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