'True North,' a film companion to upcoming a-ha album, arrives in theaters this September

Sony Music Entertainment Premium Content and Trafalgar Releasing announced the release date for a-ha’s forthcoming film True North, the accompaniment to their new studio album of the same title. True North will be released in select cinemas worldwide on September 15, with the album following on October 28. This film will also include a special behind-the-scenes featurette, exclusive to cinemas. Watch teaser trailer here.

The original idea for True North was for the Norwegian trio, formed of Morten Harket, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen, to record their first session in the wonderous studio location just 90km above the Arctic Circle then to film it. Eventually, the project expanded into more of a production, and they were joined by the talented Norwegian orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic. What spawned from these sessions is an album, and film to match, that details the band’s vision of a collective connection to the environment. “True North is a letter from a-ha, from the Arctic Circle, a poem from the far north of Norway,” says Furuholmen.

In recurring vignettes, the multidimensional True North film follows this narrative arc through actors portraying life in the North as well as documenting the band recording music over two days in Bodø, Norway. This is a unique release from a-ha that embodies the spirit of their new songs, with long-time a-ha collaborator Stian Andersen at the helm as director: "It’s been an honourable assignment to direct the True North movie. It’s also been a great pleasure to write and create the narrative to match a-ha’s beautiful songs in this film."

​​Since their worldwide breakthrough with ‘Take On Me’ in 1985, a-ha have continued to adapt and evolve. Now, with what is both their 11th studio album and the documentation of its creation, a-ha have entered a new phase. “First, we had the idea to record a studio session live,” says Waaktaar-Savoy. “Then, to film a studio session. That grew into more of a production with the Norwegian orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic, who we have collaborated with.”

a-ha’s first offering from the forthcoming album is the single “I’m In,” and the official music video is extracted from the long-form film integral to True North. Watch here.

The True North film is out in select cinemas worldwide on September 15, 2022 via Trafalgar Releasing. Tickets on sale from August 4 - visit ahatruenorth.com

The True North album is out on October 21, 2022, pre-order now and sign up for further information at ahatruenorth.com

The International Pop Overthrow Volume 23 out on Sept. 9

Omnivore Recordings and The International Pop Overthrow Music Festival presents International Pop Overthrow: Volume 23, a three-disc compilation featuring 68 tracks by artists from all over the world who have played the International Pop Overthrow festival… along with some who haven’t.

The IPO compilation goes back as far as the festival, to 1998 when Vol. 1 was a single disc. Since then, the compilation had expanded to two discs the following year, and then three discs in 2002 for Vol. 5, and it has remained a three-disc set through 2022. IPO Vol. 23 showcases artists from nine different countries, doing just about every subgenre of pop music, including power pop, pop/rock, folk/pop, psychedelic pop, garage, indie-rock, modern rock, etc.

Although the International Pop Overthrow festival is essentially a showcase for unsigned bands, the compilation has featured signed acts, as well as acts who have gone on to be signed. These include Jason Falkner, Brendan Benson, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (Jellyfish; Imperial Drag), AM Radio, Marvin Etzioni (Lone Justice), and Shoes (power pop legends).

Acts on Vol. 23 to watch out for include:

• April March (sunshine pop chanteuse and animator)
• Fernando Perdomo (producer and member of Echo In The Canyon film band)
• The Loud Family (featuring Game Theory’s Scott Miller) and Anton Barbeau
• David Minchin From The Innocents (Aussie power pop legends)
• Seth Swirsky (Grammy-nominated® songwriter, filmmaker and author)
• The Rave-Ups (Classic Alternative rockers back on the scene)
• Kimberley Rew (founding member of The Soft Boys and “Walking On Sunshine” writer) and Lee Cave-Berry

Pre-Order here: http://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/ipo-volume-23/

Track List:

DISC 1

1. Tambourine Love - The Tambourine People

2. Girl With A Record Collection - Fernando Perdomo
3. The Rain Comes - The Vinylos
4. A Place in The Sun - Mansfield
5. The Street Leads To The River - The Newds
6. Stardeath - James Booth & The Return
7. Shake Your Hair - Golden Richards
8. Lost In A Daydream - Lannie Flowers
9. Let Me Tell You - The RAZ Band
10. Lift Off - April March
11. There’s Only One Way Out Of This - Black Mail House
12. The Real Sound Of The World - Ramírez Exposure & Marc Jonson
13. Too Much Of Nothing - The Greeting
14. Blue Room - Stephem Lawrenson
15. Best Days Gone - Vanilla
16. Platinum Girl - Rome 56
17. Counting Dreams - Jody And The Jerms
18. Drink It Up - Jeremy
19. Carry You (Redux) - Rich Arithmetic
20. Magnesium - Rainy Day Crush
21. What I Mess - Go Time!
22. The Only Girl - The Pozers
23. Vinyl Junkie - Blake

DISC 2

1. Julee - Dave Cope And The Sass
2. Verse 2 - Underwater Sunshine
3. The Cup Has Run Over - Petrified Max
4. Mavis Of Maybelline Towers - The Loud Family and Anton Barbeau
5. On The Motorway - Emperor Penguin
6. One Of Us Is Crazy (The Other Is Me) - David Brookings
7. Paper Letter - Lisa Marie Claire
8. Endless Haze - Danny Wilkerson
9. Heartbreaker - Andrew Stonehome
10. Blue In The Red Room - The James Clark Institute
11. I Can Be Any Woman - Kimberley Rew and Lee Cave-Berry
12. Rapid Transit - Elephonic
13. 99 Reasons - The Arcadeans
14. Far Away - The Incurables
15. Roller Coaster Ride - Brent Seavers
16. Temescal Canyon - The Magnet Hearts
17. Miss Amphetamine - Your Academy
18. I Gotta Know - David Minchin from The Innocents
19. My Secret Love - Athanor 2.0
20. Pony Up - The Bishop’s Daredevil Stunt Club
21. Dreaming About Sleeping - Blake Jones & The Trike Shop
22. Around The Bend - Brent Windler

DISC 3

1. Summer Camp - Frederick Julius
2. Rose Avenue - Seth Swirsky
3. Dear Jo - Sunbourne Rd
4. Tenerte Circa - El Inquieto Roque
5. Breathe Deep - Solitary Friends
6. So, You Wanna Know The Truth? - The Rave-Ups
7. Don’t Worry California - Circles
8. Best Of Luck - Rolling Numbers
9. Dry January - Barmudas
10. Melody Told You - Amoeba Teen
11. Unreliable Friend - Eric Crugnale
12. Party All Night On Sunset - Morty Shallman
13. S.E.M.A. (Sunday Evening Misery Attack) - Searching For Sylvia
14. Save Me - Street Duo
15. Happy Faces - Blaine Campbell
16. Songs In A Different Light - Sue Hedges
17. Test Of Time - Glowbox
18. Early Morning Days - The Top Boost
19. Waiting On Me - Jody Quine
20. Zeros And Ones - Danny Echo
21. I Don’t Want To Let You Down - Naked House
22. Sunday - The Glimmer Stars
23. Feel The Light - The Parlophonics

A new Leonard Cohen tribute arrives in October including Norah Jones, Peter Gabriel, Sarah McLachlan, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, others

Blue Note Records has announced an October 14 release date for Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen featuring Norah Jones, Peter Gabriel, Sarah McLachlan, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, David Gray, Nathaniel Rateli­ff and more. Hear Taylor’s version of “Coming Back to You” which is available to stream or download today. Here It Is can be pre-ordered now on D2C exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, or digital download.

“Leonard Cohen had been a friend since 1982 or so, and in the last 15 years of his life, he became a close friend,” says album producer Larry Klein. “He was possibly the wisest and funniest friend that I had, and someone that I enjoyed, immensely, in every way. After he passed away, I found myself frequently covering his songs with other artists that I was working with. One reason, of course, is that the songs are so good—in a certain way, Leonard is the best pop songwriter ever—but the other reason was that it helped keep him in the air around me.”

So Klein decided to assemble an album’s worth of Cohen songs, matching vocalists from different genres with a core band of jazz-based musicians—or, as he puts it, “a group of the most prescient and forward-looking musicians in the jazz world”—guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Nate Smith with additional contributions from Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar and Larry Goldings on organ.

“When Larry Klein invited me to participate in a Leonard Cohen tribute album, I accepted immediately,” says James Taylor. “Both because Larry is a great producer of excellent recordings and a good friend, and because, like almost everyone in my generation, I venerate Leonard Cohen. As soon as I began seeking out my own musical preferences, Cohen’s songs were among my few favorites and had a major influence on my own progression as a songwriter. For the project, I was drawn to a relatively obscure piece that was new to me, ‘Coming Back To You.’ Larry opted to cut the song in Cohen’s original key, which was certainly at the bottom of my own range. But somehow moving me out of my comfort zone helped me find my own approach to the song. Like so much of Leonard Cohen’s writing, this lyric resonates deeply with his forlorn and hopeless take on the bleak landscape of love and attachment. So, breathe a deep sigh and, drink up…”

The album’s 12 tracks offer a range of Cohen’s compositions, with songs drawn from his 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen all the way up to selections from his final album, You Want It Darker, released just days before his death in 2016. The set covers some of his best-known classics and less familiar deep cuts. The resulting collection is ultimately reminiscent of the concept that guided Klein’s production of Herbie Hancock’s 2007 album River: The Joni Letters, which won the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year (and on which one of the featured singers was, in fact, Leonard Cohen).

“It was an immensely gratifying experience to recontextualize these poems, and shine a different light on them,” Klein continues. “I hope that this musical language that we developed together, the context that we put these things in, makes the songs connect with people in a new way.”

Track listing:

1. Steer Your Way - Norah Jones
2. Here It Is - Peter Gabriel
3. Suzanne - Gregory Porter
4. Hallelujah - Sarah McLachlan
5. Avalanche - Immanuel Wilkins
6. Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye - Luciana Souza
7. Coming Back to You - James Taylor
8. You Want It Darker - Iggy Pop
9. If It Be Your Will - Mavis Staples
10. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy - David Gray
11. Famous Blue Raincoat - Nathaniel Rateliff
12. Bird on The Wire - Bill Frisell

Sloan keeps it all 'Steady' for October release

Canadian indie rock band Sloan's 13th studio album Steady is set for an October 21 release on Yep Roc Records in North America. Their first new album since 2018’s 12, Steady will coincide with the 30th anniversary of their debut album Smeared, which came out in October 1992. Fans can pre-order/pre-save Steady here.

The first single “Spend The Day” was written by guitarist/vocalist Patrick Pentland, who describes the track as “an invitation to join me when I was maybe at my lowest. Hide away with me from everything for a while.” Listen to “Spend The Day” here.

Sloan still has four original members that regularly contribute to songwriting. The album title is reflective of the band’s 30-year feat. Bassist and vocalist Chris Murphy explains, “They say if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together. I don’t know if there are many other bands you can name that are still making records with their original line up 30 years in. Look it up!”

Track listing:

1. Magical Thinking
2. Spend The Day
3. She Put Up With What She Put Down
4. Human Nature
5. Scratch The Surface
6. Panic On Runnymede
7. Dream It All Over Again
8. Nice Work If You Can Get It
9. Simply Leaving
10. Close Encounters
11. I Dream Of Sleep
12. Keep Your Name Alive

Richard Marx focuses on various genres during 'Songwriter' album in September

Richard Marx has written and performed some of the most biggest pop hits of the late ’80s and early ’90s including “Endless Summer Nights,” “Hold on to the Nights” and “Right Here Waiting.”

Now, Marx announces a new multi-genre-spanning album and debut on new label Shelter Records, Songwriter, out September 30. 

He has unveiled “Same Heartbreak Different Day”; listen here: https://lnk.to/RichardMarxSameHeartbreakDifferentDay

“I’ve had such an amazing opportunity in my songwriting career to write all kinds of songs with, and for, all kinds of artists,” says Marx. “It finally occurred to me that there was no reason not to record an album of my own that touches on multiple genres I love.”

Marx has made history as the only male artist whose first seven singles reached the Top 5 on the Billboard charts, and now the new album showcases contributions from legendary American composer Burt Bacharach, Keith Urban, Evanescence’s David Hodges and more in different genres. 

Over the years Marx has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, starting with his self-titled debut which went to No. 8 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and spawned four Top 5 singles, including “Hold on to the Nights” and “Don’t Mean Nothing,” which earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Album Rock chart. Marx’s follow-up, 1989’s Repeat Offender, furthered his early success, hitting No. 1 and going quadruple-platinum with two No. 1 singles, “Satisfied” and “Right Here Waiting.”

Marx has also written on a No. 1 single in each of the last four decades, an accolade previously only reached by Michael Jackson. He has written with numerous artists, including “To Where You Are,” the first hit single from Josh Groban’s debut album, the NSYNC smash, “This I Promise You” and "Crazy" the song he co-wrote with country music megstar Kenny Rogers in 1984. He went on to earn a 2004 Song of the Year Grammy for co-authoring Luther Vandross’ “Dance with My Father.” Overall, he has scored 14 No. 1 singles (including Keith Urban’s No. 1 smash “Long Hot Summer,”) both as a performer and as a songwriter/producer.

Songwriter follows last year's best-selling memoir Stories To Tell, available now via Simon & Schuster, and this week officially as a paperback edition. The literary debut recounts the singer/songwriter’s life and career — where all throughout he offers a ruminative and refreshingly candid account of his successes and failures in the music industry as he’s experienced it over the last four decades. Also released last year was The Vault - Vol. 1, the first in a multi-run series of colored vinyl EPs featuring unreleased demos and early material.

This summer, Marx will head out on the road in Europe before returning to the US this fall for a run of US headlining tour dates. See the full list of tour dates below and more info here: https://richardmarx.com/tour/

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE SONGWRITER

TRACK LIST:

POP

Same Heartbreak Different Day (Richard Marx/Lucas Marx, Michael Jade)
Believe In Me (Richard Marx/Lucas Marx)
Anything (Richard Marx/Bruce Weigner)
Moscow Calling (Richard Marx)
Only A Memory (Richard Marx/Adam Messinger)

ROCK

Shame On You (Richard Marx/Jesse Marx)
Just Go (Richard Marx)
My Love, My Enemy (Richard Marx/Matt Scannell)
One More Yesterday (Richard Marx/Chris Daughtry/Jason Wade)
We Are Not Alone (Ricard Marx/Jesse Marx)

COUNTRY

Everything I’ve Got (Richard Marx)
One Day Longer (Richard Marx/Keith Urban)
Breaking My Heart (Richard Marx/Darius Rucker/David Hodges)
Misery Loves Company (Richard Marx/Lucas Marx/Bruce Weigner)
We Had It All (Richard Marx/Randy Hauser/Brice Long)

BALLADS

Always (Richard Marx/Burt Bacharach)
Still In My Heart (Richard Marx/Richard Page)
As If We’ll Never Love Again (Richard Marx/Gary Burr)
Never After (Richard Marx/Topher Brown)
Maybe (Richard Marx)

TOUR DATES:

AUG 25 Club de Golf Andratx Es Camp De Mar, Spain
AUG 28 Ancient Theatre Plovdiv, Bulgaria
AUG 30 Hibernia Theater Prague, Czech Republic
SEP 1 Nordea Concert Hall Tallinn, Estonia
SEP 3 Taxinge Castle Park Nykvarn, Sweden
SEP 4 Tonhallen Sundsvall, Sweden
SEP 6 Villa Belparc Göteborg, Sweden
SEP 8 Amager Bio Copenhagen, Denmark
SEP 9 Kulturhuset Viften Rødovre, Denmark
SEP 10 Godset Kolding, Denmark
SEP 13 Fabrik Hamburg, Germany
SEP 14 Passionskirche Berlin, Germany
SEP 16 Kupfersaal Leipzig, Germany
SEP 19 Deutsches Theater München, Germany
SEP 20 Gibson Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
SEP 22 Schlösser Quartier Bohème Düsseldorf, Germany
SEP 24 Alhambra Paris, France
SEP 25 La Madeleine Brussels, Belgium
SEP 27 Muziekgebouw Eindhoven Eindhoven, Netherlands
SEP 28 Koninklijk Theater Carré Amsterdam, Netherlands
SEP 30 The Queen's Hall Edinburgh, United Kingdom
OCT 1 RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music) Manchester, United Kingdom
OCT 3 Union Chapel London, United Kingdom
OCT 4 Union Chapel London, United Kingdom
OCT 6 Union Chapel London, United Kingdom
OCT 20 Arcada Theatre St Charles, IL
OCT 21 The Des Plaines Theatre Des Plaines, IL
OCT 22 Blue Gate Performing Arts Center Shipshewana, IN
OCT 23 Kent State University at Tuscarawas New Philadelphia, OH
OCT 26 The Avalon Ballroom Theatre At Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort Niagara Falls, Canada
OCT 28 Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Troy, NY
OCT 29 New York Society for Ethical Culture New York, NY
NOV 1 Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts Red Bank, J
NOV 2 Mayo Performing Arts Center Morristown, NJ
NOV 4 Capital Turnaround Washington, DC
NOV 5 The Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT
NOV 10 Carnegie Music Hall Pittsburgh, PA
NOV 11 Bergen Performing Arts Center Englewood, NJ

Bush ponder 'The Art of Survival' in October

Bush return with their ninth full-length album, The Art of Survival, scheduled for release October 7 via BMG. Pre-order/pre-save The Art of Survival HERE. The new single "More Than Machines.”

STREAM / DOWNLOAD / SHARE “MORE THAN MACHINES” HERE

A music video will accompany the track soon.

Regarding “More Than Machines,” Rossdale states, “This is an action-packed song with three really big topics. Off the bat, I don’t understand how anyone has the audacity to get involved or assume responsibility for women’s bodies. I wanted to reference that because it’s important to discuss. As much as the song is about the destruction of women’s rights, it’s about the destruction of the planet and the move for A.I. and a world of robots to replace us. It’s a topic we’ve heard since the fifties. I’m not here to teach anything though; my job is medieval like a town crier. I come into town with my elixirs and sing about it, so it hopefully goes out into the universe.”

The band wrote and recorded what would become The Art of Survival during 2022, reteaming on two tracks with film composer, musician, and producer Tyler Bates [300, Guardian of the Galaxy]. 

Rossdale adds, “Instead of being mournful or self-piteous, this is about the success stories of humanity’s survival against the odds. People just find a way to push through. We’ve all obviously suffered in varying degrees. I think the nature of life is the art of survival. Everyone is being tested all of the time, but we find a way. In recent memory, we’ve made major strides and shown great resilience in the face of war, endless instances of racism, gender politics, a pandemic, and a melting pot of what we’ve experienced. For me, The Art of Survival encompasses all of this.”

Bush will join Alice In Chains and Breaking Benjamin for a North American tour starting August 10 in Burgettstown, PA at The Pavilion at Star Lake and concluding October 8 in Mansfield, MA at Xfinity Center. Check out the full confirmed itinerary below. For ticket info click HERE

TRACK LISTING:

Heavy Is The Ocean
Slow Me
More Than Machines
May Your Love Be Pure
Shark Bite
Human Sand
Kiss Me I’m Dead
Identity
Creatures of the Fire
Judas Is A Riot
Gunfight
1000 Years

TOUR DATES:

Sat Aug 6 – Saint Michael, ND – Spirit Lake Casino
Sun Aug 7 – Sturgis, ND – Sturgis Buffalo Chip
Wed Aug 10 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
Thu Aug 11 – Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion
Sat Aug 13 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
Sun Aug 14 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Tue Aug 16 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Wed Aug 17 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
Fri Aug 19 - Bonner Springs, KS – Azura Amphitheater
Sat Aug 20 – Council Bluffs, IA – Westfair Amphitheater
Mon Aug 22 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater
Wed Aug 24 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL
Thu Aug 25 - Minneapolis, MN – Minnesota State Fair Grandstand
Sat Aug 27 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
Mon Aug 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
Wed Aug 31 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Fri Sep 2 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Sat Sep 3 - Auburn, WA – White River Ampitheatre [Pain In The Grass 2022]
Mon Sep 5 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Wed Sep 7 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre
Thu Sep 8 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
Sat Sep 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
Sun Sep 11 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
Wed Sep 14 – Del Valle, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
Fri Sep 16 - Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
Sat Sep 17 - The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Tue Sep 20 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
Wed Sep 21 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO
Fri Sep 23 - Mount Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Casino
Tue Sep 27 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Wed Sep 28 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Fri Sep 30 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
Sat Oct 1 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Tue Oct 4 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Wed Oct 5 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Fri Oct 7 - Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Sat Oct 8 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center

Long-awaited new album from Robyn Hitchcock arrives in October

Robyn Hitchcock's new album SHUFFLEMANIA! arrives via Tiny Ghost Records on October 21. Pre-orders – including limited edition blue vinyl, classic black vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital download – are available now exclusively at www.robynhitchcock.com.

The veteran British artist’s first full-length collection in over five years, SHUFFLEMANIA! is heralded by the first single, “The Shuffle Man,” with instrumental and vocal accompaniment from musician/producer/artist Brendan Benson. An official music video is streaming now at YouTube.

“The Shuffle Man is the imp of change,” says Hitchcock, “the agent of fortune. He throws the cards up in the air and leaves you to deal with where they fall. He is the exhilaration of chaos – with fast hands and a stovepipe hat.”

WATCH “THE SHUFFLE MAN” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Having found himself burned out following the completion of 2017’s acclaimed ROBYN HITCHCOCK, a 2019 Christmas visit to the ancient palace of Quetzalcoatl in Tulum, Mexico brought forth new song “Feathery Serpent God.” More new songs materialized as Hitchcock flew home to his adopted Nashville. 

When the pandemic happened, Hitchcock bought a 5-track recording device – not dissimilar to the 4-track cassette machine on which he wrote and arranged his landmark I OFTEN DREAM OF TRAINS more than three decades earlier. He emailed his freshly recorded guitar-and-vocal songs to a star-studded selection of his (many) musician friends around the world, all of whom were also marooned at home with time to spare and much more sophisticated recording equipment than he himself was using, among them Brendan Benson, Johnny Marr, Sean Ono Lennon, Kimberley Rew, Morris Windsor, Davey Lane (You Am I) and Pat Sansone (Wilco), all of whom proved more than happy to contribute.

As things opened up somewhat in the second half of 2020, Hitchcock and his partner Emma Swift returned to London, booking a final session at Abbey Road where they re-recorded most of his vocals, with Swift – a singer with an ear “far more acute than mine” – acting as producer. Stems for the whole project were then sent to longtime friend, producer/engineer Charlie Francis (The High Llamas), who mixed the album in his Cardiff attic. 

The songs and subject matter span but are not limited to, TV detectives, astrology, imaginary pubs, Greek philosophers, streetcars, sea creatures, recurring dreams, and the feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl.

“To me, most songs are about themselves and how they make you feel,” says Hitchcock. “What triggers them is mysterious. The songs on this record are a series of sub-personalities, fertilized by chance. You might even say they were cards, dealt to me by The Shuffle Man. Listening back now, to me SHUFFLEMANIA! is a party record, direct from my unconscious to you. Even if you’re a party of one – have fun with it!”

Initial tour dates will include the United Kingdom, Norway, and the United States. Additional dates will be announced. For updates and ticket information, please visit www.robynhitchcock.com/tour.

Track listing:

The Shuffle Man
The Inner Life of Scorpio
The Feathery Serpent God
Midnight Tram To Nowhere
Socrates In Thin Air
Noirer Than Noir
The Man Who Loves The Rain
The Sir Tommy Shovel
The Raging Muse
One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)

TOUR DATES:

SEPTEMBER
13 - Falmouth, United Kingdom - The Cornish Bank
14 - Totnes, United Kingdom - The Barrel House
15 - Bristol, United Kingdom - Redgrave Theatre
20 - Hertford, United Kingdom - Hertford Corn Exchange
21 - Reading, United Kingdom - South Street Arts Centre
22 - Deal, United Kingdom - The Lighthouse
23 - Norwich, United Kingdom - Norwich Puppet Theatre

OCTOBER
2 - Asker, Norway - Venskaben
4 - Trondheim, Norway - Bar Moskus

NOVEMBER
10 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
11 - Decatur, GA - Eddie's Attic
12 - Decatur, GA - Eddie's Attic
16 - Nashville, TN - The Basement

FEBRUARY 2023
25 - London, United Kingdom - Alexandra Palace Theatre

MARCH 2023
1 - Glasgow, United Kingdom - Mono

Joe Strummer box set focuses on The Mescaleros work in September

Dark Horse Records is celebrating what would have been Joe Strummer’s 70th birthday on August 21 with Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years, the first-ever comprehensive collection highlighting his work with his post-Clash band, The Mescaleros.

The collection includes remastered editions of all three of the band’s studio albums, plus 15 rare and unreleased tracks spanning the first demos Joe wrote for the Mescaleros, as well as ‘Ocean Of Dreams’, featuring Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols on guitar, and outtakes of several tracks of Joe’s final recordings with the band. 

This curated boxset was executive produced by Joe’s widow Lucinda Tait and produced by David Zonshine and features exclusive new interviews with Joe’s friends, collaborators and Mescaleros band mates, plus never-before-seen handwritten notes, lyrics, and drawings by Strummer taken from the Joe Strummer Archive. The release arrives everywhere Friday, September 16 on 4 CD w/72-page book and 7 LP w/32-page book, special edition packaging and exclusive 12”x12” art print. 

The first track from the collection, the previously unreleased version of “The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll (Demo)” is available to stream. The video for the song was created using Joe’s drawings and handwritten lyrics found in the Strummer archive - WATCH HERE

PRE-ORDER JOE STRUMMER 002: THE MESCALEROS YEARS HERE

While best known as the front man for The Clash, Strummer also produced acclaimed work with The Mescaleros. Strummer said during this period: “All that’s happening for me now is just a chancer’s bluff. I learned that fame is an illusion and everything about it is just a joke. I’m far more dangerous now, because I don’t care at all.”

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years highlights the period of 1999-2002, collecting for the first time such albums as Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), Global A Go-Go (2001), and the posthumous Streetcore (2003), along with Vibes Compass, a brand-new compilation of 15 B-sides and rarities, including early demos of some of the first tracks Joe wrote for the Mescaleros such as “The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll”, “X-Ray Style”, “Techno D-Day”, as well as the previously unreleased “Secret Agent Man” and the original recordings from Joe’s last ever sessions, including outtakes of “Get Down Moses”, “Coma Girl” and the song “Fantastic”.

All albums are remastered by Grammy-winning engineer Paul Hicks (The Beatles, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie) especially for the release and are packaged with new liner notes, unreleased images, and four reproduction lyric sheets and chord charts from the Strummer archive.

"There's so much great music that Joe left us in his archive,” says Joe’s widow and the executive producer, Lucinda Tait. “We started this work with '001', so to focus on Joe's work with The Mescaleros was the natural second step on '002' because those songs he made with them just seemed to resonate so strongly and reinvigorated his connection with his audience at a level he hadn't experienced since his days with The Clash.

“He was so excited to work with the Mescaleros and the reception he got from the press and fans was incredible, it gave him a whirlwind of energy and confidence and he was creatively fulfilled and happy.

“His words are so beautiful and honest and together with the Mescaleros some fantastic tunes were created and to listen to some of the tunes recorded as outtakes for me was really special.”

TRACK LISTING: 

Rock Art and the X-Ray Style

1. Tony Adams

2. Sandpaper Blues
3. X-Ray Style
4. Techno D-Day
5. The Road to Rock 'N' Roll
6. Diggin' The New
7. Nitcomb
8. Forbidden City
9. Yalla Yalla
10. Willesden To Cricklewood

Global A Go-Go
1. Johnny Appleseed
2. Cool ’N’ Out
3. Global A Go-Go
4. Bhindi Bhagee
5. Gamma Ray
6. Mega Bottle Ride
7. Shaktar Donetsk
8. Mondo Bongo
9. Bummed Out City
10. At The Border, Guy
11. Minstrel Boy (full-length version)

Streetcore
1. Coma Girl
2. Get Down Moses
3. Long Shadow
4. Arms Aloft
5. Ramshackle Day Parade
6. Redemption Song
7. All In A Day
8. Burnin' Streets
9. Midnight Jam
10. Silver and Gold

Vibes Compass

1. Time And The Tide
2. Techno D-Day (Demo)
3. Ocean Of Dreams (feat. Steve Jones)
4. Forbidden City (Demo)
5. X-Ray Style (Demo)
6. The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll (Demo)
7. Tony Adams (Demo)
8. Cool ‘N’ Out (Demo)
9. Global A Go-Go (Demo)
10. Secret Agent Man
11. All In A Day (Demo)
12. London Is Burning
13. Get Down Moses (Outtake)
14. Fantastic
15. Coma Girl (Outtake)

ABOUT DARK HORSE RECORDS

George Harrison’s passion for introducing the world to new music expressed itself in May of 1974 when he created his own new label – Dark Horse Records. The label contained a variety of talented artists on its roster, including George himself. Alongside Joe Strummer, the newly relaunched Dark Horse Records roster also includes Billy Idol, Leon Russell, Benmont Tench and others. For more information, please visit www.darkhorserecords.com.

Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Dan Wilson of Semisonic has a new EP in September

Dan Wilson previewed his new EP Dancing On The Moon with a cover of Perfume Genius’ “On The Floor.” The six song EP is his first collection of solo material since his 2017 album Re-Covered and follows his band Semisonic’s first release of new music in nearly 20 years You’re Not Alone that was released in 2020. Dancing On The Moon will be released on September 15.

Listen to “On The Floor” via YouTube.

“I’ve loved this Perfume Genius song since the first time I heard it. The more I listened, the more I loved it. When 2021 came to an end, it was one of a handful of songs at the very top of my ‘most listened’ list - up there with ‘Go Easy, Kid’ by Monica Martin and ‘Doin’ It’ by Herbie Hancock. Good company,” explains Wilson. “When the Dancing on the Moon EP started coming together in the spring, I realized that ‘On the Floor’ might make a great cover song to add to the list. My version is musically different from the original, but the words and melody are unchanged - I didn’t want to mess with that. Those Perfume Genius melodies feel like they fit my voice. I wish I’d written this one myself.”

Wilson's previous solo material for the last four years has consisted of nearly 20 singles instead of a proper album or EP. The new collection will feature four new recordings along with the previously released “Under The Circumstances” and “Red Light.”

“I always figured all those singles I’d been releasing might turn into an album or something down the line,” he reflects, “but I could never get excited about the idea of sweeping up a bunch of odds and ends and calling it a record. Plus, the world had changed so much in the last year or two alone that my writing had naturally changed with it, and I felt like anything I put out needed to reflect that.”

In the midst of writing and releasing new solo material and continuing to work with his band Semisonic, Wilson remains one of the most in-demand songwriters working today. In the past year alone, Wilson teamed up with Mitski for her first released co-write, “The Only Heartbreaker,” worked with Taylor Swift on re-producing his co-writes on Red (Taylor’s Version), and collaborated with with Leon Bridges, Tom Morello, Joy Oladokun, Claud, Cuco and many more.

In 2020, Wilson released his Words + Music in 6 Seconds deck that spawned from his popular Words + Music in 6 Seconds instagram series. The 75-card deck offers brief and inspiring pieces of advice and covers everything from inspiration and creativity to working relationships and mental health.

Track list:

1) Island
2) On The Floor
3) Dancing On The Moon
4) Red Light
5) Can’t Think Straight
6) Under The Circumstances

Bedouin Soundclash propels a musical 'Hurricane' in October

Toronto’s JUNO award winning rock/world beat duo Bedouin Soundclash have released a double-single, “Birds of a Feather (feat. Ashleigh Ball)” b/w “Beyond Four Walls” to announce their new album, We Will Meet In A Hurricane, for an October 21 release via Dine Alone Records.

Pre-order/save the album here

Discussing “Birds of a Feather,” Jay Malinowski noted, “The song is about our enduring relationship in this band. Eon and I met on the first day of school. We never had any intention to play in a band. Like the best things in life, everything just kind of happened, like it had already been written and we were just the players. Our journey has been incredible. I sometimes look at our lives and can’t believe what we got to experience together. Ashleigh Ball sings on this track, and she has such an incredible voice. We were sitting there in the studio and then she pulled out a flute and we all got really mesmerized for a couple hours listening to this dubbed-out flute.”

Regarding “Beyond Four Walls,” Malinowski added, “This was written in the heart of lockdown—-it’s somewhat self-explanatory; that beyond four walls there is a world happening. The pandemic forced a lot of change. I think it put a spotlight on habits and ways of being that didn’t serve us well. We spent so much time with ourselves that those issues became glaring. I realised over the pandemic I had put up a lot of mental walls of limiting beliefs that had to be confronted.”

In the spring of 2021, Bedouin co-founder and bassist Eon Sinclair booked an open-ended trip to join Malinowski at his new home on Vancouver Island with the hope of reigniting their once-prolific creative spark. “We didn’t really have a set agenda,” notes Sinclair. “We’d been sending a few ideas back-and-forth between Toronto and Victoria early in the pandemic, and it was a welcome outlet considering everything that was going on. So even though I wasn’t really sure of what I wanted to do next, I thought I’d go out for six months – maybe come back early, maybe stay longer – just to see where things would lead.”

They quickly settled into a comfortable workflow, riffing and writing through the week at Malinowski’s family home and then heading into The Hive studio every couple of weeks to capture the results. 

“There wasn’t a lot of discussion beforehand about limiting things in terms of instrumentation, but I think the way it unfolded was really enjoyable for us – a really powerful sound from basically just guitar, bass, and drums again,” shares Malinowski.

Sinclair elaborates: “No matter where we are or what’s going on in either of our lives, if one of us picks up an instrument and plays something, everything else kind of dissolves and our shared focus becomes, ‘How can we turn this into something people want to hear?’”

About Bedouin Soundclash:

Formed in 2001 and named after Israeli dub artist/producer Badawi’s 1996 release, Bedouin Soundclash’s debut album Root Fire (2001) received critical acclaim and Sounding a Mosaic (2004) followed. The album featured top 5 Canadian single “When The Night Feels My Song”, produced by Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains, and the band went on to pick up their first JUNO Award in 2006 for Canada’s Best New Group, along with accolades around Europe.

The follow-up album Street Gospels (2007) earned a ‘Pop Album of the Year’ nomination and ‘Video of the Year’ nomination for the single “Walls Fall Down” at the 2008 JUNO’s as well as three Much Music Video Award nominations for their video for “Until We Burnin the Sun” in 2009.

Bedouin Soundclash released their fourth studio album Light the Horizon in 2010. Produced by King Britt, the album included the singles “Mountain Top”, “Elongo” and “Brutal Hearts” which featured French-Canadian singer-songwriter Coeur de pirate.

The band’s last offering, MASS, was co-produced by Bedouin Soundclash and Philadelphia House DJ King Britt, along with musical direction from Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall, ‘MASS’ spans two communities, recorded at Marigny Studio’s in New Orleans with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and in Vancouver at St. James Church with the children of the St. James Music Academy. 

Track listing:

1. We Will Meet In A Hurricane

2. Walk Through Fire (feat. Aimee Interrupter)

3. Something Lost + Something Found
4. Longer Days in Shorter Years
5. Beyond Four Walls
6. Shine On (feat. The Skints)
7. Birds of a Feather (feat. Ashleigh Ball)
8. Hard Road
9. Man from Cascades
10. A Torn Jacket with Silver Lining
11. Margie, Do Your Best
12. Into The Black…

Upcoming shows:

7/30 - Canmore, AB @ Canmore Folk Festival

9/17 - Prince Edward, ON @ Base 31

Rhett Miller becomes a musical 'Misfit' on upcoming album

Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller's new solo album The Misfit, his first in four years, will be released on Sept. 16 via ATO Records. Debut single “Follow You Home,” features vocals from Cassandra Jenkins and Annie Nero. The album is now available for pre-order. It was co-written and produced by Miller’s Hudson Valley, NY neighbor Sam Cohen and continues their musical partnership that began on 2018’s The Messenger.

Listen to “Follow You Home” via YouTube.

“When you’re young, you imagine a perfect scenario for how your life will unfold, and of course it doesn’t turn out that way,” explains Miller. “I never thought I’d live out in the country north of New York City, or that I’d be one of only a handful of middle-class musicians who are able to make a good living. ‘Follow You Home’ came from wrestling with the idea of home as a place I never would’ve pictured—and yet I can’t imagine having wound up anywhere else.”

He continues, “Making this album was the closest thing I’d ever experienced to being part of something magic,” Miller explains of his collaborative process with Sam Cohen. “As we were working, we kept returning to the relationship between David Bowie and Brian Eno and the records they made together, and how fearless they were in their approach to finding the songs,” says Miller of the collaborative process. “It turned into a routine where every morning I’d leave home and drive over the mountain to his house, and by that evening we’d have a rough mix of a new song. The speed of creation was absolutely wild; in some ways I can’t even believe it happened.”

In selecting the cover art for The Misfit, Miller reached out to globally renowned painter Ashley Longshore, who he first connected with on his podcast, “Wheels Off.” “I knew The Misfit needed a cover that was otherworldly in its colors and its feel, so I contacted Ashley knowing it was a long shot. She connected with the songs, and the piece she created was so beautiful and thoughtful and perfect. It adds a whole new level of artistry to the album, and now anyone who gets the vinyl can have an Ashley Longshore painting of their own.”

Track list: 

1) Heart Attack Days

2) Follow You Home
3) Go Through You
4) Already There
5) Just When It Gets Good
6) Beautiful Life
7) Fascination
8) The White Tops
9) Let Me Go There With You
10) Twelve Thirty Four
11) You’ll Be Glad

Rhett Miller Tour Dates:

7/14 - Asheville, SC - The Grey Eagle
7/15 - Greenville, SC - The Radio Room
7/16 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
7/16 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head On Stage
7/17 - Amagansett, NY - The Stephen Talkhouse
7/28 - Aurora, IL - The Venue
7/29 - Evanston, IL - SPACE
7/30 - Wapakoneta, OH - Route 33 Rhythm & Brews
11/5 - Beacon NY - Towne Crier

Old 97’s Tour Dates:

8/18 - Columbia, MO - Rose Park
8/19 - St Louis, MO - The Factory at the District
8/20 - Little Rock, AR - The Rev Room
9/13 - Montgomery, NY - City Winery Hudson Valley
9/14 - Syracuse, NY - The Lost Horizon
9/15 - Buffalo, NY - Rec Room
9/16 - Ardmore, PA - Ardmore Music Hall
9/17 - Hummelstown, PA - The Englewood Barn
9/18 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
9/20 - Newport, KY - The Southgate House
9/21 - Columbus, OH - The Bluestone
9/22 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
9/23 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew’s Hall
9/24 - Grand Rapids, MI - Elevation at The Intersection
9/25 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave II
9/27 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
9/28 - LaCrosse, WI - Cavalier Theater
9/29 - Des Moines, IA - Wooly's
9/30 - La Cygne, KS - Firewater Music Festival
10/1 - Indianapolis, IN - The Hi-Fi Annex
10/2 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall

Peter Hook returns to North America for Joy Division album shows

Peter Hook & The Light’s “Joy Division: A Celebration” North American tour launches in August in Toronto. This will be the band's biggest and most extensive trek to date. For details and ticket links go to www.peterhookandthelight.live

The tour finds the group performing Joy Division’s albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer in full with additional Joy Division rarities and an opening set of New Order material. The jaunt follows the debut UK dates for “Joy Division: A Celebration” which commemorate the 40th anniversary of Joy Division and its singer Ian Curtis’ continuing influence.

A new clip of The Light performing “Ceremony” (one of the final two tracks Joy Division wrote) at the May 2015 Christ Church Macclesfield concert has been released on YouTube here - bit.ly/TheLightCeremonyMacclesfieldYouTube

Peter Hook says, “Definitely one of the highlights/lowlights of my profession is the travelling. It was amazing what a blessing it was not to have to do it over lockdown but amazing again how soon you missed seeing all these wonderful places the world has to offer. You lot in America are so lucky to have such a varied and wonderful country. I can't wait to get back there, and my mouth is watering at the thought (of going to) my first ‘Coffee Shop' breakfast. I am easily pleased.

“We have always been lucky to have been appreciated as much as we have in The States, ever since our first tour in September 1980. I am hoping for much the same this time. There is definitely a great appreciation for both Joy Division’s & New Order’s music.”

These first dates were originally scheduled for May 2020 but due to the pandemic, have only just taken place in the UK and across France for what is a nearly three-hour show.

About the reaction on retuning to live concerts, Hooky added; “The gigs so far have all been wonderful and the fans and the band have been wonderful too! It does nothing for my imposter syndrome.

“I am very grateful that we have all risen back to this after what we have been through these past few years. Thank you all. “We have a lot to be thankful for. Ian Curtis R.I.P.”

Aside from some one-off incidental dates such as The Roxy in Los Angeles, the “Joy Division: A Celebration” run of dates is the first time the band have toured both albums in the same show in North America. 

These Joy Division album shows have become much less common for The Light as they moved through their progression of touring the New Order albums in succession in the twelve years since Hooky began his odyssey through both of his former bands’ back catalogues.

In addition to the albums, the concerts span the entirety of Joy Division’s rich but short career including early Warsaw material, tracks from the compilation LP Still to the final songs “Ceremony” and “In a Lonely Place” written by Joy Division which were to form New Order’s first single.

North American tour dates:

August 11
The Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ONT

August 12
The Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ONT

August 13
Club Soda
Montreal, QC

August 15
Royal Oak Music Theatre
Royal Oak, MI

August 16
Variety Playhouse
Atlanta, GA

August 18
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN

August 19
Metro
Chicago *SOLD OUT

August 20
Metro
Chicago *SOLD OUT

August 22
The Pabst Theatre
Milwaukee, WI

August 23
Paradise Rock Club
Boston, MA

August 25
The Fillmore Silver Spring
Silver Spring, MD

August 26
Union Transfer
Philadelphia, PA

August 27
Terminal 5
New York, NY

August 29
The Van Buren
Phoenix, AZ

August 30
Mohawk
Austin, TX

August 31
Mohawk
Austin, TX

September 2
House Of Blues Houston
Houston, TX

September 3
House Of Blues Dallas
Dallas, TX

September 5
Ogden Theatre
Denver, CO

September 6
Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
San Diego, CA

September 8
The Theatre At Ace Hotel
Los Angeles, CA

September 9
The Theatre At Ace Hotel
Los Angeles, CA

September 10
The Warfield
San Francisco, CA

September 12
Crystal Ballroom
Portland, OR

September 13
The Showbox
Seattle, WA

September 14
Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, BC

peterhookandthelight.live

Tegan and Sara news

Canadian duo Tegan and Sara will release their 10th studio album, Crybaby, on Oct. 21 as part of their recently announced new deal with Mom+Pop Music. Out now is the next single from the project, “Yellow,” accompanied by a Mark Myers-directed video that playfully pays homage to Coldplay’s video for their 2000 song of the same name. Pre-save Crybaby HERE.

LISTEN TO “YELLOW” HERE

WATCH VIDEO HERE

The multi-platinum group will support Crybaby with a fall North American tour beginning in October through November. The fan presale is live. Remaining tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 15 at 10am local at www.teganandsara.com. VIP packages will be offered for all dates and singer-songwriter Tomberlin will be opening.

Crybaby was produced by John Congleton (Blondie, Sharon Van Etten), Sara Quin and Tegan Quin and recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle and Sargent Recorders in Los Angeles. “This was the first time where, while we were still drafting our demos, we were thinking about how the songs were going to work together,” says Tegan. 

“It wasn't even just that Sara was making lyric changes or reorganizing the parts to my songs, it was that she was also saying to me, ‘This song is going to be faster,’ or ‘It's going to be in a different key.’ But Sara effectively improves everything of mine that she works on.” Sara adds with a laugh, “Maybe I am the renovator. I’m the house-flipper of the Tegan and Sara band.”

As for “Yellow,” Sara says the song “was written after we began to take steps to heal the bruises we have both carried with us since adolescence and early adulthood – wounds that never quite healed right and flare up seasonally, sending us spiraling backward in time. Are we doomed to remain forever 15, breaking up and breaking apart? I hope not.” She adds that the video “was shot in Vancouver, a city that didn’t feel big enough to hold us both when we arrived here the first time. Twenty-two years later, we’re back, calling it home.”

Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDb TV) will be releasing High School, a new original coming-of-age series co-created and executive produced by Tegan and Sara Quin and Clea DuVall. The series is based on the twins’ critically acclaimed, New York Times-bestselling memoir of the same name. Produced by Plan B Entertainment and Amazon Studios, High School stars TikTok creators and TV newcomers Railey and Seazynn Gilliland, portraying the high school versions of Tegan and Sara. Special guest stars Cobie Smulders and Kyle Bornheimer will play the twins’ parents. The series recently wrapped filming in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

With nine studio albums to their credit and millions of records sold, Tegan and Sara recently launched “I Think We’re Alone Now,” a Substack newsletter that includes both free and paid-tier content, spanning audio and text-message conversations as well as essays, lyric annotations and behind-the-scenes looks about their upcoming projects. Tegan and Sara have received three Juno Awards, a Grammy nomination, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and the 2018 New York Civil Liberties Union Award. Outspoken advocates for equality, the duo in 2016 created the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which fights for health, economic justice and representation for LGBTQ girls and women.

Also on the horizon is the middle-grade graphic novel duology Tegan & Sara: Junior High and Tegan & Sara: Crush, written by the twins and illustrated by Eisner Award-winner Tillie Walden. The contemporary story is about identical twins growing up and growing apart, coming to terms with their queerness and falling in love with music over the course of junior high. The first volume is due for release in spring 2023.

Tour dates:

Oct. 26: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Oct. 28: Boston, MA @ Royale
Oct. 29: New York, NY @ Pier 17
Oct. 30: Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
Nov. 1: Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Nov. 2: Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
Nov. 4: Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
Nov. 5: Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
Nov. 6: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Nov. 8: Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Nov. 9: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
Nov 11: Ventura, CA @ Majestic Ventura Theater
Nov. 12: San Diego, CA @ The Observatory
Nov. 13: Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
Nov. 15: Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre
Nov. 16: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Nov. 18: Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
Nov. 19: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Nov. 20: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom

Out now: 'Sessions,' a new covers album by Paul Anka

'Sessions,' available now through Green Hill Music, finds veteran award-winning singer/songwriter Paul Anka tackling American standards. The second single is “It Was A Very Good Year,” originally written by his friend Ervin Drake and famous by Anka’s friend Frank Sinatra. This cover follows Anka’s rendition of the 1965 Bob Dylan tune “Farewell Angelina.”

“A benefit of being locked up during the pandemic and unable to tour was having a lot of time to work in the studio — writing new music and reinventing classics,” says Anka. “This album really exemplifies that and is a love letter to songs and artists that have influenced me throughout my career as well as new music. Frank Sinatra is an incredible influence on the world of music and his role in my life has had such a great impact. On this album, I pay homage to him with ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ and ‘Strangers In The Night.’ These are two songs of Frank’s that I’ve performed on my Anka Sings Sinatra tour. They are such beautiful and powerful tracks.”

The album's music has strings and orchestral touches. Sessions is available now across all digital streaming platforms.

Track Listing:

1. “It Was a Very Good Year”

2. “If You Walk Away”
3. “Farewell Angelina”
4. “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”
5. “I’m Helpless”
6. “Can’t Break Free”
7. “Love Never Felt So Good”
8. “Since I Don’t Have You”
9. “Sorry Now”
10. “Do I Love You”
11. “Strangers in the Night”
12. “Lonely Boy”

The Cult go 'Under the Midnight Sun' in October

The Cult confirmed the October 7 release of their new album, Under The Midnight Sun, produced by Tom Dalgety and out via Black Hill Records. “Give Me Mercy” is the first single.

Singer Ian Astbury says, “I was absolutely enamored with this piece of music Billy had written, and it perfectly fit these thoughts I’d been having about our culture’s need to move past assumptions of duality. We need new language because words can’t express where we’re going.”

Guitarist Billy Duffy says, “‘Give Me Mercy’ has all the hallmarks of the new classic Cult to my ears … fresh yet familiar.” Listen/share “Give Me Mercy” here. An accompanying video was directed by Juan Azulay. Pre-order Under The Midnight Sun here.

The band is currently on the road. Tickets are on-sale here and all dates are listed below.

When the sun just wouldn’t leave the sky one evening in Finland, Ian Astbury took notice. Walking the grounds of the Provinssirock festival, Astbury found himself reveling in the surreal, almost occult moment that comes with the “midnight sun,” the summer stretch where the sun doesn’t go down north of the Arctic Circle.

“It’s three in the morning, the sun’s up, and there’s all these beautiful people in this halcyon moment,” Astbury remembers. “People are laying on the grass, making out, drinking, smoking. There were rows of flowers at the front of the stage from the performances earlier that evening. It was an incredible moment.” While reviewing archival footage of the performance, Astbury found new mysticism in that moment and imbued it into the forthcoming Under the Midnight Sun.

Leading to 2020, The Cult had been on a rolling cycle of releasing albums, touring, and recording. As the world shut down and everyone was forced to reprioritize the way they approached life and work. “When the world stopped, I had this moment to write in real time, to calculate,” says Astbury. When lockdown lifted and the group could meet to record, they teamed up with Dalgety. “I was compelled by this vision, this anomaly, this memory, of being under the midnight sun. Tom helped us bring a new musical shape and frequency to our process.”

Lyrically, Under the Midnight Sun bolsters that new musical dexterity by building out from the idyllic and surreal vision at its title. Throughout, Astbury pulls in influences from Brian Jones, Brion Gysin, William Burroughs, Buddhism, the Beats, and the Age of Aquarius. 

As The Cult are now returning to performing live and sharing Under the Midnight Sun, Astbury hopes that the record connects to something deep within and subconscious in their listeners—something Astbury found within himself when given the moment to look for it. 

“At the core of it all, music contains the vibrational frequency of how we once communicated before we could even speak,” he says. “Bird songs, animal calls, string theory, quantum physics, psychedelics. The record ultimately is about finding and uniting beauty in those strangely natural moments.”

Tour dates:

July 12 - Riviera Theatre - Chicago, IL
July 14 - PNC at Riverbend - Cincinnati, OH
July 15 - Rose Music Center at The Heights - Dayton, OH
July 16 - Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA
July 19 - The Anthem - Washington, DC
July 20 - The Rooftop at Pier 17 - New York, NY
July 22 - Metropolitan Opera House - Philadelphia, PA
July 23 - Leader Bank Pavillion - Boston, MA
July 24 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT
July 26 - Crouse Hinds Theater - Syracuse, NY
July 27 - Meadowbrook Amphitheater - Detroit, MI
July 29 - Hogs for Hospice Charity Event at Seacliff Park - Leamington, ON
July 30 - Casino Rama - Orilla, ON

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers' 1970s albums for Beserkely to be available again over coming months

Omnivore Recordings will reissue four Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers albums, reproduced for CD and vinyl for the first time since their original releases.

The 1976 album Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, which features “New England” and “Here Come the Martian Martians,” will emerge on August 19, with an exclusive orange colored variant for independent retail. That version of the band included drummer David Robinson (The Cars) and Greg “Curly” Keranen on bass (The Rubinoos).

Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers, the 1977 sophomore release which was also produced by Beserkley Records founder Matthew King Kauffman and Glen Kolotin (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin) will be out September 16, with an exclusive red colored variant for independent retail. It features the Top 5 UK hit “Egyptian Reggae."

The band’s first live album from 1977, Modern Lovers ‘Live,' arrives October 21 with an exclusive yellow colored variant for independent retail. It was recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in 1977. Kauffman co-produced with Kenny Laguna (Joan Jett). 

Richman & The Modern Lovers’ 1979 release, Back in Your Life, will be available on CD/vinyl on Nov. 11 with an exclusive green colored variant for independent retail. Produced by the aforementioned pair, it features Richman concert staples “Abdul And Cleopatra,” “Affection,” and the title track, “Back in Your Life”. It signaled the end of Richman’s Beserkley tenure.

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/zB7EaT2MP4g

Pre-order:

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
www.omnivorerecordings.com/shop/richman-modern-lovers

Rock ’n’ Roll With The Modern Lovers
www.omnivorerecordings.com/shop/rock-n-roll

Modern Lovers ‘Live’
www.omnivorerecordings.com/shop/modern-lovers-live

Back In Your Life
www.omnivorerecordings.com/shop/back-in-your-life