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Saturday, November 28, 2020

New music by Yukon Blonde, The Weather Station, Dispatch, Airport Impressions, My Morning Jacket


Yukon Blonde: Good Times


This track from the new LP Vindicator is almost two songs in one. It opens as a laid-back yet buoyant piano-based song. As Canadian Beats describes it: "Midway, the track suddenly shifts to a rollicking tangent that’s partially dissociative while never straying from the general vibe." The album is a great listen from start to finish, and we'll be sprinkling more tracks into our mix.

The Weather Station: Tried to Tell You


The folk-rock band fronted by Toronto singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman will release its latest album, Ignorance,in February. Of this track, WXPN's The Key writes: "The gradual build of Lindeman’s airy vocals is rooted by a driving dance beat ... [the band] layers strings, guitars, synths in a never-ending crescendo." Lindeman says the lyrics are about “reaching out to someone - a specific person, or maybe every person - who is tamping down their wildest and most passionate self in service of some self (and world?) destructive order."
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Dispatch: May We All


Photo: Matt Catalano
This Boston-based indie band got its start in the 1990s, amicably disbanded in the mid-2000s, reunited in the 2010s and now moves into its fourth decade with Chadwick Stokes and Brad Corrigan as its remaining original members. They are in the midst of releasing an album in three phases. Stokes tells American Songwriter that this track from Phase 1 is built around "this idea of what it means to be forsaken and what that might look like to different demographics in our country.”

Airport Impressions: Light Years


We can't claim to be familiar with the music scene in Malta, but by way of UK-based Deuce Music we've been introduced to this indie-rock band fronted by singer-songwriter Errol Sammut. Initially formed in 2008, the band has gone through various personnel changes, solidifying its current lineup about two years ago. The group's sound has drawn comparisons to other bands that emerged in the century's first decade, such as The Killers and Kings of Leon.

My Morning Jacket: Run It


Released in July as part of The Waterfall II, this track has been moving up on the alternative and Americana charts lately, which brought it back to our attention and into our New Music bin. Like the rest of the album, it was recorded back in 2013 in the sessions that led to the release of the original Waterfall LP in 2015. Can eight-year-old music be new? Sure, if we haven't heard it before!

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Latest from Grand Splendid, Sharon Lia Band, Brooke Annibale, Sunflower Bean, Less Than Jake


Grand Splendid: You Are the Universe


This band has been part of the Montreal indie-rock scene for years and released an EP (Numbers) in 2013. Now comes the first single from an upcoming full-length album. They describe their music as featuring "upfront electric guitars and soothing vocal melodies," and both are featured on this track. In an interview with Montreal Rocks, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Julian Buchbinder said his early influences included The Beatles, The Cure and R.E.M. This song, he said, "is very personal to me. I wrote it when my son was born and my whole perspective of life changed completely. Maybe the fact that I was sleep deprived at the time could have something to do with the psychedelic feel of it." 

Sharon Lia Band: The Sum Of Us


Released several months ago but just reaching our ears, this anthem of unity provides a fine introduction to the Philadelphia alternative-progressive rock band fronted by singer and pianist Sharon Lia. The song "is about the conflict within ourselves, the tragedy of giving up, the victory of rising when we fall, the symphony of realizing our potential, and the philosophy that every single one of us contributes to the sum of us all,” Lia says. 

Brooke Annibale: Home Again


Also released several months ago but just finding its way to our New Music bin is this love song to the singer-songwriter-guitarist's future wife. Their wedding was planned for this summer, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Annibale decided to mark the date by releasing this track as a single. "It’s a song about figuring out how to communicate our love for one another and ultimately build a life and make a home together."  

Sunflower Bean: Moment in the Sun


The Brooklyn-based trio is out with a bouncy single that Consequence of Sound calls "quite a departure from the glammy ’70s rock of their Twentytwo in Blue sophomore record or last year’s King of the Dudes EP. It’s firmly in the indie pop sphere, modern synth intersplicing jangly ’80s pop guitar lines on the chorus." The band says the theme of the song is "finally recognizing what is important in one’s life, the people you decide to spend it with.”  

Less Than Jake: Lie to Me


Photo by Paris Vison
Still ska-punking after all these years, this band from Gainesville, Florida is bringing out a new LP, Silver Linings - its first since founding member Vinnie Fiorello moved on and Matt Yonker took over on drums. Chris DeMakes (vocals, guitar), Roger Lima (vocals, bass) and Buddy Schaub (trombone) remain from the lineup that debuted with 1995's Pezcore, along with early addition Peter "JR" Wasilewski. "We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel with this [album], it’s still undeniably Less Than Jake," says Lima. "Just a bit punchier and in-your-face."

Saturday, November 14, 2020

New Foo Fighters + Ida Mae feat. Marcus King + Chair Warriors + Valley + Just Like Honey


Foo Fighters: Shame Shame


Dave Grohl says he and his fellow foos wanted to try something a little different in making their upcoming album, Medicine at Midnight. Citing examples like Bowie's Let's Dance and the Stones Tattoo You - "those rock albums that would make you get up and move and dance" -  Grohl told Loudwire: "We haven't done that yet, so we went into the studio with that in mind ... I don't even wanna say it's like our 'dance record,' but it's got grooves that we've never had before, so they kind of make you bounce around." He also said this first single may be the least-typical-FF song in the batch.

Ida Mae: Deep River (feat. Marcus King)


The husband-and-wife duo of Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean hail from Norfolk, U.K. but their love of Americana folk, country and blues styles brought them to Nashville. On this track from their new EP Raining For You, they expand on their acoustic sound by teaming up with Marcus King. They describe the song as "the rowdy dystopian dream-state adventure of two people In love. It was written in one sitting as a stream of consciousness storybook about two people leaving their home to try and make something of themselves, only to find themselves lost in a system that is out of their control." The result is a wonderfully frantic blues-rock blast. 

Chair Warriors: Spirit


Several tracks from this Montreal band's 2017 album Dawn of Edo are in our big mix, and we're glad to be among the first to spin this new single. Entertainment site V13 premiered it a few days ago, saying it shows the indie-rock trio "at their most polished and most capable." The band says it's part of "a slew of new upcoming material that breaks the mold we originally created with our previous EP," and that will tell a story of an "entity" with a message that can change the world for the better. Musically, they describe the track as "all about classic ‘80s synths and a retro-wave aesthetic while maintaining signature elements of our earlier work.”

Valley: hiccup


This Toronto indie-pop quartet steps up its game on its new EP, sucks to see you doing better. Northern Transmissions writes: "Each track is a multi-layered composition with captivating notes of exploration and curiosity which allows fans to go beyond the traditional means of songwriting." Karah James steps out from behind the drums to join guitarist/lead singer Rob Laska on vocals, and we agree with the reviewer that "Valley is at their strongest when both Rob and Karah share the mic." The themes running through the lyrics of all five songs are breakup-regret and young-adult ennui, sugar-coated in catchy tunes and bouncy production.

Just Like Honey: Heart Has No Place


Composed of musicians from the USA, Germany, France and Canada, this band (or its PR people) describe its music as "bittersweet melancholy" combining influences from dream pop, alternative rock and indie folk. The band was started by Patrick Le Mar (guitars, bass) and his half-brother Steve (drums, percussion) and became complete with the additions of Darlene Jonasson (lead vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Bianca Yang (lead vocals, bass, piano). This track from their new album, Into the Wild, mixes well with the likes of The Sundays and The Cranberries.

Saturday, November 7, 2020

Daniel Lanois, Reuben and the Dark, Deep Sea Diver, Seaway, Lauren Mann in our New Music bin


Daniel Lanois: (Under the) Heavy Sun


Photo by Floria Sigismondi
The latest project from the producer behind some of the most influential albums in rock history has him working with guitarist Rocco DeLuca, organist Johnny Shepherd and bassist Jim Wilson to create what Spin calls a "space-gospel vibe." The four share vocal duties on the forthcoming album, Heavy Sun, with Shepherd taking the lead on this track. "Under The Heavy Sun," says Lanois, "imagines a place where spirit rises from the ground, from hurt to glory, an open road to a joy untold, a club somewhere in outer space where you leave your ego at the door to enter a new dimension of freedom." XS Noise says the track "fuses classic gospel and modern electronics, mixing gritty, human textures with crisp, digital accents and lush, swirling atmospherics."

Reuben and the Dark: Change


"This song has been floating around for a while," says Reuben Bullock, frontman of this Calgary-based folk-rock band. It didn't make it onto the group's 2019 album un \ love, but its release as a single seems well-timed to the present moment. "We are in a strange place in time," Bullock says. "All of us are going through transformations … transitions. Many of us feel like trees just trying to hold onto their leaves. But, it is a time for transformation. Embracing the seasons of the heart. We have been changed. We are still changing.”

Deep Sea Diver: Impossible Weight (feat. Sharon Van Etten)


The title track from the third album by this Seattle-based band features guest vocal by Sharon van Etten. Consequence of Sound writes that she and bandleader Jessica Dobson "trade strong vocal performances [and] harmonize seamlessly. Dobson’s sharp guitar work crunches and buzzes beneath them, serving as another voice altogether." Dobson, who has played lead guitar for Beck and The Shins, co-produced her band's new LP. American Songwriter calls the collection "a restless mix of surprisingly catchy pop hooks, sing-along choruses and incisive indie rock with Dobson’s strong, expressive vocals careening above layered guitars, drums and keyboards." 

Seaway: Brain in a Jar


Known as a pop-punk band, this Ontario outfit moves a bit toward 70s/80s power pop on its fourth album, Big Vibe. AllMusic says the LP "feels like a subtle move away from the nervy punk of the band's early years and further towards a mainstream rock sophistication they've always hinted at. ... [It] builds upon everything they've done before but pushes them in a bigger, more ambitious direction." The title track is the featured single, but we're focusing on this lead-off number reminiscent of the early days of alternative rock. 

Lauren Mann: Say It Out Loud


We've been spinning the single "Dear Forever," and with the release of the full album Memory & Desire, we're featuring this upbeat song is about speaking one's mind. "Say it out loud like you know it's the truth / Say it out loud even if you're confused / Try to get it out from inside your head / Before it's all just miscommunication." It's one of many fine tracks on the British Columbia-based singer-songwriter's latest release, and you'll be hearing others on The Bistro and elsewhere in our mix.