Art Bergmann is heading for a fall, Jeen shares her drugs and takes off, Milan André takes his time, Alison Russell sings a love song to her hometown — and by now, you should be right at home at the clubhouse turn of your latest Weekend Roundup. Put your feet up and carry on:
68 | Art Bergmann | La Mort de L’Ancien Regime
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With the May 21 release date for Art Bergmann’s latest album Late Stage Empire Dementia approaching, the Canadian music legend — and recent Order of Canada recipient — has released the album’s latest single La Mort de L’Ancien Regime. In typical fashion, La Mort de L’Ancien Regime‘s breezy melodicism blends seamlessly with lyrics demanding action against unfettered corporate power, this time using the French Revolution as a touchstone. Bergmann pulls no punches in saying, “This song is the joyous anthem the kids will be singin’ down the years after the great banksters are finally dead and gone. I would have said ‘pigs who reign over us,’ but that is an insult to our animal friends who are smarter than our sacred dawgs.”
69+70 | Jeen | Better Drugs + Fair To Move On
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto performer Jeen is readying her new album Dog Bite for an October release. What started as an EP quickly grew to a full-length LP, coming in at 11 songs, including the double single Better Drugs / Fair to Move On. Better Drugs wonders why we are always searching for something more while Fair to Move On looks at a mutual drifting apart and a slightly regretted goodbye.”
71 | Milan André | 500 Days
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fingerstyle acoustic guitar, atmospheric textures and transparently honest storytelling is what you will experience from Milan André’s music. Living a nomadic lifestyle over the years between Toronto, London, Bratislava and Prague, Milan also produces artists in the U.K., Czech Republic and Slovakia. 500 days, the first single to be shared from his forthcoming album, reflects on the time that passes after the end of a meaningful relationship that continues to linger deep within your mind.”
72 | Allison Russell | Montreal
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Allison Russell will release her first solo project Outside Child (produced by Dan Knobler) on May 21. Today, she shares an ode to her hometown in her new track Montreal. “In this track, I give thanks for my wondrous hometown of Montreal,” says Russell. “I was a teenage runaway — I believe in many ways the city herself protected me. I wandered the Mountain at all hours and slept in the graveyard in the summertime. I haunted the cathedrals and slept in the pews. Sometimes I stayed up all night playing chess with the old men in the 24-hour cafes. I got to hear Oscar Peterson play for free in the park during Jazz Fest … I was very lucky to grow up there.”
73 | Fences | My Pale King
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter Christopher Mansfield (aka Fences) has just released the five-track EP titled Wide Eyed Elk Ensemble. The EP builds on the sounds of his previous effort, the critically acclaimed LP Failure Sculptures, which was released as an expanded deluxe edition earlier this year. Mansfield says: “It’s actually my favorite record that I’ve done. Just because I feel like I’m the strongest I’ve been lyrically, I just put a lot of care into the poetry of it and the music is a good mix of all my records. This feel like where I should be.”
74 | Michael Lane | Good Times
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Michael Lane releases his happy, upbeat folk pop single Good Times. He explains: “Although Good Times is a very upbeat and happy song, it still has a more serious and deeper meaning. Without getting too much into it, in the song I’m basically saying that, just because you surround yourself with a new house or nice car, doesn’t mean it will give you more happiness in the long run.”
75 | Cadence Weapon | On Me (ft. Manga Saint Hilare and Strict Face)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Cadence Weapon, the moniker of Edmonton-born, Toronto-based rapper, producer, writer and poet Rollie Pemberton, launches his new project Parallel World. The album arrives with a visual for On Me, featuring U.K. grime MC Manga Saint Hilare, with production from Australia’s Strict Face. The visualizer is an inspired blend of the lyrical content and track themes, highlighting security and surveillance, some of the many topics Cadence examines within Parallel World.”
76 | Haviah Mighty | Way Too Fast (ft. Jalen Santoy)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As a change of season takes place, so does collective pace. Polaris Prize-winning Toronto artist, rapper and producer Haviah Mighty revs things up in a reflection on her progress to date with new single Way Too Fast, featuring North Carolina rapper Jalen Santoy. It’s a song for dreamers, highlighting where Haviah hopes to be, what she strives to achieve, and support to those who wish for the same. Haviah says: “I thoroughly believe I have what it takes to achieve my wildest dreams. This song is a reminder to dream big, and to not put a cap on your goals and limit your potential. As a people, we’ve come so far. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the work that has yet to be done, but sometimes, we have to remind ourselves of the inevitable rewards as well.”
77 | Idris Lawal | Wallflowers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Idris Lawal is dropping the video today to his intensely powerful and beautiful single Wallflowers. It’s both a song in mourning for Black people slain by police, and uses dance as a form of healing. Lawal explains: “In many African and Global cultures, ‘mourning dances’ are used as a cultural healing system relevant to dance/movement therapy (DMT). Dancing to heal vs. Dancing for joy. We danced!”
https://youtu.be/Wqe00k8FkWM
78 | Slowie & $H The Producer | What Ya Know About?
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Slowie and $H The Producer return with What You Know About?, reflecting a deeper, more introspective mood from the Bristol musical partners and long-term friends. Tempered but unabashed and forthright as ever, Slowie shares a heartfelt, personal tale of coming of age in gritty 1980s East Bristol across a stripped-down production from $H. Interweaving a simple, chilling piano loop and spine-shifting pitched vocal sample behind Slowie’s ragged flows, What You Know About? sits satisfyingly in that grey area between grime and rap.”
79 | Mista Savona & Brenda Navarrete | Havana Meets Kingston (La Canción)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: The scorching theme song for the Havana Meets Kingston project features Cuban superstar Brenda Navarrete on lead vocals and an all-star lineup of Jamaican and Cuban musicians. The EP features the album version from the upcoming Havana Meets Kingston Part 2 full-length, to be released on Oct. 15.”
80 | Milla Thyme | Lost Boys
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: Milla Thyme shares his new single Lost Boys from the album Everything Has Its Thyme. The dark trap track explores the realities of chasing thrills, living recklessly and the influence of the gang mentality. “The song is a play on Peter Pan in a way,” says the artist. “It’s about wanting to be forever young and without responsibilities, choosing to never let go of your childhood and as a result, not letting yourself grow and evolve.”
81+82 | The Lyonz | Bird’s Eye View + Strangers In The Endless
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian duo The Lyonz are keeping the heat on with their third new EP in three months. Bird’s Eye View and Strangers in The Endless see the experimental hip-hop duo primed at their best, pushing more boundaries and creating awesome tracks like never before. Bird’s Eye View is a smooth groovy cut about the realization of what love means and speaks about looking back upon the past from a bird’s eye view. The track twinkles with bubbling bass and fizzing synth as sun-drenched washed-out atmospheres wrap around thoughtful raps and funky guitar with ease. Strangers in The Endless depicts a story of strangers linked through the infinite web of the digital world.”
83 | Bayleigh Cheek | Release Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dallas native Bayleigh Cheek began her love affair with music at an early age thanks to her immersive upbringing. Both parents were in the music scene, exposing her to a variety of sounds ranging from psychedelic and folk to progressive rock and new wave. Release Me is a song about what it means to realize you’ve believed a lie, or false identity of yourself, and the process of becoming free from it and knowing the truth. She will release her new debut album in 2022, and re-release her 2020 EP Immortals, which brought her DOMA nominations for Best New Artist and Best EP.”
84 | Joey Quiñones | Love Me Like You Used To
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Direct from East Los Angeles, here are the sweet soulful sounds of Joey Quiñones. This is just the beginning for what he has to offer as a diverse and talented solo artist! He’s also the bandleader and producer for Thee Sinseers.”
85 | Blitzen Trapper | Sons And Unwed Mothers (Demo)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Offering an inside look at the songwriting and demo process, Blitzen Trapper will release Holy Demos Future Demos on May 7. It’s a demo version of their 2020 album Holy Smokes Future Jokes. Today they premiered Sons And Unwed Mothers. “I wanted to share these demos as a way to allow fans a peek into my process, into the bedroom feel of writing and trying to capture a mood or a place in moments,” explains Eric Earley, frontman/songwriter. “These demos are similar in ways to their studio counterparts, but they contain that intimacy, that seed of genesis that can sometimes disappear in the studio setting. The drums are funky little drum machine place keepers, some of the bass and a couple guitar solos I ended up keeping through the studio sessions but everything else is my initial unheard take, at home, attempting to see where the songs needed to go.”
86 | Ski Team | Photos
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ski Team is the solo project of Lucie Lozinski, an independent songwriter, singer, producer, and guitarist in Brooklyn. Her music is most defined by vulnerability, both in songwriting and performance. Photos is Ski Team’s newest single, about being stuck in a moment. “It’s pretty timely, as it’s about not being able to move on — which I think everyone is kinda itching with right now. … Ski Team was supposed to be me and my brother (two ‘Skis), but he already had a band,” according to Lozinski. “So now it’s me and any friends I pick up along the way.”
87 | Jess Walton | Into Light
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jesse Walton is a composer, singer-songwriter and musician based in London. Having spent his teenage years travelling the globe, Walton made a name for himself busking in the streets across Europe and America. His music is raw and authentic, featuring quivering vocals and catchy hooks that you can sink your teeth into. His latest single Into Light calls for relatability in a love song that builds into a memorable chorus, with a steady acoustic and a twinkling piano melody that flickers in the pockets of quieter dynamics. Bearing a glimpse of hope and encouragement he sings, “Wear that smile across your face, no one else is gonna do it for you.”
88 | Waiting For Smith | Hopelessness Of Love
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Waiting For Smith is singer-songwriter Harry Lloyd. Hopelessness Of Love was inspired by a challenging episode of love. The song narrates the story of a bickering couple and a “Sugar Man,” who despite feeling strong and independent, can crumble to the floor at the smallest trigger. Harry explains, “The image of The Sugar Man is this free spirit, a travelling man, a wild man. But in a relationship, he can lose his power, as he gives it away. Therefore he is both solid and strong, as he is dissolvable as sugar. The wrong words, from that one person, can bring him crumbling down. But the right kind of love can bring him strength.”
89 | Soul Sugar | Cool Down (ft. Booker Gee & Blundetto)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “To celebrate the forthcoming release of their new album Excursions in Soul, Reggae, Funk & Dub, Guillaume Metenier’s Soul Sugar collective offer up the new single Cool Down. Co-produced by Metenier with fellow French artists Blundetto and Blackjoy, the track is a sun-kissed slab of 21st century dub built around a typically weighty rhythm and joyous, afternoon-bright instrumentation. Underpinned by hazy bass, authentically shuffling reggae-style drums and echoing effects, Cool Down boasts some superb guitar licks courtesy of Blundetto, as well as inspired synthesizer and organ motifs provided by Metenier under his now-familiar Booker Gee alias.”
90 | Olivia Morreale | Another Moon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. artist and producer Olivia Morreale unveils Another Moon, the final pre-release single from her upcoming EP Space Dreams. A slow-burning, R&B-inflicted number, Another Moon is all about escapism in both the physical and emotional sense. “I wanted to portray the joy and fun that comes with imagining how things might look and feel in a completely different dream world,” Olivia writes. “It’s an ode to escapism and a celebration of imagination.” Olivia worked with her friend and co-collaborator Eli Kosoff (producer & songwriter), who lends his vocals to the track, creating a beautiful, layered harmony with Olivia’s effortless, breathy cadence.”
91 | Annie Keating | Kindred Spirit
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn’s Annie Keating unveiled her single Kindred Spirit, from her album Bristol County Tides, out June 4. Keating says: “Rarely in life, one comes across a kindred spirit — a person with whom one finds a deep and instant connection with echoes of both the past and present. During the pandemic, I left the city and relocated to coastal Massachusetts. There, I was lucky to meet such a person, who showed us kindness and connection in a time of isolation. He taught me and my kids about the tides, I got a boat and he showed us up the river, while my dog learned to swim and my boy learned to fish. We found joy in times of pandemic hardship and uncertainty through the power of human connection. This song is about that connection.”
92 | Fever Queen | Taste Of What It Is
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fever Queen is back with her first single of 2021. Taste of What It Is comes from upcoming sophomore LP. Fever Queen is the music and moods of American songwriter Eleanor Rose Lee. On Taste of What It Is, Fever Queen belts cryptic lyrics that vacillate between social commentary and mystical poetry. Lee explained: “I wanted to capture the feeling of sharing a deep secret with someone — and how scary it can be to share your innermost feelings out loud for the first time. In a world where people are impressed by all the wrong things, it’s important to seek out those who go deep.”
93 | Anthony Vacanti | Playboy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Playboy is Anthony Vacanti’s latest hit work, an unbelievably catchy single with a sweet and mellow, yet energetic sound. Vacanti dares to add touches from different genres to the mix and even experiment — if you can call it experimenting when the result is such a breath-taking killer hit — with the core elements of the ’80s and ’90s EDM. Playboy has a strong retro feeling in the overall mix, and the vocals carry a happy mood that fits perfectly with the base. Vacanti shows up huge when it comes to creating that catchy melody of the single, giving it the strength and the personality it needs to really push it over the top and make of Playboy a masterpiece.”
