News – Page 97 – 7th Level Music

Squid sign to Warp Records and release new single – “Sludge.”

Warp Records is pleased to announce their new signing, Brighton-based five-piece Squid – comprised of Louis Borlase (guitars/vocals), Ollie Judge (drums/vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards/strings/percussion), Laurie Nankivell (bass/brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars/vocals). In conjunction with the announcement, Squid present their richly percussive and sonically shifting new single, “Sludge,” which sees the band opening up their sound with the experimentation and playfulness that made them such an exciting prospect when they burst on the scene just over a year ago.

Thematically, Squid’s previous releases — “The Cleaner,” “Houseplants” and “Match Bet” — have been more character driven with Squid looking at the people around them, but on “Sludge” the band is in a more introspective state of mind; simultaneously seeking a wider commentary, but approaching it with an idiosyncratic precision and a lighthearted demeanor.

“Sludge” was initially conceived during a soundcheck while supporting seminal post-punk group Wire, a fitting way to begin this new chapter for a band who have built so much of their reputation on their incendiary live shows. The track sees the band team up again with Dan Carey, who was recently deemed “Producer of the Year” by the Music Producers Guild.

This wild and restless creativity points the way forward for more exciting things to come from Squid. As FADER commented, “Just when you think the British five-piece have settled into a groove and aligned themselves to a sound, they flip the script and hit you with something new.”

Listen to Squid’s “Sludge”
https://squid.ffm.to/sludge

Squid Tour Dates:
Tue. April 14 – Amsterdam, NL @ Amsterdam Arena with Foals
Fri. April 17 – Rotterdam, NL @ Motel Mozaique
Sat. May 16 – Leicester, UK @ Wide Eyed
Sun. May 17 – Dublin, IE @ Eastbound
Sun. May 24 – Paris, FR @ Villette Sonique
Sat. May 30 – Neustelitz, DE @ Immergut Festival
Wed. June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Fri. June 5 – London, UK @ Wide Awake Festival
Fri. June 12 – Sun. June 14 – Bergen, NL @ Best Kept Secret
Fri. June 12 – Sun. June 14 – Helsinki, FI @ Sideways Festival
Wed. July 1 – Roskilde, DE @ Roskilde Festival
Sat. July 4 – Belfort, FR @ Eurockeennes
Wed. July 22 – London, UK @ Scala (RESCHEDULED)
Thu. Aug 6 – Haldern Rees, DE @ Haldern Pop
Mon. Aug 10 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs
Wed. Aug 12 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Skybar
Fri. Aug 14 – Oya, SE @ Oya Festivalen
Wed. Aug. 19 – Sun. Aug. 23 – Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura
Mon. Aug. 24 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk (RESCHEDULED)
Tue. Sept. 1 – Bedford, UK @ Bedford Esquires (RESCHEDULED)
Thu. Sept. 3 – Southampton, UK @ Joiners (RESCHEDULED)
Thu. Sept. 3 – Sun. Sept. 6 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Tue. Sept. 8 – Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon (RESCHEDULED)
Wed. Sept. 9 – York, UK @ The Crescent (RESCHEDULED)
Thu. Sept. 10 – Hebden Bridge, UK @ The Trades Club (RESCHEDULED)
Sat. Sept. 12 – Manchester, UK @ The White Hotel (matinee) (RESCHEDULED)
Sat. Sept. 12 – Manchester, UK @ The White Hotel (evening) (RESCHEDULED)
Sun. Sept. 13 – Edinburgh, UK @ Summerhall (RESCHEDULED)
Mon. Sept. 14 – Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny (RESCHEDULED)
Wed. Sept. 16 – Norwich, UK @ Norwich Arts Centre (RESCHEDULED)
Thu. Nov. 5 – Reykjavík, IS @ Iceland Airwaves

Keep your mind open.

[Slide over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

Clutch re-records and re-releases “Willie Nelson.”

Clutch announce the release of the new studio recording of the track “Willie Nelson.” The single is the sixth in a series of new studio recordings that comprise the Weathermaker Vault Series.

“Willie Nelson is a song we wrote close to 20 years ago,” says Neil Fallon. “It started making appearances in our sets recently, so we figured now was a good time to re-record it. This time around Shawna Potter (War On Women) added back up vocals and is in the video as well. And for what it’s worth, ‘Red Headed Stranger’ gets regular play on our tour bus.” The single was recently re-recorded and remixed by J. Robbins (Jawbox, Jawbreaker, The Sword, Against Me!), and the track comes in at 3:21. “Willie Nelson” was originally released in 2003 on Clutch’s album Slow Hole To China: Rare and Unreleased “Willie Nelson.”

Available on all digital outlets here: https://orcd.co/x0y2pbw.

CLUTCH:Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar Tim Sult – Guitar Dan Maines – Bass Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

For more information, check out the band’s website:www.pro-rock.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clutchband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/clutchofficial

Twitter: www.twitter.com/clutchofficial

Official: www.pro-rock.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

Matt Karmil releases “210” from his upcoming album.

Acclaimed UK producer and engineer Matt Karmil will release his new album, STS371, on March 27th via Smalltown Supersound, and today presents a new single, “210.” Following lead single “PB,” “210” opens with shuffling synthesizer, later quickening with a muted, staccato beat.

“210 is named after a hotel room in Amsterdam,” says Karmil, “although not one I’ve ever stayed in. I like the way the chord hangs in the air and it’s, to me at least, somehow both intimate and urgent.”

Listen to Matt Karmil’s “210” –
https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/matt-karmil-210

STS371 is Karmil’s most concise album to date, with his signature mix of minimalism and reverb-drenched house still being the backbone of his warm, rich, atmospheric and melancholic sound. It was made largely while Karmil was traveling in a nonlinear process of recording. Anticipating the completion of his music studio in The Cotswolds in England, Karmil favored “on the fly” production methods to finish his album.

While his works fit within the tradition of techno’s timeless anonymity, Karmil’s highly personal music is anything but a xerox on dance music’s previous life. As Karmil puts it – minimally, simply and functionally: “I made a conscious effort to up the energy, and found a collection of tunes that felt coherent to me.”

STS371 follows 2018’s Will. Since the release of Will he has co-produced and mixed Kornél Kovács’ acclaimed Stockholm Marathon. He has also worked with, among many others, Matias Aguayo for Crammed Discs and Talaboman for R&S, as an engineer, mixing and mastering.

Listen to “PB” (lead single) –
https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/mattkarmil-pb

Pre-order STS731 –
smarturl.it/sts371-preorder

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

Protomartyr’s “Being Processed By the Boys” is a stunning new single.

Today Protomartyr announce their fifth album, Ultimate Success Today, out May 29th on Domino. Following the release of Relatives In Descent, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017 (featured on myriad “best of” lists, including The New York Times, Esquire, Newsweek, and more), Ultimate Success Today continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like. Along with today’s album announcement, the band shares the video for their first single “Processed By The Boys,” and announces a summer North American tour.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “PROCESSED BY THE BOYS”
http://smarturl.it/PBTBYT

LISTEN TO “PROCESSED BY THE BOYS”
http://smarturl.it/PBTBStrm

PRE-ORDER ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY
Domino Mart | Digital
“There is darkness in the poetry of Ultimate Success Today,” says punk legend, founding member of the Raincoats, and friend of the band Ana da Silva. “The theme of things ending, above all human existence, is present and reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Our world has reached a point that makes us afraid: fires, floods, earthquakes, hunger, war, intolerance…There are cries of despair. Is there hope? Greed is the sickness that puts life in danger.”

“The re-release of our first album had me thinking about the passage of time and its ultimate conclusion,” says singer Joe Casey of Ultimate Success Today. “Listening to No Passion All Technique again, I could hear myself hoping for an introduction and a long future, but also being cognizant that it could be ‘one and done’ for us. So, when it came time to write Ultimate Success Today, I was reminded of that first urgency and how it was an inverse of my current grapple with how terribly ill I’ve been feeling lately. Was that sick feeling coloring how I felt about the state of the world or was it the other way around?”

“This panic was freeing in a way. It allowed me to see our fifth album as a possible valediction of some confusingly loud five-act play. In the same light I see it as an interesting mile marker of our first decade of being a band – a crest of the hill along a long highway. Although just to cover my bases, I made sure to get my last words in while I still had the breath to say them.”

“There are exquisite, subtle gifts from other instruments that always heighten the guitar, instead of fighting with it,” explains da Silva. “They help to create a harmonious wall of sound all of its own. This was intentional. Greg Ahee wanted to use different textures other than pedals, and the drone quality of some of those instruments colours the guitar and the whole sound with a warm, rich in reverb, yet all-consuming landscape for Joe Casey’s voice.”

The video for “Processed By The Boys,” directed by David Allen & Nathan Faustyn and produced by HLPTV & LooseMeat.Biz, is a play on a bizarre Brazilian TV clip the band became infatuated with. A man sings to a studio audience, while a member of the audience becomes enraged by a puppet, leading the whole situation to devolve into total chaos. “As soon as we heard the concept, we knew how to take the band’s ideas and coalesce them into this sort of timeless public access chaos,” says Faustyn. “Because of the nature of HLPTV & LooseMeat.Biz and who we are – professional and hobbyist technicians – we knew we could pull off a really strange, funny and sardonically dark compendium to this song that is equally such.”

Protomartyr is Joe Casey (vocals), Greg Ahee (guitars), Alex Leonard (drums), and Scott Davidson (bass guitar). Ultimate Success Today was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios, a late 19th century church, in upstate New York and co-produced by the band and David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House) with mixing by Tolomei. Featured guest musicians on the album include Nandi Rose (vocals) a.k.a. Half Waif, jazz legend Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello).

Ultimate Success Today is available to pre-order now on LP, CD and digital formats. A limited blue-in-red colored edition of the LP is available exclusively on the Domino Mart.

ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY TRACKLISTING

1. Day Without End 2. Processed By The Boys 3. I Am You Now 4. The Aphorist 5. June 21 6. Michigan Hammers 7. Tranquilizer 8. Modern Business Hymns 9. Bridge & Crown 10. Worm In Heaven

PROTOMARTYR TOUR DATES (new dates in bold)

Mon. April 27 – London, UK @ Peckham Audio – SOLD OUT
Tue. April 28 – London, UK @ The Lexington – SOLD OUT
Wed. April 29 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire – SOLD OUT
Thu. April 30 -Utrecht, NL @ Ekko – SOLD OUT
Sat. May 2 -Berlin, DE @ Ubran Spree
Sun. May 3 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree
Mon. May 4 – Groningen, NL @ Vera
Tue. May 5 – Brussels, BE @ Nuits Botanique
Mon. June 1 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s
Tue. June 2 – Montreal, QC @ Le Ritz
Wed. June 3 – Boston, MA @ Sinclair
Thu. June 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
Sat. June 6 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Sun. June 7 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Tue. June 9 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings
Wed. June 10 – Atlanta, GA @ Earl
Thu. June 11 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Fri. June 12 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Mon. June 15 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress
Tue. June 16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
Wed. June 17 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Thu. June 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Fri. June 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Sat. June 20 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club
Mon. June 22 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Tue. June 23 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Fri. June 26 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sat. June 27 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Sun. June 28 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Protomartyr Online:
https://www.facebook.com/protomartyr
https://soundcloud.com/protomartyr
http://pitchperfectpr.com/protomartyr
https://protomartyr.bandcamp.com
http://www.dominorecordco.us/artists/protomartyr

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

The Chats drop a new single – “Dine and Dash.”

Australian punk band The Chats will release their debut album, High Risk Behaviour, on March 27th via Bargain Bin Records/Cooking Vinyl Australia. Ahead of their North American tour, which kicks off next month, they present a new single, “Dine N Dash,” and its accompanying video. Following lead single “The Clap,” “Dine N Dash” is fierce, funny, and sweaty. The video, directed by Matt Weston, finds The Chats in an unfamiliar environment, eating a succulent steakhouse meal while embracing the piss poor status of their wallets and outright brazenness to get a decent feed.

“We filmed at Walters steakhouse in Brisbane,” says Josh Price. “It was the best steak I’ve had. Definitely gave the bowlsie a run for its money. No mushy gravy though.” Eamon Sandwith adds: “Ya know you’re in a fancy restaurant when the chips and salad aren’t included.”

WATCH THE CHATS’ VIDEO FOR “DINE N DASH”
https://youtu.be/I3jAJHRW_Yo

The Chats – made of Eamon Sandwith, Matt Boggis, and Josh Price – formed in 2016 while still in high school. Since then, they’ve released a self-titled EP in 2016 and 2017’s Get This In YaEP, and have accrued a fanbase that includes Dave Grohl, Queen of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, and Iggy Pop – the latter two who asked the band to open on their respective Australian tours. And despite being the subject of a record label bidding war, they’re releasing High Risk Behaviour on their own label (Bargain Bin Records). It’s indicative of a band that has embraced DIY culture since day one. Their determination to do things “our way” extends to their music, which is why High Risk Behaviour delivers everything you’ve come to love from The Chats – only more of it – and confirms their status as Queensland’s greatest ever export.

To create High Risk Behaviour, the band worked with engineer Bill Gardner in his studio on the Australian coast. It took nearly 18 months to finish and several, quick-paced sessions. “If we’d just done a week and slogged it out we could have had an album before now but we just kept going in there and making newer and better songs so it’s hard to put a stop on it,” says Sandwith.
WATCH VIDEO FOR “THE CLAP”
https://youtu.be/POM_98oi0oo

LISTEN TO “THE CLAP”
https://orcd.co/highriskbehaviour

PRE-ORDER HIGH RISK BEHAVIOUR
https://orcd.co/highriskbehaviour

THE CHATS TOUR DATES:
Fri. April 10 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
Sat. April 11 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
Sun. April 12 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Mon. April 13 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Tue. April 14 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Fri. April 17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
Sat. April 18 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
Sun. April 19 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
Mon. April 20 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
Wed. April 22 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
Thu. April 23 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
Fri. April 24 – Houston, TX @ Bronze Peacock at House of Blues
Sun. April 26 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
Tue. April 28 – St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Wed. April 29 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
Thu. April 30 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
Fri. May 1 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
Sat. May 2 – Charlotte, NC @ Epicenter Festival
Sun. May 3 – Washington, DC @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
Tue. May 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
Wed. May 6 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
Thu. May 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Wed. Oct. 7 – Amsterdam, BL @ Melkweg Max
Sat. Oct. 10 – Paris, FR @ Maroquinerie
Sun. Oct. 11 – Cologne, DE @ Gloria
Mon. Oct. 12 – Hamburg, DE @ Gruenspan
Tue. Oct. 13 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Fri. Oct. 16 – Southampton, UK @ 1865
Sat. Oct. 17 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Mon. Oct. 19 – Dublin, IE @ Olympia
Tue. Oct. 20 – Belfast, UK @ Limelight
Thu. Oct. 22 – Glasgow, UK @ Galvanizers
Fri. Oct. 23 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Academy
Sat. Oct. 24 – Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
Sun. Oct. 25 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
Mon. Oct. 26 – Brighton, UK @ Dome
Tue. Oct. 27 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
Wed. Oct. 28 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
Thu. Oct 29 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
THE CHATS ONLINE:
https://www.thechatslovebeer.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thechatsband/
https://thechatslovebeer.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thechatslovebeer/?hl=en

Keep your mind open.

[Dash over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

Wilco and Sleater-Kinney announce co-headlining tour.

Wilco photo by Annabel Mehran, Sleater-Kinney photo by Nikko LaMere

Wilco and Sleater-Kinney are pleased to announce their “It’s Time” Summer 2020 co-headlining tour. After their respective North American and European runs in support of last year’s Ode To Joy (out now on dBpm Records), Wilco will return stateside, closing out each night of their co-headlining tour with Sleater-Kinney, who just closed out their The Center Won’t Hold tour. The entirety of the tour is made up of outdoor amphitheatres and venues, including a show in Wilco’s hometown of Chicago at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater, Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and more. Tickets for these newly-announced shows are on sale now.

Watch Wilco & Sleater-Kinney’s “It’s Time” Summer 2020 Tour Teaser –
https://youtu.be/JTe0GE19wRg

Wilco Tour Dates (new dates in bold):
Sat. March 21 – Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre &
Mon. March 23 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall &
Tue. March 24 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall ^
Thu. March 26 – Santa Rosa, CA @ Luther Burbank Centers For The Arts ^ – SOLD OUT
Fri. March 27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^ – SOLD OUT
Sat. March 28 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^ – SOLD OUT
Sun. March 29 – San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic ^
Tue. March 31 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore – SOLD OUT
Wed. April 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre ^
Thu. April 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre % – SOLD OUT
Sat. April 4 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl %
Sun. April 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium %
Wed. April 15 – Jackson, MS @ Thalia Mara Hall $
Thu. April 16 – Mobile, AL @ Saenger Theatre $
Sat. April 18 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre $
Sun. April 19 – North Charleston, SC @ High Water Festival
Fri. May 15 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre (JEFF TWEEDY SOLO SHOW)
Sat. May 16 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre (JEFF TWEEDY SOLO SHOW)
Fri. June 19 – Kent, UK @ Black Deer Festival
Mon. June 22 – Merignac, FR @ Krakatoa
Tue. June 23 – Nimes, FR @ La Paloma
Thu. June 25 – Murcia, ES @ Plaza de Toros
Fri. June 26 – Madrid, ES @ Noches Del Botánico
Sat. June 27 – Valencia, ES @ 4ever Festival
Sun. June 28 – Barcelona, ES @ Suite Festival
Tue. June 30 – San Sebastian, ES @ Auditorio del Centro Kursaal
Thu. July 2 – Werchter, BE @ FestivalPark Rock Werchter
Wed. July 3 – Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole Festival
Thu. Aug. 6 – Spokane, WA @ First Interstate Center for the Arts @
Sat. Aug. 8 – Big Sky, MT @ Peak to Sky @
Tue. Aug. 11 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre @*
Thu. Aug. 13 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland @*
Fri. Aug. 14 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park @*
Sat. Aug. 15 – Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre @*
Sun. Aug. 16 – Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater @*
Tue. Aug. 18 – Asheville, NC @ Salvage Station @*
Wed. Aug. 19 – Richmond, VA @ Altria Theatre @*
Fri. Aug. 21 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion @*
Sat. Aug. 22 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium @*
Sun. Aug. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center for Performing Arts @*
Tue. Aug. 25 – Boston, MA @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion @*
Wed. Aug. 26 – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point @*
Thu. Aug. 27 – Lewiston, NY @ Artpark Amphitheater @*
Sat. Aug. 29 – Chicago, IL @ Millennium Park Pritzker Pavilion @*
Thu. Sept. 17 – Des Moines, IA @ Water Works Park #
Fri. Sept. 18 – Ashwaubenon, WI @ Capital Credit Union Park #
Sat. Sept. 19 – Welch, MN @ Treasure Island Amphitheater #

!=w/ Young Fresh Fellows
&=w/ Kacy and Clayton
^= w/ James Elkington
%= w/ White Fence
$= w/ Ratboys
#= w/ Trampled by Turtles
@=w/ Sleater-Kinney
*= w/ NNAMDÏ

Watch/Listen/Share:
“Everyone Hides” video – https://youtu.be/P2Gbbd6pVMg
“Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” stream – https://youtu.be/VamTQr4kcKA
“Before Us” video – https://youtu.be/BIWSGlvnbkU

Purchase Ode to Joy –
https://wilcoworld.net/otj

Download Wilco hi-res press images –
https://pitchperfectpr.com/wilco

Praise for Ode To Joy:

“[Ode to Joy is] sometimes dank…sometimes warm and Westerberg-ian”
– The New York Times

“The group’s 11th LP, their best in years, is a beautiful exercise in downhearted uplift.”
– Rolling Stone

“[Ode to Joy] is Wilco’s best album in over a decade, and solid proof there’s room for bands to grow even when they’re already ten albums in.” – Vulture

“[Ode To Joy] is direct and spacious, centering on the beauty of quiet revelation.” – Pitchfork

“Ode to Joy, is mostly a slower-paced album that shows appreciation for the small, beautiful moments in life.” – NPR

Keep your mind open.

[Head on over to the subscription box and subscribe while you’re here.]

Blanck Mass to reissue debut album for Record Store Day 2020.

Blanck Mass, the solo project of Benjamin John Power, is re-issuing the long out-of-print 2011 debut album Blanck Mass via Sacred Bones Records. The deluxe double LP comes out on Record Store Day (April 18) in the UK on exclusive green-and-blue starburst vinyl, and on April 24 in the rest of the world.

The original press release for the album called it “a collection of tracks loosely themed around cerebral hypoxia and the beautiful complexity of the natural world…An interstellar journey that defies classification, revealing itself further and further with each listen; offering more with each visit.”

Power went on to reflect on the album at the time: “I do like the fact that this album represents a pretty clear image of myself,that which I am aware of and that which might be controlled by some other type of subconscious guidance.”

“Sundowner,” the second song on the album, achieved notoriety in 2012 when it was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, reaching over 900 million people worldwide.
Record Store Day: https://recordstoreday.co.uk/home/
Stream: https://blanckmass.bandcamp.com/album/blanck-mass-2
Preorder LP: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sbr3023-blanck-mass-blanck-mass

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

Partner release new single – “Good Place to Hide (at the Time”)

BandCamp // SoundCloud

“How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?” – Plato

“You find yourself in a room with a locked door. You have always been there. It is all you have ever known. You have no reason to believe you could leave, no reason to believe you would ever want to. And then one day you hear the murmurs. Faint at first, you can’t make out the words. But their very existence tells a truth that you have always known. There is something else. And you search and search and just when you are feeling spent and the bright beam of hope has faded to a glimmer, it reveals itself to you, miraculously. The key. And so you cast aside your doubt and grin with victory. But when you slide the key in, behind the door there is another locked door. The search continues.

We wrote this song over the course of about a year. We had long wanted to explore the idea of hiding, of hidden truths. A chance phrase from our friend Alfred set this song in motion. We hope you enjoy our newest offering.”
– Partner 2020

Partner, the loveable guitar shredding Canadian stoner goofballs Lucy Niles and Josée Caron are back and ready to rock, with a new single for a new decade. The band spent the end of 2019 in the studio and have some surprises for 2020.

BandCamp // SoundCloud

Keep your mind open.

[There’s no need to hide from the subscription box.]

Hala announces new album, “Red Herring,” due May 1st.

Hala, the project of Detroit-based musician Ian Ruhala, announces his new album, Red Herring, out May 1st on Cinematic Music Group, and a North American tour. Today, he shares the lead single, “Emotional R&B,” and an accompanying video. Ruhala’s music is at once precise and playful, skipping breezily between decades and their musical aesthetics while executing them with care and sincerity. On Red Herring, which is his studio debut, he elevates this formula, applying his genre-agnostic blueprint to a set of songs that comprise a no-concept concept record. It’s a varied album which explores the tragedy and comedy—often, both at once—that color and confound the modern 22-year-old’s existence.

To execute his wide-lens vision, Ruhala worked with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Vance Joy, Ra Ra Riot) at his legendary secluded Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington. Over a few months in late 2019, Ruhala and Hadlock sifted through a stockpile of prepared demos and assembled the 12 songs that comprise Red Herring. Apart from strings—played respectively by Andrew Joslyn and longtime Brandi Carlile-collaborator Josh Neumann—Ruhala wrote and performed each instrument on the record, including guitar, piano, bass, drums, baritone ukulele, xylophone, vibraphone, and all vocals.

Ruhala’s singular operating style is a credit to Red Herring’s simultaneous idiosyncrasy and unity: each track bears the earmarks of his tendencies for saccharine melodies, clear instrumentation, and a sort of ethereal, out-of-time placelessness—and yet each could also be from a different artist.

Lead single “Emotional R&B” showcases this infatuation with kaleidoscopic tonalities and narrative double-entendres. The track is about the early stage people go through in relationships, when things begin to become more intimate. “Things feel a lot more cinematic, maybe because these moments of a relationship are portrayed and documented in countless Romantic Comedies,” says Ruhala. “It’s the feeling of riding a romantic high, perhaps turning a blind eye to things that would normally set you off in pursuit of what could possibly become a substantial, long lasting relationship.”

Red Herring is a coming-of-age record from an artist recognizing that cohesiveness need not only be expressed in structural sameness. It can and should be found in other experiences, in the complex, poignant, life-and-death fleetingness of a three-and-a-half-minute pop song. Or better yet, 12 of them back-to-back.

Hala will tour across North America in support of Red Herring. A full list of dates is below.
Watch “Emotional R&B” Video:
https://youtu.be/bHHHbpQnd-4

Pre-order/pre-save Red Herring:
https://hala.ffm.to/redherring

Red HerringTracklist:
1. Turn Out Right
2. Making Me Nervous
3. Somehow
4. Camera5. Why Do You Want Anything To Do With Me?
6. We Can Start Again
7. Emotional R&B
8. Lies
9. Nobody-Body Knows
10. With You Now (It’s The Only Place I Want To Be)
11. Red Herring
12. True Colors

Hala Tour Dates:
Fri. May 8 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx- (Record Release Show) %
Sat. May 9 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement %
Sun. May 10 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd %
Tue. May 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade %
Wed. May 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Creep Records %
Thu. May 14 – Boston, MA @ Once Ballroom %
Fri. May 15 – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco %
Sat. May 16 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel %
Thu. May 28 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas *
Fri. May 29 – Milwaukee, WI @ The BackRoom at Colectivo Coffee *
Sat. May 30 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry *
Tue. June 2 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
Wed. June 3 – Portland, OR @ Lola’s Room *
Fri. June 5 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *Sat. June 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
Sun. June 7 – San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe *
Wed. June 10 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Fri. June 12 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar *
Sat. June 13 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room *

^ with Miloe
% with PONY
* with BOYO

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

Why Bonnie release title track from upcoming EP – “Voice Box.”

Austin-based band Why Bonnie announces their new EP, Voice Box, out April 10th on Fat Possum. Via The FADER, they have premiered its title track and an accompanying video.
“Voice Box” fumes with quiet wisdom, and is “about the societal pressure to silence yourself, and the frustration and self doubt that comes with battling sexism,” says the band. Its video, directed by Shelby Bohannon, features the band and highlights the rift between reality and what is expected of a person.

Watch the Video for “Voice Box”
https://youtu.be/Ptt9ZEne38Q

The Voice Box EP celebrates unhindered expression through beguiling, propulsive guitar pop. Fuzzed-out guitars and crystalline vocals drive a tough-edged struggle in the space between suppression and artistic liberty. Front woman Blair Howerton explains: “It encapsulates a disconnect between my inner and outer world, and not being able to express myself authentically because of that. But, ultimately knowing I will crash and burn if I don’t.”

Why Bonnie is the dazzling, full-band emotional release of Howerton. In a decisive step to start performing her backlogged material, Howerton moved back home to Texas after graduating college in 2015. In Austin, Howerton joined lifelong best friend Kendall Powell, who she met in preschool. Powell’s classical piano chops swapped to synth for the new project. Both active in the Austin scene, guitarist Sam Houdek and bassist Chance Williams later joined to complete the lineup.

In 2018, the band emerged on petite indie outlet Sports Day Records with In Water. The EP eulogized Howerton’s older brother, who passed away years prior. Follow-up Nightgown expanded the effort, pulling lush Mazzy Star and Cranberries influences.

This spring, Why Bonnie will tour in support of Voice Box, including SXSW and dates with Squirrel Flower and Kevin Krauter. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.

Pre-order Voice Box EP
WhyBonnie.lnk.to/VoiceBoxEP

Voice Box EP Tracklist
1. Bury Me
2. Voice Box
3. Athlete
4. Jetplane
5. No Caves

Why Bonnie Tour Dates
Wed. March 18 – Austin, TX @ Beerland (High Road Touring Showcase)
Sat. March 21 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas (Burgermania)
Mon. March 23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge *
Wed. March 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
Thu. March 26 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
Sat. March 28 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
Sun. March 29 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
Tue. March 31 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Thu. April 2 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Fri. April 3 – Omaha, NE @ (drips)
Sat. April 4 – Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
Mon. April 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
Tue. April 7 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas *
Wed. April 8 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s *
Fri. April 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
Mon. April 13 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Tue. April 14 – Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s
Thu. April 16 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)
Fri. April 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk Indoors
Sat. April 18 – Dallas, TX @ Ruins
Tue. April 21 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Bar
Wed. April 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
Thu. April 23 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary #
Fri. April 24 – Toronto, CA @ Baby G #
Sat. April 25 – Montreal, QC @ Brasserie #
Mon. April 27 – Allston, ,MA @ O’Brien’s Pub
Tue. April 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle #
Wed. April 29 – Washington, DC @ Pie Shop #
Thu. April 30 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall #
Fri. May 1 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) #
Sat. May 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn #
Sun. May 3 – Nashville, TN @ DKRMTTR #

* = w/ Squirrel Flower
# -w/ Kevin Krauter

Keep your mind open.

[Head over to the subscription box while you’re here.]