Ashbury Heights own their limitations, Postdata turn everything around, Clea Anaïs feels the power, Everlust share their dreams — and Kevin Smith even makes a cameo appearance in the second half of your Tuesday Roundup. Snooch to the nooch.
21 | Ashbury Heights | One Trick Pony (ft. Massive Ego)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Swedish synth-pop band Ashbury Heights released their new single One Trick Pony. Ashbury Heights are known for Anders Hagström’s unique voice and distinctive style of music. For the new output, the band has joined forces with the U.K. electro-pop band Massive Ego and created another catchy energetic hit. Hagström comments: “One Trick Pony is a song about trying to be true to yourself in the face of crippling fear. It’s a celebration of anyone who faces this struggle head on, and a stretched out hand to anyone who needs it. Marc Massive of Massive Ego lends his inimitable style and powerful presence to the song and video, to which I am both excited and grateful. The song is my birthday party basically, a song of reconciliation with all that I am and have been, and all that I yet hope to be.”
22 | Postdata | Inside Out
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Postadata has released a gorgeous new music video to accompany his beautifully open-hearted Inside Out. The third single off his latest album Twin Flames, Inside Out has quickly become a favourite for its warmth and sincerity. This video, directed and animated by longtime collaborator Christopher Mills, captures this track’s dreamy, joyful essence. Mills elaborates: “This one has a lot of hidden stories and messages, built on a cool, flowy narrative that felt a bit like if Jane Siberry wrote a fairytale book about Toronto Bohemian Dayze of the ’80s, and asked if a descendent of Edward Munch (or people awkwardly pretending to be that way) would email a bunch of really cool videos to bust around with by iPhone.”
23 | Clea Anaïs | Powerful Women
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Calgary musician & Raleigh co-founder Clea Anaïs released her sophomore single Powerful Women. Born out of a conversation Anaïs had with her sister and eldest niece about assault, Powerful Women is a song that reflects on resilience. It “reminds us that strong voices have preceded us, that we can draw upon,” notes Anaïs. “Although outcomes aren’t always visible or immediately positive, it is still worth showing up for who and what you believe in. We are moving through complicated times in our modern world. Which, despite denoting progress through increased transparency, also brings to light injustices suffered by victims. It is both tragic, and optimistic, to witness engaged, empathetic youth, like my niece, confronted with our world’s realities. Although these conversations can trigger my experiences, I do feel positive about the marked distance between social discourse that exists today, compared to the stigma which created silence for me while growing up.”
24 | Everlust | Land Of Dreams
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Everlust are a goth-rock/melodic metal band from Riga, Latvia. Their music can be described as melancholic and romantic. They sing about love, passion, heartbreak, misery and death. They present the lyric video for the song Land of Dreams, taken from the upcoming album Diary of Existence, which will be released on May 7. “Land of Dreams is about feelings when you are ready to sacrifice yourself for your beloved one, when you want to make this person happy so much that you do not care about your own happiness. However, when it is done, you feel dissolved and this has become a burden too heavy to bear.”
25 | Sally Robinson | Moonlit Skies
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sally Robinson has quite literally reached the stratosphere with her new single. This relatively unknown artist who creates delicate haunting folk music was discovered recently by astronaut Scott Kelly and her track Moonlit Skies was beamed up to be heard in space on the International Space Station. Moonlit Skies is a love letter to Mars and includes samples of the first recordings from NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover’s on-board microphone. The track comes from a series of four otherworldly singles Sally is releasing, taking inspiration from the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water.”
26 | Flynn Marks | Waiting For Us
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Flynn Marks has unveiled a special live performance of his latest offering Waiting For Us. While the original release saw the singer and songwriter in a more stripped-back guise than on previous releases, this new rendition sees him fall right back on the bare bones of his newest delight, showcasing his humbled aesthetic throughout. Performed completely solo, it gives us a chance to experience the sweet and sombre delivery within his voice and capture every heartfelt moment. Flynn said, “I wanted to film the live video to allow listeners to experience the song in a different medium. In this current climate I feel that a live performance can connect much stronger with an audience.”
27 | Jip | Action
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jip are hitting 20 years old in 2021. To celebrate, we are working on a new album to follow up our 2015 release Last Call, to be released in Summer. To build up to our new record, every week we are releasing a new song. Here is song #13 of 52: Action, inspired by director Kevin Smith (Mallrats, Clerks). I asked him to improvise what Jip sounds like in 2021 and then wrote a song based on his response. Action is a song about picking yourself up when action is needed. It’s about losing apathy and stepping forward.”
28 | Dead Shape Figure | Stupidity Breeds False Idols
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish melodic death/thrash metal band Dead Shape Figure have kept themselves busy lately creating new material. They are preparing a series of three EP releases that start with Refinement Of Hatred in May. Todaythey have has released the song Stupidity Breeds False Idols from the EP.”
29 | High Reeper | Winter King / Devil’s Grip
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Philadelphia proto-metal flagbearers High Reeper present the first track from their upcoming Doom Sessions Vol.5 EP with Portland heavy rock revelation Hippie Death Cult. The album will be issued on May 14. High Reeper say: “Doom Sessions Vol. 5 marks another step in the evolution of our sound and we couldn’t be more stoked for it. Our new material is heavier, forward looking and we’ve added more texturally to the music. We are very excited to share it with everyone.”
30 | Birthday Ass | Plubbage Blubbage
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The meaning of the word plubbage is top secret so I can’t go there,” says Priya Carlberg, front-woman, composer, arranger, lyricist and spokesperson of Birthday Ass. “This was the first song we had rehearsed for the album and I feel it encapsulates us well, a twist of big-band meets Phil Collins.” The latter is noticeable in Jonathan Starks’ epic, reverb-drenched drum solo. Plubbage Bubbage is full of angst, defined by screeching horns and Priya’s deliberately warbly, fierce vocal delivery. Two middle fingers are up, one pointed at academic jazz and the other at punk rock.”
31 | Andrew Gabbard | Promises I’ve Made
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Andrew Gabbard’s single Promises I’ve Made comes from his forthcoming LP Homemade Album. On July 20, Gabbard went down to his basement to pay tribute to the late Emitt Rhodes. Staying true to Emitt’s homemade one-man-Beatles style, Andrew recorded the song and played all instruments himself. He says: “Emitt wrote the book on homemade albums. His music endlessly inspires me to create. Promises I’ve Made is a personal favorite of mine — I had to do it. Recorded at home. Emitt Rhodes forever!”
32 | The Brother Brothers | Circles
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Brother Brothers are sharing the last single before the release of their sophomore album with Circles. The song speaks to the toll of survival under capitalism and its unceasing necessity for underpaid labor that leaves your body and mind broken and exhausted. David Moss sings to the physical and mental toll of quotidian existence and the desire to find meaning, all the while capturing those fleeting moments in the midst of working to live. Moss writes: “I wrote this song about the year I spent living in Chicago. It’s about the mundanities necessary for survival, and not those rich with inherent meaning. Sometimes, you have to take a job as a bellboy to keep a roof over your head through the winter.”
33 | Juliana Eye | U Suck
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto alt-pop artist Juliana Eye is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and live support musician. After years of playing in bands and writing songs behind-the-scenes, Juliana is stepping forward to showcase her own music in 2021. With pop at its core, her music draws influence from ’90s alt-rock, indie and dance music, pairing it with introspective and self-empowering lyrics delivered through alluring vocals. A cheeky anthem that came from an exercise in catharsis, U Suck is about taking off the rose-coloured glasses and coming to terms with the fact that not everyone around you has good intentions. You don’t always need to blame yourself and it’s okay to be angry about inconsistent and toxic behaviour. Sometimes they suck, you don’t.”
34 | Loscil | Vespera
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The latest collection by Cascadian resident Loscil (aka Scott Morgan) is a stunning meditation on light, shade, and decay, sourced from a single three-minute composition performed by a 22-piece string orchestra in Budapest. The subsequent recording was lathe-cut on to a 7”, then “scratched and abused to add texture and color,” from which the entirety of Clara was sampled, shape-shifted, and sculpted. Although Morgan’s compositional premise was quite defined, the resultant work is wonderfully opaque and spatial, equal parts lush and lurking, traced in fine-grained gradients and radiant silences. Album title Clara comes from the Latin for ‘bright’: a fitting muse for this masterpiece of celestial electric currents and interstitial ether, where “shadows are amplified and bright spots dimmed.”
35 | Rögne | An Eternity from Now, the Voice Answered (ft. Andy Razafi)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Valentin Lemaire’s collaborative project Rögne is an attempt at producing an aural universe with the evocative power of dreams. His songs paint landscapes with vibrant colors, supernatural emanations, and characters lost between our reality and an imaginary world without limits. Featuring Andy Razafi, An Eternity From Now, The Voice Answered is an unpredictable musical narration in two parts. This single is the second track of Yet Another Dream… and sets the pace on what will unfold: a character interrogating himself on a vision he had and trying to solve the mysteries it brought. The two complementary parts of Eternity reveal Rögne’s rich, contemplative, dreamlike and explosive sound. Its numerous details encourage the listener to come back to discover all its recesses.”
36 | Pearls & Bones | Bodega TV
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pearls & Bones are an alternative hip-hop band based in Toronto and Montreal. The trio write and perform music inspired by discordant influences, from metalcore and PC music to backpack rap and pop-punk. Since forming in 2012, the band have released five EPs and two albums. Their third LP Cool Uncles culminates a two-year period of technical and aesthetic development and will be released later in 2021. Their single Bodega TV is inspired by the colour-washed LCD TV you’ll find in many a New York bodega and is about taking a step back, looking at the bigger picture, and levelling with your own mistakes. You may realize the right person was right in front of you the whole time.”
37 | Limewax | Getupa
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Netherlands-based Ukrainian artist Limewax has just released his track Getupa. Although Maxim Anokhin is widely known for his hard-edged breakbeats, the full scope of his artistry shines through on his upcoming album Untitled. Limewax cites the poets Marina Tsvetaeva and David Whyte as influential on the album and also listened to 1771-1862 works by organ builders when crafting the album. The result reveals him as a masterful, diverse artist, capable of any style he pursues.”
38 | Robots Of The Ancient World | Mystic Goddess
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Portland psychedelic stoner-doom collective Robots Of The Ancient World will release their Mystic Goddess full-length on May 21. Robots Of The Ancient World entered Seattle’s Soundhouse Studios in February 2020 to record with Jack Endino, famed sonic architect of the grunge revolution, and his longtime protégé Mikel Perkins. They emerged through the wormhole with Mystic Goddess, a 43-minute hallucinatory sound excursion through a wide range of styles that keeps listeners engaged while never losing focus or sacrificing flow. “Raw, powerful, no nonsense production is what we were seeking,” says guitarist Justin Laubscher. After connecting with Endino through a friend and veteran of the grunge wars, Laubscher says the band “scraped up every nickel we could and went for it.”
