Les Envahisseurs invade your personal space, Femur make no bones about it, Eliza & The Delusionals put you in the spotlight, Polo & Pan turn art into child’s play — but some other bands are definitely playing for keeps in your Weekend Roundup. More power to them. And to you:
21 | Les Envahisseurs | Cazzo
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Les Envahisseurs just released their second full-length Monkey Monk. A garage album that seduced us from the first listen with its markedly festive character, it has a real frat-party spirit (they remain faithful to their permanent need to disguise themselves as gorillas), with songs that pack a serious punk punch coexisting with tunes that are more groove-based. And they do it all without abandoning their funny and mocking tone. They promise to come to tour Europe soon. In the meantime, you can comfort yourselves by going one lap after another with this Monkey Monk, an addictive device that inludes the single Cazzo.”
22 | Femur | Nena
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Arturo Mazarro needs no introduction. A garage-rocked from Spain, he has in bands such as Los Immediatos, King Jartur & His Lords, Hollywood Sinners, Bikini Wipeouts and more. His natural restlessness has pushed him to create a new garage-punk combo in the period of confinement. Femur are restless beings: They love horror movies, the monsters of Hammer and Universal, and rock ‘n’ roll / punk groups from the American garage revival like The Cramps, Devil Dogs, The Flakes, Thee Headcoats. They play fast, shout and howl, adapt lyrics into Spanish and drink beer until they pass out on their old instruments and amplifiers from the last century. Feumr is garage, girls! Femur is punk, babies! Femur is rock ’n roll in its purest form!”
23 | Eliza & The Delusionals | You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There’s something about the way Australia’s Eliza & The Delusionals execute their music that makes listeners feel both at home and taken on a new journey at the same time. Existing within the band is a songwriting dynamic that has only gone from strength to strength since their breakout back in 2017. With You, Eliza & The Delusionals return with a spirited and bright dose of indie-rock — a perfect reminder of their talents as artists and, for those new to their game, a perfect gateway to their wider catalogue. Led by Eliza Klatt’s emphatic vocals, bolstered by excellently threaded guitars and rhythms, You is an addictive listen. Says guitarist Kurt Skuse: “You was written as a point-of-view type situation of any type of relationship where you just can’t possibly do enough for a person, only to have them give nothing in return and pretty much throw it back in your face. Essentially watching someone fall apart and knowing there’s nothing more you can do to help. That’s why it’s called You, it’s for you.”
24 | Polo & Pan | Ani Kuni
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Parisian eclectic pop dance duo Polo & Pan have released their first new song of the year. Ani Kuni comes with a lighthearted animated video. Ani Kuni is a bright, head-nodding dance track that acts as a tribute to a timeless, globally appreciated children’s song and is the perfect start to 2021’s summer season. Said Polo & Pan: “Ani Kuni is a playful dance track for children big and small. It’s a tribute to our favorite childhood lullaby, a timeless Native-American song that has touched generation after generation, all around the world.”
25 | We Are The Union | Boys Will Be Girls
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The second single from We Are The Union’s new album Ordinary Life is here! Boys Will Be Girls is streaming everywhere now, and it fucking rules! It’s the trans anthem we all need to hear right now, calling out small minds and celebrating those of us who just simply want to be ourselves. It’s danceable, fun, sharp, and you absolutely need to hear it (as if you weren’t already stoked on the new album enough)!”
26 | Edouard Landry | Words
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Edouard Landry’s songs are a mix of pop, rock, folk and catchy melodies. The Sudbury artist was nominated in the Best Male Performer category at the Gala des prix Trille Or (2017), Francophone Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association of Ontario Awards (2020), and his albums Pomme plastique II and L’Escalade were up for Best Album by a Francophone Artist at the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards (2017 and 2019). On June 4, Ed will release his first English album Be Here Now, about finding mindfulness and inner peace to live in the ‘now’ no matter where you are. He reflects on his previous French albums in single Words, which explores the notion that a minority-language artist can operate in relative obscurity, or in a fortress, as the song describes. Ed relates the songwriting process to architecture, in terms of finding new and better ways to let the light in.”
27 | Switchfoot | I Need You (To Be Wrong)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-winning rock band Switchfoot shared I Need You (To Be Wrong), their first new song since 2019’s acclaimed studio album Native Tongue. Produced by Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Andrew Bird), I Need You (To Be Wrong) questions what it means to be right and the importance of acknowledging one’s own blind spots. Frontman Jon Foreman says: “I began writing this song more than a decade ago, during a season of personal friction. Insecurity. Doubt. Fear. Inspired by the tale of Mr. Hyde, asking: Who can I trust? Who am I? Years later, the song remained as unfinished as the questions themselves, but it began speaking to us in ways that it never had before. And so we began the process of finishing it. And while we began to unpack the song, the song was unpacking us. Maybe our enemy is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.”
28 | Agnes Azria | Bait (ft. Goldspace)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Keen to unpack and critique established institutions, L.A. musician Agnes Azria is inspired by the world around her. Agnes continues to tease the release of her upcoming EP with the project’s opening track Bait, a team-up with singer-songwriter duo Goldspace. Agnes explains: “Bait is about recognizing your worth as an artist. From a music industry standpoint, there is the old A Tribe Called Quest rapped adage that “record company people are shady.” Maia (from Goldspace) and I wrote about our experiences navigating through the industry and sometimes feeling discredited for our creative input or ideas. While navigating who to trust, some people can display harsh tendencies and feel like a “monster,” hence the chorus. In all, I’m suggesting that it might be hard to know someone’s true intentions, but more experience will inevitably provide us with a better gut feeling to avoid becoming someone’s bait.”
https://youtu.be/bmHxtvTDV0w
29 | Payson Lewis | Dance
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-pop artist Payson Lewis just dropped his lively single Dance, an anthem to help you bounce back when you’re feeling low. With infectious, cheerful melodies and reassuring lyrics, Dance is an unforgettable track. “Life is just too damn short to let it keep ya down,” says Lewis. “So we gotta find the things that make us feel like ourselves and hold on as tight as we can.”
30 | Royal Carbona | Surfer Dreams
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Norwegian band Royal Carbona were formed by indie-rock musician Marius Maeland, who had several songs ready and called other musician friends to help out with his new project. The band mix several genres (pop, rock, and sometimes psychedelic landscapes) in many of the songs, and are sometimes fairly experimental in both song structure and instrumentation. “Since the COVID restrictions on travel made it impossible to travel to warmer lands, this song was birthed with a longing for the good times, the summer warmth and late-night beach parties,” Maeland says. “If we couldn’t travel, we could at least dream our way there.”
31 | Mountain Head | Let It Out
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mountain Head’s goal is to steal your head by means of mesmerizing vocals and contagious melodies. They’re skull bandits, but polite ones, because after they steal your head, they give it back to you. According to the duo, the only way to hold on to your head is to lose it. Let It Out started with a bassline one day when Mountain Head were jamming in the studio. A song about letting it all go, it becomes even more relevant now with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
32 | Mimi Bay | Pick Me Up (ft. Stevan)
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. Self-taught, she began writing and recording at 14 before sharing her music online. Mellow, catchy, and effortlessly vibey, Pick Me Up is Mimi’s first collaboration with Stevan, a multi-talented producer and songwriter from Australia. For Mimi, “Pick Me Up is about when things keep getting in-between and create distance between two people who want to be together. I wanted to capture the confusion and frustration that comes with the lack of communication. I’ve known Stevan since 2018 when we first made a song together and I knew he would add so much to the track and really take it where it needed to go.”
33 | Danyka | Toi
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “French-Canadian singer-songwriter Danyka’s soft tones and endless melodies come from years of success as an EDM topliner under her full name Danyka Nadeau. Debuting her solo R&B, she finds herself rubbing musical shoulders with the likes of Sabrina Claudio and H.E.R. Danyka’s sultry single Toi, produced by Canadian platinum producer Chris Perry, blends romantic English and French lyrics over a chilled-out R&B groove, setting a summer vibe for a date night with bae. It captures the fun in those beginning stages of a relationship, when being with this person feels so new and exciting you can’t get enough — and want to know if they feel the same.”
34 | Perry Ripley | Uh-Huh.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter Perry Ripley brings a moody, raw & thought-provoking portrayal of his emotions through his original lyrics. His tracks walk the line between alt-rock, indie-pop & sultry electric. He appeared on the music scene with his debut EP Set Fire To The Roses in 2018, then returned in 2020 with the first track off of his recent EP Cocaine Love.”
35 | January Jane | Versions Of You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt-pop trio January Jane have unveiled the video for their single Versions of You. It’s the newest track taken from the band’s upcoming EP Your Drug, out this summer. Filmed at Be Electric Studios in Brooklyn, this was the first shoot to feature a mobile onsite disease control center on hand to test everyone. Lead vocalist/lyricist Pat Via says, “all tests came back negative, which was a big positive! We worked on the treatment of the video with director Peter Roessler [of Two Bridges Media] using elements of double exposure to create “versions” of love, relationships, and the echoes left to be saved.”
36 | Amber Liu | Complicated
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Global Asian pop star Amber Liu has released her album y? Over the past several weeks, Liu has teased the release of the album with several singles, including a Mandarin-language version of Blue and bilingual versions of Neon. The video for Complicated is melancholic, its slow melody a focal point for Liu’s feelings. The video opens with her standing on the shore and looking out into the ocean, followed by a sequence of shots of her walking holding flowers. Throughout the rest of the video, the scenery alternates between the ocean and beach, which adds to the moody feeling of the songs. Her soft voice makes the listener feel like they are floating and provides them with a space that only belongs to them.”
37 | Cory Jordan | Gasoline
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Genre-bending and gender-defying, Cory Jordan shares their deeply personal song Gasoline. After moving to Toronto from small town Ontario, Cory fronted indie-rock acts in venues around the city. When Covid hit, they had to put their band plans aside for the time being and instead focus on their debut solo project. This intimate live performance of Gasoline was filmed by Ian Carleton at fieldwork and engineered by Em Damaschin in early 2021. Says Cory: “Gasoline marks another moment when anger becomes fuel for continuous collective action and resistance. My dream is to create connections and build community through music. I tell stories of heartbreak and perseverance with the hope that anyone who hears my songs will begin to feel less alone.”
38 | Ben Abraham | War In Your Arms
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Australian-born, L.A.-based singer-songwriter Ben Abraham has unveiled his single War In Your Arms. The track features striking piano melodies and epic gospel harmonies set against a gracefully sculpted beat. It arrives alongside an equally evocative official video starring Ben. Produced by James Flannigan (Dua Lipa) and co-written with fellow Australian singer-songwriter Helen Croome, War In Your Arms marks the first track off Abraham’s upcoming second album, due later this year. Ben shares: “It’s about that point when the relationship is done and you’re trying so hard to hold onto love, it almost becomes like an act of violence. All you’re really doing is hurting yourself and hurting the other person, until you can gather the strength to say, ‘Enough. I’m done.’ ”
39 | Soukou | Too Much
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The word Soukou comes from a language called Ewe and means eagle. Singer-songwriter Soukou (aka Ena Wild) is just starting to fly. Her single Too Much is a song for all those who have lost their way in the big-city dating jungle in their search for true love. Those who no longer see the prince in all the Tinder and Bumble profiles, or perhaps don’t want to find him at all. it’s about a voice that wishes for a Disney film but doesn’t want to roam the neighbourhood forever in pursuit of it. A song about how a woman’s worth is not measured by whether she wears a ring on her finger.”
40 | Apryll Aileen | Home
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “New Brunswick alt-pop musician Apryll Aileen has dropped her video for Home. The video celebrates the natural beauty of Atlantic Canada. A soulful singer and classically trained pianist, Aileen has played stages from Hollywood to London. Pulling elements from her inspirations together for an anthemic pop sound, Home shares the story of the powerful self-realization that often, our life takes us on a journey that leads us back home. Inspired by her own journey to California and back to Atlantic Canada, this fierce alt-pop track is the perfect mood-booster anthem. It’s the first release off of Aileen’s upcoming studio album Rising Tides.”
