his earlier work so special, channeling deep grooves and in Zero’s case dizzying euphoria into an unyielding dancefloor anthem.”
5 | Mark Clennon | Stray
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Foreign, Mark Clennon’s latest EP, is out today. On this newest collection, the Toronto crooner explores themes of belonging, relationship ambiguity, the deconstruction of stereotypes, and authenticity. Along with the EP, Clennon presents a video for Stray, directed by Montreal’s Christian Boakye-Agyeman. On this deeply personal dancehall track, the Jamaican-born artist sings in Patois, embracing all of his culture within his music for the first time, as he speaks on infidelity and addresses the stereotype of cheating black men.”
6 | Saleka | The Sky Cries
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rising singer-songwriter Saleka has released the emotive video for her track The Sky Cries. Directed by her father M. Night Shyamalan, it finds the singer haunting and dancing through the halls of the a home as members of her band play beside her. “Saleka says: “I was very intimidated and nervous leading up to the shoot because there were a lot of physical logistics with the choreography and I’ve never been directed by my dad before, but once we were on set it actually felt really natural. He always emphasizes the emotional intention over everything. Since I wrote the song, we were able to easily talk about the meaning of each line, how it connects to the movement and contributes to the arc of the overall video.”
7 | Jitensha | Sojourn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jitensha are the garage-rock love child of Erin Rose Hubbard and David Martinez. Their sound is a silvery union of honey sweet proto-punkiness and modern indie that is harmonically reminiscent of 1950s rock ’n’ roll. Lyrically, the duo toe the line between realism and optimism, focusing on social justice, environment and psychology, bringing you on a winsome journey of the human experience. Jitensha’s new single and video Sojourn are underpinned by the constant rhythm of a beating heart. Melancholy and contemplative lyrics embark on a steadfast journey. Stone by stone, from the bottom of the well of depression and doubt, the listener is lifted into the light, and the singular realization that in life or death, tout va toujour bien.”
8 | Lovebreakers | Laura
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Laura is the fourth and final single off Lovebreakers’ upcoming debut album Primary Colours, out later this year. A nod to the ’80s, Laura is a vibrant pop song that wouldn’t feel out of place being blasted out on mainstream radio, or performed live from the mainstages of Reading or Glastonbury whilst still exuding the same punk spirit and energy that we know their songs have. The song is a tribute to a bandmember’s fiancée — and to everybody out there of the same name.”
9 | Michigander | Better
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-rock artist Michigander, the sonic alter ego of Michigan native Jason Singer, has released his third EP Everything Will Be OK Eventually. The six-song collection includes the single Better. Singer says: “I’ve wanted to do a video that doesn’t feature me as the focus … I think it really captures my personality, as the video is goofy but also makes you cry. It’s emotional. Better is probably my favorite song off the new EP. It’s the type of song I’ve always dreamed of writing and sounds the closest to what I think Michigander embodies.”
10 | Rivals | Change Things (ft. Dutch Melrose)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. alt-rock band Rivals celebrate their sophomore release Sad Looks Pretty On Me with a video for Change Things. Vocalist Kalie Wolfe states: “Three years. That’s how long we worked on this record. 100 songs, that’s how many instrumentals we wrote, over 35 with vocals. We spent so many hours in the studio with different people to create a diverse and crazy range of songs that somehow still sound like Rivals.”
11 | Hail The Sun | Made Your Mark
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hail The Sun have shared Made Your Mark, the third single from their upcoming album New Age Filth, out April 16. The song shows a softer, yet familiar side of the band, floating through dreamy melodies before kicking into the memorable chorus driven by guitars and an emotional vocal delivery. Vocalist/drummer Donovan Melero states: “Lyrically, this song was written to outlive the relationship that it was written about. I wanted the words to hold true, no matter what the outcome, because of how strong of an emotion we felt towards each other. The chorus sums this up. ‘Wherever you end up, know that you’ve made your mark. I’m forever lost … forever caught by your moment on Earth.’ ”
12 | Pærish | You & I (ft. Patrick Miranda)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “You & I (ft. Patrick Miranda of Movements) is the latest single from Parisian rock band Pærish’s upcoming album Fixed It All, out April 23. The video stars Elvis and Juke. Says bandmember Mathias: “You & I is a song about not being in a rush to fall in love. I’m talking to a person that isn’t in my life yet, saying that I can wait all day before starting anything new. But it still somehow feels like a love song, about someone that’s not here yet.”
13-17 | Vallens | Songs From In Era
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto ensemble Vallens just released their second full-length LP In Era — and share their exclusive album release performance. On In Era, vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and originator/overseer Phillips and her band are still audibly figuring out who they are. But the picture of what Vallens can be and will become as time goes on is growing more confidently defined, even as it remains willfully, tantalizingly and necessarily indistinct. “All the songs feel special to me,” explains Phillips. “Which is not to speak highly of myself, but it’s just a nice feeling to have — to know that I really tried to make this album the most reflective of my current style and taste and musicianship and it’s so rare that you actually get that and I think I achieved that.”
18 | Scott Matthews | New Skin
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “New Skin. It’s not just a title. It’s a state of mind, an accurate summation of the position in which Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter Scott Matthews finds himself with the release of his seventh studio album on May 14. The title track opens the record courageously, with vocals that shimmer above pulsing beats and ambient synths. New Skin is a record that takes more risk than the rest of Matthews’ canon. “I felt I had to break the mould I’d cast myself in. The desire to explore an idea that was always written in bold on my ‘to do’ list — a world of organic samples, programmed beats, grainy synthesisers, electric baritone guitar has always fascinated me. It was like discovering the ’80s for the first time.”
19 | Starset | Echo
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Visionary media collective Starset have released their latest visual communication in the form of Echo. Starset have carved out a unique path — part cinematic rock band, part conceptual storytellers, weaving an intricate narrative through multimedia and redefining the concept of a truly immersive entertainment experience. Led by enigmatic front man and PhD candidate Dustin Bates, the band have made a mission to take fans on a journey through music, video, AR-integrated performances, a Marvel graphic novel, and online experiences, blurring the lines of science, fact and fiction.”
20 | Little Hurt | Messed Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Little Hurt just released a video for the deeply personal song Messed Up, the focus track from the Every Second EP. Little Hurt’s Colin Dieden says: “Messed Up was a difficult story to tell while writing it, so I wanted to convey that in this video. I hadn’t done a live performance aspect in a Little Hurt video yet and I thought it could be a way to successfully convey some of the aggression I’ve felt surrounding this song.”
