Alt rock – Page 18 – 7th Level Music

Angel Olsen releases title track from upcoming album – “Whole New Mess.”

“I had gone through this breakup, but it was so much bigger than that—I’d lost friendships, too. When you get out of a relationship, you have to examine who you are or were in all the relationships. I wanted to record when I was still processing these feelings. These are the personal takes, encapsulated in a moment.” — Angel Olsen

Angel Olsen will release Whole New Mess, her first solo album since her 2012 debut, on August 28th via Jagjaguwar. A super intimate and vulnerable emotional portrait that shows her grappling with a period of personal tumult, Whole New Mess presents Olsen working through her open wounds and raw nerves with just a few guitars and some microphones, isolated in a century-old church in the Pacific Northwest. In conjunction, Olsen presents the lead single, “Whole New Mess,” with a video directed by longtime collaborator Ashley Connor. Additionally, she announces Cosmic Stream 3, the third in her livestream series, which will air on the album’s release date and stream from the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in Asheville, NC.

Whole New Mess follows All Mirrors, Olsen’s grand 2019 masterpiece (and a top 10 critically acclaimed record). At least nine of the eleven songs on Whole New Mess should sound familiar to anyone who has heard All Mirrors. “Lark,” “Summer,” “Chance”—they are all here, at least in some skeletal form and with slightly different titles. But these are not the demos for All Mirrors. Instead, Whole New Mess is its own record with its own immovable mood. If the lavish orchestral arrangements and cinematic scope of All Mirrors are the sound of Olsen preparing her scars for the wider world to see, Whole New Mess is the sound of her first figuring out their shape, making sense for herself of these injuries.

To record Whole New Mess, Olsen asked for a studio recommendation from Electro-Vox head engineer and a deep kindred spirit Michael Harris. She wanted to find a space where, as she puts it, “vulnerability exists.” They settled on The Unknown, the Catholic church that Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum and producer Nicholas Wilbur converted into a recording studio in the small town of Anacortes, Washington. Anacortes would act as a kind of harbor for Olsen, limiting distractions as she tried to burrow inside of these songs. “I hadn’t been to The Unknown, but I knew about its energy. I wanted to go sit with the material and be with it in a way that felt like a residency,” Olsen says. “I didn’t need a lot, since it was just me and a guitar. But I wanted someone else there to hold me accountable for trying different things.” In late October 2018 prior to recording All Mirrors, Olsen and Harris lived for 10 days in a rental and built a daily ritual of getting coffee each morning in a nearby bookstore. They hiked Mount Erie, visited state parks, and strolled the empty streets of Anacortes beneath a full moon. But mostly, the sessions were casual, relaxed, and quiet, allowing Olsen the space to fully explore these feelings.

The results are staggering, somehow disarmingly candid and dauntingly personal at once. The opener and title track—one of two songs here that did not appear on All Mirrors—is a blunt appraisal of how low Olsen got and how hard the process of pulling herself back upright was, especially when being an artist can mean turning your emotions into someone else’s entertainment. “Oh, I’ll really do the change,” she repeats at the start and finish, her voice wavering as she tries to buy the mantra she’s selling. “The reality is that artists are often never home so health, clear mindedness and grounding is hard to come by,” says Olsen. “The song is a mental note to try and stay sane, keep healthy, remember to breathe wherever I happen to be, because there is no saving it for back home.”

Considered alongside All Mirrors, Whole New Mess is a poignant and pointed reminder that songs are more than mere collections of words, chords, and even melodies. They are webs of moods and moments and ideas, qualities that can change from one month to the next and can say just as much as the perfect progression or an exquisite chord. In that sense, these 11 songs—solitary, frank, and unflinching examinations of what it’s like to love, lose, and survive—are entirely new. This is the sound of Angel Olsen, sorting through the kind of trouble we’ve all known, as if just for herself and whoever else needs it.
Watch Angel Olsen’s “Whole New Mess” Video

Pre-order Whole New Mess

Purchase Cosmic Stream 3 Tickets

Whole New Mess Tracklist
1. Whole New Mess
2. Too Easy (Bigger Than Us)
3. (New Love) Cassette
4. (We Are All Mirrors)
5. (Summer Song)
6. Waving, Smiling
7. Tonight (Without You)
8. Lark Song
9. Impasse (Workin’ For The Name)
10. Chance (Forever Love)
11. What It Is (What It Is)

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Skullcrusher – self-titled EP

I love that Helen Ballentine uses the name Skullcrusher for her musical moniker. You expect doom or death metal when you see “Skullcrusher” on a record, but Ballentine throws you a curve ball of a record to remind you that sometimes a skull can feel crushed from angst, stress, depression, or the overpowering natures of love and lust.

“Places / Plans” is a tale of wanting to just chill with a lover who always wants to go to the after-party. It’s a soft opening with subtle acoustic guitar, Ballentine’s crisp yet vulnerable voice, and even softer synths. “Trace” is a sad tale of love that’s not fully reciprocated as Ballentine sings about worrying about her looks, “sleeping in to get away” and how her lover had made plans to skip town but didn’t only because she found out about it. She tries hard, forcing her lover to hold her hand and feel the connection they used to have, but she (and we) seem to know it’s not going to work. What makes the song even lovelier is the bright piano chords and the way Ballentine’s voice floats along like a happy songbird – even as she’s singing lyrics like, “If I stay here, what is that worth?”

“Two Weeks in December” is so simple and honest that it has to be a true story of Ballentine meeting someone in winter, both of them fooling each other, her getting sick and then flying back to Los Angeles, but not to the person she fooled. “Day of Show” is a tale of Ballentine’s former lover moving on, and even singing about her during a performance, while Ballentine is “…still searching for an hour in my closet trying to figure out what to wear for a day I’ll spend alone in my room.” Damn. She’s keeping it 100, as the kids say.

It’s a heartfelt and honest debut EP, and one that deservedly will garner a lot of attention.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Clutch to perform “Live from the Doom Saloon Volume II” online and will play one lucky fan’s chosen set list.

CLUTCH has invited their fans to choose the setlist for the band’s next live stream concert.

Tickets are on sale now at ClutchMerch.com for what the group has dubbed Live from the Doom Saloon – Volume II. Fans are encouraged to construct their dream 14 song setlist via ClutchSetList.com. Neil Fallon, Tim Sult, Dan Maines, and Jean-Paul Gaster will choose their favorite of the submissions and perform that set on August 7th at 5 pm PST / 8 pm EST. ClutchMerch.com also offers ticket bundles with exclusive merchandise and a limited-edition vinyl pressing of the entire performance.

Says Clutch: The thing that makes this stream unique is that Clutch fans will have the opportunity to create their dream setlist from our entire catalog. This means fans can pick from every release starting from our 1991 Pitchfork 7” all the way thru Book of Bad Decisions and the songs from our Vault Series.

The fan whose setlist is chosen will receive a massive prize pack, which includes TremLord 30 combo amplifier from Orange Amps, a stompbox from Creepy Fingers (designed by Fu Manchu’s Brad Davis), a Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah-pedal, a case of Liquid Death mountain water, and Clutch merchandise.

Anyone who misses Live from the Doom Saloon – Volume II concert will be able to stream it on-demand through the weekend, right up till 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, August 9th. The setlist contest winner will be announced during the live stream itself. Show donations will benefit the Innocent Lives Foundation, a charitable organization that combats the trafficking and exploitation of children, of which Fallon is a board member. Live from the Doom Saloon – Volume I took place in May 2020, with support from Crowbar, Blacktop Mojo, and Saul, with proceeds benefitting MusiCares and Angel Flight West. Clutch released their twelfth studio album, Book of Bad Decisions, through their own Weathermaker Music in 2018. Rolling Stone described the album as “bathed in the grit and liberal fuzz tone that has made their live shows legendary.” The band embarked on a successful co-headlining tour with Dropkick Murphys in 2019, with support from Hatebreed, Amigo The Devil, and Russ Rankin of Good Riddance. Two of the band’s most recent albums, Earth Rocker (2013) and Psychic Warfare (2015), were included in Classic Rock Magazine’s 50 Best Rock Albums of the 2010s.

Tickets: ClutchMerch.com

Contest: ClutchSetList.com

Charity info: InnocentLivesFoundation.org

Band website: Pro-Rock.com

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Doug Weber at New Ocean Media.]

Review: Jess Cornelius – Distance

The first thing that strikes you about Jess Cornelius, of course, is her haunting voice. It’s right up there with the vocal chops of Erika Wennerstrom and the honesty of Patsy Cline.

Her new album, Distance, starts out with the powerful “Kitchen Floor” – a song about getting up and moving on after a one night stand (which, I suspect, is both a literal tale and a metaphor for moving forward when things are tough, even if that walk from the bedroom and out the front door feels like a marathon) and then finding a lover who isn’t so easy to leave. The groove on it is empowering. “No Difference” is a song summed up by the Zen proverb “Let go or be dragged.” Cornelius sings, “If it’s gone, it’s gone. You gotta keep on doing without it, and one day it’ll feel like none of this was real.” Tony Buchen‘s keyboard work on the track is excellent.

Cornelius gets real and raw on the electro-poppy “Body Memory” – a song about the loss of a child and how the loss left her unsure of everything. The country-tinged “Easy for No One” has Cornelius realizing that living in the past is a treacherous game (“I keep wasting my time on other things, like thinking of the past and all the other lives I could’ve lived instead.”). She gets real about lust and hot sex on “Here Goes Nothing” (and Buchen lays down a cool bass groove) with lyrics like “…nothing kills lust like real life.” and “…you know that we won’t want each other if we could actually be lovers.”

The subtle “Born Again” pulls the veil back on Cornelius’ feelings of isolation as a younger woman (“Have you ever wanted to be loved so bad, and not by a person who could love you back, and not by a person at all, but by the world?”). The addition of Mary Lattimore‘s harp is a beautiful touch. “Palm Tress” drifts from an alt-country sound to shimmering Southern California shoegaze thanks to Michael Rosen‘s keys and Cornelius’ guitar work.

“Banging My Head” would’ve been a massive hit were it released in the mid-90’s era of Liz Phair, as it’s full of self-anger (about returning back to old behaviors and bad relationships) and big, bold chords and softer verses, not unlike a Pixies track. “Street Haunting” has a neat, rolling groove that weaves throughout it without beating you over the head. The closer “Love and Low Self-Esteem” has Cornelius finding the strength to talk about being jilted, but also knowing that she still has some longing for her ex (“I just don’t care at all, that’s what I’m gonna say to you when it is true, when I no longer need a single thing from you.”).

The title of Distance covers a lot of ground. It’s easy in this time of COVID-19 to apply it to all of us distancing from each other, and even members of our own families. It can refer to the distance Cornelius feels in her heart toward ex-lovers, her current beau, and herself at different stages of her life. It can refer to the physical distance between her English homeland and California, to the passage of time, the healing of wounds, and probably a dozen other things. The album is a look into Cornelius’ heart, but at arm’s length. She’s not going to let just anybody in there, but she is willing to share her stories and encourage us to look into our own hearts. Bridging that gap in ourselves will eventually let us bridge the gaps we’ve built between others.

Keep your mind open.

[You can close the distance between us by subscribing.]

[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Protomartyr – Ultimate Success Today

I love the title of Protomartyr‘s new album – Ultimate Success Today. It’s a great encapsulation of modern living. Everyone wants to be the ultimate success, which can be a worthy goal if one’s motives are good, but the key is in the last word of the album’s title. Everyone wants ultimate success today. We want everything now and, thanks to advertising and the internet, we fully expect to be able to have it now or before anyone else.

The album is about not only this consumerist desire and addiction, but also fear (of the path the world seems to be taking), how the world’s energy affects us, and how our actions, big or small, affect the world.

Opening track “Day Without End” builds over the course of three minutes and sixteen seconds with surging guitars from Greg Ahee, frantic cymbals by Alex Leonard, and sermon-like vocals from Joe Casey. Scott Davidson‘s bass leads the outstanding “Being Processed By the Boys” along a dark, menacing road while Casey sings about “a dagger punched from out of the shadows,” “a cosmic grief beyond all comprehension,” and “a giant beast turning mountains into black holes.” So, yeah, light fare.

“Though I have no face, country, or creed, I am better than you are,” Casey sings on “I Am You Now” – a song that claps back at the anger expressed by so many over so little. It also has some of Leonard’s best drumming on the album. He seems to play nothing but drum fills and cymbal rolls. He’s not. It’s far more complex, a sort of controlled chaos. “Narcissism is a killer,” Casey sings on “The Aphorist” – which might be the most “upbeat” track on Ultimate Success Today. He’s right. It is, and so is that wicked bridge around the two-and-a-half-minute mark.

Nandi Rose joins Casey on the vocals for “June 21,” which brings in post-punk guitar work from Ahee for a neat change in direction. “Michigan Hammers” moves along at a quick groove thanks to Leonard’s passionate drumming and Davidson’s bear trap-locked in bass line. His bass is pure fuzzed-out bliss on “Tranquilizer,” which also has a great saxophone line running through it by jazz legend Jameel Moondoc. The song explodes into a wild, head-spinning cacophony and then settles down before it makes you lose (or loose) your mind.

The fast, post-punk riffs of “Modern Business Hymns” are fantastic. “Bridge Crown” slows down to almost a goth-country sound before Casey starts crooning about, you guessed it, ultimate success (which is also referenced in the song before it by name). Casey opens the closing track, “Worm in Heaven,” with the lyrics, “So it’s time to say goodbye. I was never too keen on last words.” The song is the closest thing to a ballad on the album, and one can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign-off for not only the album but also the band. I hope not, because Protomartyr are firing on all cylinders right now.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Dream Nails get fit and free with new single – “Jillian.”

London punks Dream Nails have been the subject of considerable excitement in the UK since they first emerged on the DIY scene. Releasing a stream of singles and an EP, they have earned high praise from places like VICE, DAZED, The Guardian, Clash, Nylon and i-D who called the band “the best all-girl punk queertet since Bikini Kill.” Noted for their strong emphasis on empowerment from a queer feminist perspective and their involvement in a host of political causes, the band’s budding reputation has seen them tour in the UK and Europe with Cherry Glazerr and Anti-Flag, and make three consecutive appearances at Glastonbury all before releasing their first LP. Today the band are announcing their debut self-titled full length, which will be released August 28th by Dine Alone (City & Colour, Alexisonfire, The Chats) in North America and UK indie Alcopop! (Art Brut, Kississippi, Tigercub) for Rest of World.

WATCH: Dream Nails – “Jillian” video on YouTube

The band have been compared to The Slits (VICE) and Elastica (The Guardian) in the past, and shades of both are present on their latest single “Jillian,” a song about queerness, body positivity and problematic TV fitness celebrity Jillian Michaels.

“This is a song about realizing you’re queer while you’re doing a workout DVD,” explains singer Janey Starling. “It’s a personal-power anthem about finding the strength to come out; that’s what the line ‘I feel the fear leaving my body’ is all about.

“Both [bassist] Mimi and I discovered strength training through Jillian Michaels’ ‘30 Day Shred’ home DVD, and the catch-phrases were too good to not make a song from! Since then, she’s said some uncool and unkind stuff to Lizzo, which we were really gutted to hear. This song is very much about finding your own strength, regardless of your body shape.”

Dream Nails self-titled LP is due out August 28th via Dine Alone and Alcopop! Pre-orders for ‘Dream Nails’ are live today and can be found HERE. Physical vinyl bundle includes a 40-page signed zine. In true punk DIY fashion, the zine is handmade by the band, featuring lyrics, articles and background to the songs on the album.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]

Review: The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers

Most, if not all, of The Beths‘ new album, Jump Rope Gazers, was written while the New Zealand band (Tristan Deck – drums, Jonathan Pearce – guitar, Benjamin Sinclair – bass, Elizabeth Stokes – guitar and lead vocals) was touring North America and Europe. They were thrilled to be making a dream come true, but still missing everyone back home and across the world as they made new friends.

Opening track, “I’m Not Getting Excited,” has Stokes singing about the thrill of those dreams and the tenuous grasp she has on them (“I’m not getting excited, ’cause my fight and my flight are divided, and so I don’t enthuse, keep my grip on joy loose.”). Pearce’s guitar solo on it is a ripper, and the following track, “Dying to Believe,” has Stokes breathing easy after cutting the cord on a bad relationship (“There was a weight that you were weighing down on me. Six months ago I could hardly breathe, and now I’m lighter, finally.”). The beat on it is great. It will get you moving with a joy that sneaks up on you.

The title track has Stokes missing a love separated from her by time and distance (“I’ve never been the dramatic type, but if I don’t see your face tonight, I…well, I guess I’ll be fine.”). It’s a lovely track with bright guitar chords to keep it from being too melancholy. The power pop groove of “Acrid” is a great contrast to the song’s title. “Do You Want Me Now” has some of the boldest lyrics about missing someone while on tour – “Long distance is the wrong distance. There has never been a gulf quite as great as the one we wished into existence.” Damn. That is real.

Deck’s drum work on “Out of Sight” is excellent, knocking out wicked snare licks and rim taps so fast that he sounds like a typewriter (Remember those?) being operated by the Flash. “Don’t Go Away” is a song directed at a friend of the band who “flew north, left us in the south” and has the band unleashing heavy Weezer-like riffs made for blasting out of your dorm room windows.

“Mars, the God of War” is a great song of rage disguised in a power pop tune. Don’t believe me? Then you’ll probably believe Stokes’ lyrics of “I wish I could wish you well, instead I’m hitting my head and hitting backspace on ‘Can’t you just go to hell.’ Boom. “You Are a Beam of Light” is a beautiful acoustic track about seeking bright light and feelings in dark times. The closer, “Just Shy of Sure,” has Stokes tip-toeing back into the pool of love, but asking her lover to be patient. She’s been gone for a long while and has almost forgotten how to engage in the “real” world.

It’s another lovely record from The Beths. Stokes is a keen lyricist who gets better with each record.

Keep your mind open.

[I’d get excited if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Fenne Lilly’s new album, “BREACH,” is due this September, but the lead single, “Alapathy,” is available now.

Bristol-based musician Fenne Lily announces BREACH, her second album and first for Dead Oceans, out September 18th. It presents a newly upbeat and urgent streak to her songwriting, immediately evident with lead single “Alapathy,” and its accompanying video directed by Benjamin Brook. BREACH is an expansive, diaristic, frequently sardonic record that deals with the mess and the catharsis of entering your 20s and finding peace while being alone. It’s the follow-up to 2018’s On Hold, a tender collection of open-hearted songs written during her teenage years which deemed Fenne “a new and extraordinary voice capable of wringing profound and resonant moments out of loss” (The Line of Best Fit).

Fenne wrote BREACH during a period of self-enforced isolation pre-COVID, after a disjointed experience of touring Europe, followed by a month alone in Berlin. The album deals largely with “loneliness, and trying to work out the difference between being alone and being lonely.” Although its subject matter is solitude, it sounds bigger and more intricate than anything Fenne previously released. She recorded with producer Brian Deck at Chicago’s Narwhal Studios, with further work at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini who helped flesh out her sound with vast, rich guitars.

The insistent percussion of the album’s first single, “Alapathy,” mimics the anxious racing thoughts Fenne deals with as an overthinker and chronicles how she “started smoking weed to switch off [her] brain.” The title is a made-up word that merges “apathy” and “allopathic” (as in Westernized medicine). “Western medicine generally treats the symptoms of an illness rather than the cause,” explains Fenne. For Fenne, taking medication to improve her mental health didn’t solve her problems — she felt like she was only treating the effects of her discomfort, not the reason for it. Its stylized accompanying video features Fenne enjoying solitude in various ways.

It’s that journey to find peace inside herself that underpins the whole of Fenne’s second album. Its title, BREACH, occurred to Fenne after deep conversations with her mum about her birth, during which she was breech, or upside down in the womb. The slippery double-sidedness of the word – which, spelled with an “A”, means to “break through” – drew her in. “That feels like what I was doing in this record; I was breaking through a wall that I built for myself, keeping myself safe, and dealing with the downside of feeling lonely and alone. I realized that I am comfortable in myself, and I don’t need to fixate on relationships to make myself feel like I have something to talk about. I felt like I broke through a mental barrier in that respect.” Even though it also carries implications of awkwardness, rebellion, and breakage, it’s a wide-reaching word, representing new beginnings and birth.
Watch Fenne Lily’s Video for “Alapathy”

Listen to “To Be A Woman Pt. 2”

Listen to “Hypochondriac”

Pre-order BREACH

BREACH Tracklist
1. To Be a Woman Pt. 1
2. Alapathy
3. Berlin
4. Elliott
5. I, Nietzsche
6. Birthday
7. Blood Moon
8. Solipsism
9. I Used To Hate My Body But Now I Just Hate You
10. ’98
11. Someone Else’s Trees
12. Laundry And Jet Lag

Keep your mind open.

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

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Jess Cornelius’ “Body Memory” is a lovely ode to heartbreak.

Los Angeles-based musician Jess Cornelius releases a new single/video, “Body Memory,” from her debut album, Distance, out July 24th on Loantaka Records. It follows the Roy Orbison tinged rave-up, “Kitchen Floor.” On “Body Memory,” the last song she wrote for the record, Cornelius intones over a calming electro-rhythm “When we met I used to make you laugh/then we lost the baby and it broke my heart,” adding later: “My body has a memory and it won’t forget.” Its accompanying video, the second she’s made since the start of the pandemic lockdown, was created by Cornelius and her partner and filmed on an iPhone at Lake Isabella, California. Cornelius elaborates on the video:

“Originally I had a much more elaborate, narrative-based concept, where I was this woman running away from a cult, (hence the tracksuit and Nikes), to be filmed in Oildale and Posey where my partner, Joe, is fixing up an old cabin. At the last minute, we decided to drive to Lake Isabella because of supposed good visuals there. I was grumbling all the way there about how the location wouldn’t fit with my shot list, but when we got there and I started dancing on rocks, we just threw away the shot list and made it up as we went along. The editing was fun because I’m teaching myself Premiere Pro (thanks YouTube tutorials) and I got to throw every hilarious video effect at it. We were also heavily influenced by Laraaji’s videos, obviously.”
Watch Jess Cornelius’ Video for “Body Memory”

Cornelius first began writing the songs that would comprise Distance after moving from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles. At the time, she was excited to start fresh after several years as the primary songwriter in the band Teeth and Tongue. But the distance she addresses over the album is hardly a geographical one. The journey over Distance is a celebration of newness. New beginnings and new perspectives on endings. From the chaos of a vagabond lifestyle to expecting a child just weeks before the albums’ release and researching how to tour as a mother in the coming years.

While the sonic tones and textures on the album evoke certain classic staples of Americana, soul and rock and roll, Cornelius’ lyrics anchor the songs to a deeply personal place. She sings of a miscarriage, a messy romantic affair, and the frustrations that come with having a partner. Distance finds a deft songwriter analyzing the space between society’s expectations for her and her own dreams, the illusion of love and the reality of disappointment, and a past she is ready to let go of and a future she could have hardly imagined.

Watch Jess Cornelius’ “Kitchen Floor” Video

Watch “No Difference” Video

Pre-order Distance

Keep your mind open.

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

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Hannah Georgas’ “Dreams” is indeed dreamy.

Earlier this year Toronto’s Hannah Georgas shared a pair of singles “That Emotion” and “Same Mistakes,” — the first released in early March just before the scale of our pandemic crises had become clear, the second a month ago at the height of quarantine. The first sampling of a forthcoming collaboration with producer Aaron Dessner of The National, the singles received a rapturous response from outlets like The FADER, Stereogum, The Line of Best Fit, Clash, American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan, Exclaim, World Cafe and Consequence of Sound who dubbed her “a new generation’s Feist.”

Today, Georgas is announcing of her new album All That Emotion, a full length collaboration with Dessner that is due out September 4th on Brassland & Arts & Crafts. and sharing her new single “Dreams.” LISTEN to “Dreams” here“I have been thinking about what this album represents to me and it is resilience,” says Hannah. “It’s about finding hope and a way out the other side of tough situations. The hardships we go through make us grow into stronger people. The album is about healing, self reflection and getting up again at the end of the day.”

Of newly released single “Dreams” she writes: “In my past, I have let my insecurities play into relationships and have pushed people away because I have felt like I’m not deserving of love. This song explores the idea of breaking down those barriers of insecurity and being more open.”——Hannah Georgas began creating the album ALL THAT EMOTION about a year after the release of her celebrated 2016 album FOR EVELYN—starting with an intensive process of writing and demoing songs in her Toronto apartment, and finishing with a month long retreat in Los Angeles. She began the record making process in the middle of 2018 when she traveled to Long Pond, the upstate New York studio & home of producer Aaron Dessner of The National.

“Before each session, I would make the long drive from Toronto to Hudson Valley in Upstate New York.” Says Hannah. “It was really special getting the opportunity to work in such a remote space with Aaron and Jon and I was always itching to get back whenever we had breaks. At the same time, I appreciated the space in between and coming back with fresh ears.” Hannah continues, “Aaron and I agreed the production needed to bring out the truth in my voice. During these sessions we musically found a new depth and, vocally, a delivery that was more raw and expressive, allowing the emotional texture of each song to shine through.”

The writing of the album found Hannah creating her most personal album to date. “ALL THAT EMOTION’s album cover is an old family photo,” says Hannah. “I love the image because it captures this calm confidence. It looks like people are watching a performance and it seems like he’s diving in without a second thought. Similarly, I find that it parallels the approach needed within art. The calm confidence of expressing yourself without the thought of consequence, regardless of anyone watching.”

On the album, you’ll hear about bad habits and prayerful families—right and wrong love—mistakes and moving on—casual cruelty and most of all, change. Plotting the boundaries of where to place this music it’s emotionally fraught but warm & fuzzy. “An indie-minded avant-pop artist” was the Boston Globe’s formulation for her charms. Think of Fleetwood Mac meets The National; Kate Bush-sized passion with the earthiness of Cat Power or Aimee Mann. The album grows inside you and sticks to your insides. The songs are big tent anthems, rough at the edges but relatable.

Hannah continues: “I still have long conversations with my friends over the phone, talking about love and relationships, pain and heartbreak, our upbringings and the hardships that come along with that.” In an era of social media quips and hollow memes, maybe it’s this kind of one-on-one contact a form of communication worth getting back to?

“In this way, I get a lot of lyrical inspiration through the individuals I interact with in my everyday life,” she says. “Then music becomes the forum where I work out these feelings, embrace and express pain and love, joy and anger, frustration and fear and hope. It’s where I can be uncensored, not hold back, and say what I want to say. In that way, making music is a cathartic and cleansing process. It’s always the best feeling when someone tells me my music has helped them out in some way. That keeps me going.”All That Emotion will be released September 4, 2020 on Arts & Crafts/Brassland. It is available for preorder here.

Track List
1. That Emotion – video
2. Easy
3. Dreams – video
4. Pray It Away
5. Someone I Don’t Know
6. Punching Bag
7. Same Mistakes – video
8. Just A Phase
9. Habits
10. Change
11. Cruel

Keep your mind open.

[I dream of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]