Cadence Weapon shares his point of view, Eivør knows there’s no place like home, Aja pushes the button, Tennis System give you the painful truth — and we’ve only just begun to dig into this week’s record-setting Weekend Roundup. Let’s pick up the pace:
21 | Cadence Weapon | Eye To Eye
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Cadence Weapon is releasing Eye To Eye, the second single from his forthcoming album Parallel World. The song was produced by Toronto’s own Audioopera, and is an examination of racial profiling. Cadence says: “I wrote Eye To Eye in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and D’Andre Campbell, the assault of Dafonte Miller by an off-duty police officer and his brother, and the Amy Cooper / Chris Cooper incident in Central Park. I was inspired by the writing of Desmond Cole as well as W. E. B. Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness — how I perceive myself and how I’m seen by others as a black man and the conflict between those two perceptions.”
22 | Eivør | Gullspunnin
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Faroese folk electronica artist Eivør today releases a video and live version of Gulspunnin, lifted from her latest album Segl. Produced by Lana Del Rey collaborator Dan Heath, Gulspunnin is Copenhagen-based Eivør’s love letter to her childhood home on the remote Faroe Islands. Eivør says: “The main inspiration behind Gullspunnin came from a certain feeling I often get when I am back at home on the Faroe Islands. There is something intriguing about the light and foggy landscapes that creates some sort of nostalgic in between state of happiness and sadness — a longing for something intangible. I wanted to reflect this feeling and a certain timeless state of mind in this song.”
23 | Aja | Red Button
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “At only 16 years of age, Toronto newcomer Aja has quickly established herself as a force to watch this year. Landing somewhere between Tate Mcrae and Ariana Grande, Aja crafts punchy, empowering pop. Today, the release of her video Red Button is her biggest moment yet. Showcasing her captivating presence, confidence and stellar vocals over a shapeshifting arrangement, the vibrant offering serves to stoke excitement for a breakthrough 2021 for Aja. She states: “When someone breaks your heart, I mean really breaks your heart, it’s easy to hit the Red Button and decline their call. Knowing when to walk away from toxic or negative moments in your life is very important for self-growth!”
24 | Tennis System | Truth Hurts
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A.’s Tennis System unveil the video for Truth Hurts, the first track off the forthcoming release Autophobia, scheduled for release in late summer. Autophobia, defined by any dictionary, is the persistent, crippling fear of being alone. For singer-guitarist Matty Taylor, the very idea of making an album in the midst of a pandemic, in lockdown without a band — startlingly alone — was enough to trigger it. For months, as venues sat empty and legions of musicians also searched for meaning, he wrote nothing, played nowhere, and let the dust gather. “I was done. I didn’t want to make music anymore,” Taylor says. “If Chadwick hadn’t called me and said, ‘Why don’t you come down here and make the record?’ I don’t know what the fuck I would have done.”
25 | Fear Of Domination | Dive Into I
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish band Fear Of Domination release the second single Dive Into I. It creates a special energy and provides a new groove of Fear of Domination, who are known for their energetic approach and impressive visual performances! Says singer Saku Solin: “Dive Into I was a journey into myself and how I see the deepest essence of other people. There exist many questions but not so many answers. When observing other people one can often detect behavioral cycles or patterns. Even though times change, some of our problems seem to stay. In a way, we seem to need that conflict and chaos inside of us. We even seem to understand where we really stand but still, we let ourselves dive into that chaos. Maybe even enjoy it.”
26 | Vertex | Following Arrows
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nearly two years after the official release of their debut EP Scalable, French math-metal/progressive/mathcore engineers Vertex premiere the new single Following Arrows, along with a video. Vertex release uncompromising organic music that tends to move away from gender codes. Each member has a world of his own and comes from different bands, like Bottle Next (hard folk), Shelter (radioactive mathrock prog), ça (math-rock) or FoSS (metal). Metal remains a long-standing story for everyone and that’s what made this group possible. Gathered around influences like Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan or Animals As Leaders, the band from Lyon proves to every handbanger, but also to everyone else, that metal kept all its madness and strength.”
27 | Pentral | All My Wounds
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pentral release All My Wounds, the second single from their forthcoming album, an incendiary mix of the rhythms and melodies of their homeland of Brazil and the power and aggression of classic rock bands of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, plus a contemporary flavour. They say: “This song tries to express an uplifting vibe with its lyrics, melody, harmonies, and groovy rhythm. It is about the quest for spiritual healing, dealing with the highs and lows of life, and toxic people. It touches upon how hard is to cope with grief and loss and how rewarding is to bounce back from rock bottom. It’s a part of the journey described on the concept album called What Lies Ahead Of Us, which is about a saga of a lowly couple fighting for their lives and sanity.”
28 | Morgarten | To Victory
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Swiss folk/black metal band Morgarten’s new album Cry of the Lost will be released on June 18. The video for To Victory, the first single, can be viewed now. In search of battles and victories Morgarten has been touring Europe since 2005. Cry of the Lost which surely won’t leave fans of folk-metal and black metal disappointed! It’s a high quality release that will please fans of bands like Ensiferum, Eluveitie and Wind Rose. Morgarten proves to be the leading folk- and black metal band from the French-speaking part of Switzerland and with their new album Morgarten are ready to march upon the European battlefields.”
29 | Elvenking | The Moon and Magic
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 2019, Elvenking entered a new era by releasing the highly acclaimed concept album Reader Of The Runes – Divination. Today, the band add another chapter to their book of epic stories, presenting their Elvenlegions the single The Moon And The Magic. They say: “The Moon and Magic is the link between Reader of the Runes – Divination and the next chapters of the story to come. The mood of both the music and the lyrics is kind of calm before the storm, a scene that catches the silence before everything reaches its climax.”
30 | The Wandering Hearts | Gold
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After shooting to the forefront of the U.K. folk/Americana scene with their debut album Wild Silence, The Wandering Hearts headed to the genre’s spiritual home of Woodstock at the start of 2020 to work on a followup. The result is their forthcoming self-titled album, which will be released on July 30, which they have launched with the new single Gold. The band say: “Gold stemmed from the idea of something becoming more beautiful after being broken. We had chatted about the Japanese art form Kintsugi, which repairs pottery with lacquer mixed with gold. This was the perfect imagery for what we were writing about. Our scars are a visual representation of our struggles and our stories of loss are stories of survival. Gold feels even more connected and poignant now, after a year of so much loss and everyone just trying to survive.”
31 | Donovan Woods | When The Party’s Over
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 2020, Donovan Woods released Without People via his own label. It’s ranks as Woods’ most successful release. Today, a new deluxe edition of Without People adds four bonus tracks (two new originals and two alternate mixes). The deluxe album includes a song that fans have been craving since the Without People album was released, a full version of the radio-ready interlude When The Party’s Over, written with Tom Douglas and Travis Wood.”
32 | Ella Fence | More To Life
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ella Fence has released her new EP No Thank You. Dropping alongside the EP is the video for focus track More to Life. Manifested during the Covid lockdown, More to Life is a musical examination of societiy’s addiction, that despite best intentions there’s still a culture that demands people mask over emotional battles with a smile. “It’s a song that documents that sometimes we have to wear multiple faces to adapt and cope with life. We live in a world whereby you have to be constantly on, forever pressured to be the most fantastic version of yourself, all day, every day,” says Ella. “It’s exhausting and unrealistic.”
33 | Marcus James & Ryyzn | Night Light
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Acclaimed Vancouver producer Marcus James and esteemed duo Ryyzn are sharing the stripped version of their collaborative single Night Light, accompanied by a personal video. The single heralds the approach of the upcoming Warning Sign EP. Ryyzn say: “Getting a chance to redo Night Light was a treat for me. Normally when you sing vocals for a pop record, you have to sort of keep everything very simple and focused. But with the acoustic stripped-down remake, it gave me license to have some fun with it. I got to really SING the song, and throw some fun little changes into it that I always wanted but thought maybe weren’t as ‘poppy’.”
34 | Brant Jackson | Sacrifice
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Slick and stylish, Brant Jackson is here to stay. His latest pop/hip-hop/R&B creation Sacrifice is a chilled jam that arrives a beautiful video. It comes off of his debut EP Phases. As both producer and artist, Brant is insanely talented. With echoed synth chords and ornaments, Sacrifice rolls along with simple drum hits and a subtle but booming bass. “Sacrifice is about dealing with the constant anxiety fed off the feeling of sacrificing relationships and time to get to where I think I need to be,” he explains. “But it’s also about letting go, and knowing that the best things in life fall into place when you’re not looking for it.”
35+36 | The Lyonz | Push That Way + Animosity
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian duo The Lyonz have released the next in their series of new two-track EPs. It may be the pair’s most accessible offering yet as they intensify their outpouring of explorative cosmic hip hop-music. Push That Way is a shimmering boom-bap banger about how your obsessions can consume you. Animosity has a harder and more experimental sound, breaking for a superb washed-out saxophone interlude flecked with summer memories. The Lyonz explain; “Animosity is a burning flower trying to be extinguished; but the hopeful breaths make the fire spread.”
37 | Mimi Bay | Keep It
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Multi-instrumentalist Mimi Bergman — aka Mimi Bay — is crafting a delicate Gen-Z spin on age-old quandaries in her small Gothenburg apartment. Keep It is a fragile song that ruminates on an inability to articulate feelings, an issue explored with the complete openness and vulnerability that has become Mimi’s trademark and makes her music so accessible. Mimi says: ’I wrote keep it like a diary page out of some kind of frustration. I wanted to explain what I was feeling to someone but I couldn’t figure out what I felt and every time I tried to explain, it came out wrong. thought maybe it would make sense in the future so I kept it to myself until I knew what I wanted to do.”
38 | Kill Shelter & Antipole | A Kiss In The Rain
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kill Shelter (U.K.) and Antipole (Norway) have collaborated on an eight-track album that explores the personal themes of loss, addiction, isolation, remorse and the fragility of human existence. To support the release, Kill Shelter and Antipole have just launched an emotive video for the album track A Kiss in the Rain‘. The video, again produced by Pete Burns from Kill Shelter, uses a combination of live video and motion graphics to bring the album concept and underlying themes to life. Says Karl Morten Dahl of Antipole: “I definitely think this work celebrates the individual styles of both artists and yet manages to create something very different in the process. Across the album you really get a chance to see how well our guitar styles compliment each other and it’s that interplay that makes the album special for me. We talked a lot about this album being a journey for both of us and it certainly has been and I look forward to seeing where it takes us… ”
39+40 | Elizabeth Leslie | Empire Falls (Otonot Remix & Know Itself Remix)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Before delving into her specific moody flavour of goth pop, Elizabeth Leslie was programming drums and schlepping vintage synths across Montréal as Chromeo’s assistant. Then she led the French Electro duo françoise. In 2012, she arrived on the Toronto scene, was introduced to producer Matt DeMatteo and began working with him on her debut EP Brave Animal. Leslie is currently recording her third EP in the coastal wilderness of Nova Scotia. Remix The Empire is Leslie’s second EP featuring remixes of her English single Empire Falls, and its German counterpart, Das Reich Geht Unter. It’s a dark, political synth pop anthem, written as a response to white supremacist imperialist patriarchy in rising tides of civil unrest.”
