In the vein of Sound Man and The Soundtrack of My Life, a lyrical, warmhearted, and inspirational memoir from the founder of Island Records about his astonishing life and career helping to bring reggae music to the world stage and working with Bob Marley, U2, Grace Jones, Cat Stevens, and many other icons.
Chris Blackwell, like the paradigm-shifting artists he came to support over his sixty-plus years in the music business, never took the conventional route. He grew up between Jamaica and London, crossing paths with Ian Fleming, Noel Coward, and Errol Flynn. After being expelled from an elite British school for rebellious behavior in 1954 at age seventeen, he moved back to Jamaica, and within five years, founded Island Records—the company that would make an indelible mark on music, shifting with the times, but always keeping its core identity intact.
The Islander is the story of Blackwell and his cohorts at Island Records, who time and again, identified, nurtured, and broke out musicians who had been overlooked by bigger record labels, including Steve Winwood, Nick Drake, John Martyn, and Cat Stevens. After an impromptu meeting with Bob Marley and his bandmates in 1972, Blackwell decided to fund and produce their groundbreaking album Catch a Fire. He’d go on to work with Marley over the rest of his career, remain his close friend, and continually champion Jamaican culture and reggae music.
In the ensuing years, Blackwell worked with U2, Grace Jones, the B-52s, Tom Waits, Robert Palmer, Tom Tom Club, and many other groundbreaking artists. He also opened the first Jamaican boutique hotel, on the property of Ian Fleming’s former home, Goldeneye, where all the James Bond books were written.
Blackwell is a legendary as well as deeply humble raconteur, and reading The Islander is like spending a day with the most interesting man in the world.
Near, far, wherever you are… It’s certain you’ll find fans of Céline Dion. The international superstar’s storybook career was built on her unparalleled vocal talents and performance prowess that have captivated audiences worldwide. So, when iconic Montréal jazz vocalist Ranee Lee was approached with the opportunity to record Dion’s songs for a new album, her answer was a hard “no”… At first. However, you will be so glad she eventually agreed to the challenge when you experience Ranee Lee’s sublime new album, Because You Loved Me.
When Lee’s record label, Justin Time, brought the concept of covering Dion’s songbook to her, she reacted quite decisively. “I said no,” says the JUNO-winning singer. “I listened to three minutes of explanation, and I said no again. And I said no every time for days.”
Who can blame her? It takes a lot of bravado to take on the unmistakable voice of Céline Dion, who put her one-of-a-kind, powerhouse stamp on classics like “The Power of Love”, “All By Myself” and, of course, her signature, Titanic-sized hit “My Heart Will Go On”.
“I thought they were joking at first,” says Lee. “And then it was evident they weren’t. I love Céline as a vocal musician, she’s fantastic. There’s no one who can surpass her ability and range these days. It’s not my style of music though.
“Then I had a little bit of time to think about it.”
Much like Dion has reinterpreted songs that other artists have recorded and released first like Eric Carmen, Jennifer Rush, Cyndi Lauper, Patti Labelle – the list goes on – the jazz genre has a rich history of reimagining popular music as well.
Still, how could Lee make some of Dion’s classics her own?
“She does have a major fan base, and they want to hear those songs the way Céline does them,” says Lee. “That’s the pop world, you don’t deviate from the past. I was afraid, I didn’t want to be considered a Céline disciple.”
It took a visit to New York to see family and an introduction to the inventive music of a band called Snarky Puppy to really sway Lee’s mind on the matter. The Grammy-winning collective has spent years mashing and mixing up jazz, rock, world music, and R’n’B into their own wildly creative musical concoctions.
“They are magnificent,” says Lee. “They are eclectic musicians, funky yet so jazzy and enormously innovative. And I said, ‘Oh there’s a concept,’ if we can take the Céline songs and arrange them in this style.”
Lee now had her foundation to approach the songs improvisationally and enlisted her close collaborator, pianist, and producer Taurey Butler to dream up new arrangements. “Taurey came with wonderful boards, and I would drop in hints or thoughts about what I felt strongest about,” says Lee. “I know I was given the birth of freedom in the recordings.”
In addition to Butler, most of Lee’s long-time band and other stellar musicians their talents to the recording including Carlos Jiminéz on guitar, Dave Watts on bass, Jim Doxas on drums, Richard Beaudet on saxophone, Ron DiLauro on trumpet, Muhammad Abdul Al Khabyyr on trombone and a string section with Kate Bevan-Baker and Emilie Brûlé on violins and Amanda Keesmaat on cello.
There was one very important contributor missing though. This would be the first album Lee would record without her husband and guitarist Richard Ring, who passed away from cancer in 2018. Still, while creating Because You Loved Me, Lee felt Ring’s spirit in the process.
“The old guard is on the record, we’ve done so many engagements, traveled, and Richard was a part of that forever, so having them there embodied the fact that he was still among the group,” she explains. “It was the total support of feeling his presence. Every tune that I approached was with him in memorial, him in my thoughts, in my vision of the tune.”
Connecting with the lyrics in the songs through her own loss, Lee’s loving memories of her husband fueled her unique, redefining approach to the most heartfelt Dion classics. “I’m always going to be dealing with my loss of Richard,” she says. “So he was always the crux of my focus, especially the tune ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ He was the muse to my renditions of the tunes. ‘Because You Loved Me’ definitely embodied his presence in my life.”
Leading up to the new album’s debut, Lee has given us her intriguingly jazzified takes on single releases of “Tale As Old As Time” from Beauty and The Beast, “I’m Alive” and the Nat King Cole classic that Lee and Dion share as an all-time favourite, “Nature Boy”. With the release of Because You Loved Me, the companion single is the glorious and contemplative album closer, “The Prayer”, co-written by music titans David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager and famously sung as a Grammy-winning duet by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli.
Born in Brooklyn and a resident of Montréal for over 50 years, Ranee Lee has carved out a stellar career as one of Canada’s premier jazz vocalists. She’s released 13 acclaimed albums on the Justin Time label including Because You Loved Me. She’s a multiple JUNO nominee and won a JUNO for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for 2010’s Ranee Lee Lives Upstairs.
In 1994 and 1995, Lee was honoured with the Top Canadian Female Jazz Vocalist Award presented by Jazz Report magazine. She has toured internationally and has performed with many jazz notables including Clark Terry, Bill Mayes, Herb Ellis, Red Mitchell, Milt Hinton, Oliver Jones, and Terry Clarke. Lee is also a Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning stage actress, a celebrated educator, and an author of the children’s book Nana What Do You Say? inspired by her song of the same title.
This impressive history certainly sets her up as a musical contemporary that can rise to the formidable challenge of giving her inspired take on some of Céline Dion’s impressive repertoire, but Lee certainly knows there’s no one who can truly step into Dion’s shoes.
“I don’t think anyone can take the place of Céline, I think she’s fantastic,” says Lee “I don’t want this to be considered a tribute album to her, it’s a vehicle for a jazz album. But if it works for people who enjoy her music, hey, I’m in for the ride.”
Canadian singer/songwriter Deborah Lynn channels her country music influences to tell an enchanting tale about letting go of the past with the release of her touching new single, “Something Good.”
Foregoing the traditional take on despair in love songs, Deborah Lynn frames “Something Good” as a bright reflection on personal growth and overcoming the negative obstacles in life. “This is a song about letting go of the past, learning from it, and knowing that if you are patient enough, good things will come your way,” she shares.
Deborah Lynn effortlessly shines with her uplifting vocal presence accompanied by textured guitar work to provide a heartwarming sensibility to the song overall. The expert production work is reflected in the expertly refined sonics and unlocks the true potential of “Something Good” as an anthem for moving forward in life toward greener pastures.
The songwriting experience on Deborah Lynn’s latest single is different from the start. “I tend to focus on the painful moments of my past when writing songs,” she reveals. “My producer wanted to focus on something with a positive message.”
With that shift, the warm tone embedded within the harmonies on “Something Good” is complemented by the meaningful message in the lyrics.
“I must have done something right
To be where I am today
Wouldn’t change it if I could
I’d do it all the same
The road that I was on, led me astray
Something good finally came my way.”
Born in Stirling, Ontario, Canada, Deborah Lynn has been honing her singing and songwriting skills from a young age. After years of being consumed by entrepreneurship post-college, a fateful trip to Nashville, Tennessee, would reignite the country music spark buried within. This moment would kick off Deborah Lynn’s next series of adventures, who quickly rose to #1 on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown with her debut single, “Revive a Ghost.”
Deborah Lynn’s Josie Award nomination for Best Female Country Song is only the latest indication of the sensational response from audiences everywhere to a genuine artist looking to push the boundaries within country music.
Deborah Lynn’s inspirational new single “Something Good” is available on all music platforms.
A good rule of thumb: The type of dude who has posters of babes on his wall is often not the type of dude you want to date. And Los Angeles-based pop diva Kayla DiVenere sings like someone who’s learned this lesson the hard way on her searing new single, “Megan Fox.”
With a foundation of artfully dissonant industrial beats, “Megan Fox” tells the story of a young woman whose boyfriend compares her unfavorably with a poster of Machine Gun Kelly’s fiancée… And it doesn’t end well.
“Why can’t you be more like her”
Your famous last words
And if we’re just taking turns
Well, I’ll go first:
You can go and get a new girlfriend”
The song’s overarching theme of a talk-sing “argument” over sparse beats is interrupted by interludes of melody, allowing the listener to experience the narrator’s deep sorrow over being unfairly compared to a Hollywood actress, as well as her stomping, justified rage. ‘Try my best, but I always just end up fuckin’/ Stressed I’m not tryna be your second best.’
It’s a song that reflects with unflinching honesty the prison of impossible female beauty standards. “’Megan Fox’ is a fierce twist on the frustration of never feeling good enough in a relationship,” DiVenere said. “It outlines the insecurities of constantly being surrounded by unachievable standards of perfection.”
DiVenere penned the song based on a wounding personal experience. “I felt like no matter what I did, I could never please this person, be good enough for them or ever give them what they wanted, no matter how hard I tried,” she shares. “I poured buckets of my frustration out that day and wrote a mega-empowering song that I later jammed out to in my car and. let me say, it was better than therapy.”
She adds that no one should have to be in that predicament of feeling not good enough in a relationship.
“And if you do, you can yell, ‘You can go and get a new girlfriend!’ just like I did.”
Well-known for her roles on hit shows such as “Law & Order”, Hulu’s “Love Victor,” and Hulu’s “Light as a Feather” – not to mention feature films such as “Under the Silver Lake” – Kayla DiVenere is a teenager enjoying incredible success in her budding music career since bursting onto the scene in 2018 with her debut, “Youth.”
At more than 1+ million streams across Spotify alone, the songstress is making an indelible mark on the industry with her innate talent, songwriting ability, acting, and showmanship. Her last single with a celebrity name, “Justin Bieber,” about teenage fandom, garnered 1.5 million views on YouTube, and her star just keeps on rising.
A deluxe visual treasure trove of photographs, letters, diaries and more from the iconic fashion model, photographer, wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton, and one of the most famous muses of the 20th century Patti Boyd releases My Life in Pictures on October 4, 2022.
Pattie Boyd (born 1944) was at the epicenter of the London music and pop-culture scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Pattie Boyd: My Life in Pictures features over 300 photographs and artworks, with Boyd sharing full and intimate access to her personal archive for the first time. Former wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton, Boyd is famously the inspiration for Harrison’s “Something” and Clapton’s “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight.” Boyd’s love of photography developed around the time of her marriage to Harrison. She documented their life together, and later also her second marriage to Clapton, capturing a vast archive of images not just as part of two of the most famous marriages of all time, but also documenting their close friends and contemporaries, including Twiggy, David Bailey, Mick Jagger, Billy Preston and the Beatles.
Boyd’s archive also includes letters from her marriages and from friends, including John and Yoko. It includes diary entries, artifacts and artworks, most famously the original Layla album cover painting by Emile Frandsen. It features extensive photographs from her early modeling career for Vogue and Vanity Fair among other publications, giving a fascinating snapshot into the sea change that occurred in the modeling industry from the postwar demure black-and-white approach to the psychedelic, short-skirt, swinging ’60s. It includes portraits and photographs of Boyd taken by some of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, such as David Bailey, Eric Swayne, Terence Donovan, Robert Freeman and Robert Whitaker. The pictorial feast is further animated by Boyd’s accompanying stories and recollections.
As a four-time Emmy-nominated actress, Emmy-winning producer, and the first transgender woman of color to have a leading role on a scripted TV show, Laverne Cox uses her voice to amplify the message of moving beyond societal expectations to live more authentically. She wears a triple-threat original design, featuring a deep red tulle gown gracefully draped over a dazzling, silver metallic bodysuit. Her hair is swept into glamorous Hollywood waves while dramatic makeup completes her look. You can get it here.
Following this month’s release of their new album EAR CANDY via Misfits Records in collaboration with Demented Punk, anime-meets-NY punk rock collective OSAKA POPSTAR are excited to reveal the animated video for its rocking and infectiously sweet original single, “Lost & Found.”
Written, produced, and directed by OSAKA POPSTAR’s frontman and longtime Misfits and Ramones collaborator John Cafiero, the cartoonized video for “Lost & Found” stars actor/comedian/musician Fred Armisen (Portlandia, SNL, Documentary Now) as the main character — a lost and lonely soul seeking out an unattainable love, all while paying homage to Saturday morning breakfast cereals, the Partridge Family, the Archies, and the Monkees — all of which are artists OSAKA POPSTAR cover throughout EAR CANDY.
Find an exclusive Q&A with Cafiero below outlining the process of creating the video.
EAR CANDY is fronted and produced by Cafiero (vocals), with Dean Rispler (The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black) on guitar and bass, Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, Bob Mould) on drums, and features guest backing vocals from indie rocker Colleen Green. It is available now across all digital platforms and on CD and Limited-Edition candy swirl ‘bite’ vinyl (as seen in the above cover art and included featured in the “Lost & Found” video). Its CD and vinyl versions also include a download card with MP3s and a digital full-color 32-page variant first issue of the upcoming “Sweetie Candy Vigilante” comic book exclusive to this release. Get your copy now at https://store.osakapopstar.com.
OSAKA POPSTAR recently unveiled a deluxe expanded and remastered edition of their debut album, OSAKA POPSTAR AND THE AMERICAN LEGENDS OF PUNK, which features a backing lineup of punk rock legends Jerry Only (The Misfits), Marky Ramone (Ramones), Dez Cadena (Black Flag) and Ivan Julian (Richard Hell & The Voidoids) along with a special guest appearance from the late outsider music icon Daniel Johnston. The band followed up its release with a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning artist “Weird Al” Yankovic for Record Store Day Black Friday 2021 to release a “blistering, accordion-tinged cover” (Rolling Stone) exclusive 12-inch split, BEAT ON THE BRAT which immediately sold out and was listed as one of the Top 5 and Top 10 Record Store Day releases across several notable media outlets including iHeart Radio News.
Q&A WITH OSAKA POPSTAR’s JOHN CAFIERO
— Congrats on creating the “Lost & Found” animated video, which you wrote, produced, and directed. What inspired you to take this approach and why do you feel it’s the best visual to represent the song?
“Thanks. I’m a bit of an art junkie, and over time, have amassed an extensive roster of surreal characters in the Osaka Popstar universe. I like to weave them into the fabric of what we do, and animation is an excellent outlet for that. In fact, to date, every Osaka Popstar music video has been fully animated. The irony here being that initially, I was planning to do this particular video in live-action, but the more time passed, it eventually evolved into a fully animated video.
“Although I have a background producing and directing live-action, I’m a former animator as well, and I’ve always loved the medium. There are no limits, no boundaries, and anything can happen beyond the confines of reality. I love making the impossible possible and spinning things into surreality tends to be a lot of fun.
“I think the video distills the core of the song into terms everyone can relate to, but in a fun and entertaining way, while simultaneously capturing the vibe of not only the song itself but Osaka Popstar generally — and the new record. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, and I hope others enjoy it as much as I do when they see it. So far, the reaction from those who’ve seen it has been amazing, and the guys in the band were blown away by it.”
— In creating the video, were there any challenges and how did you handle them?
“Some of the challenges were ensuring my key concepts would be realized within the storyline, and also ensuring we captured not only the likenesses, but the essence of everyone that was transported into animated form. Not to mention, wrapping it all by the record’s release date, while living up to my high standards and expectations. I’m genuinely passionate about everything I do, and I believe that’s the key to making it all gel in the end. The process is fun, but it’s hard work and involves a lot of hours and extreme attention to detail. I tend to be relentless in ensuring the end result lives up to its full potential, and I think we accomplished that with this video, in a fairly quick turnaround time too.”
— The video stars the animated Fred Armisen. Can you tell us about how you know Fred and what inspired you to ask him to use his likeness in the video?
“Fred and I have mutual friends and met briefly at the first Misfits reunion show in 2016. On the flight home, we ran into each other at the gate in the airport. As fate would have it, our seats were assigned right next to each other on the flight, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. I’ve always liked his work, and we have a lot of common interests. His favorite bands are my favorite bands, (bands who would turn out to become an integral part of my life and career), and we’ve both been huge John Waters fans from an age many would consider too young to have seen his films. John jokingly once told me he could have been arrested for me seeing Pink Flamingos when I did!
“The basic premise of the video was inspired by real-life events! I was waiting in my car parked outside of a supermarket in NYC, and a guy in a business suit passing by, stopped at the picture glass window of the storefront and, while gesturing to someone inside, started doing all these absolutely crazy and ridiculous dances — and I’m talking full throttle! I had no idea what he was up to, but I was mesmerized by it. It turned out that he was trying to get the attention of a girl working the checkout line. Making it more bizarre is that he was well dressed and very reserved looking; someone you’d never expect to behave that way. He was so over the top, it was absolutely absurd and surreal, like a scene from a movie. As I was watching it, I thought… this is my music video… and I immediately had Fred in mind to play the main character. Starting with that basic premise, I embellished on it, and developed it into what you see.
“While Fred has done a lot of incredible work, and given a lot of amazing performances, it was his role in an episode of the IFC series ‘Documentary Now’ called the Globesman, that would impress on me that he was the perfect person to play this character.
“Fred and I ran into each other when I was in the process of mixing Ear Candy. I played him a rough mix of the song and told him the concept I had in mind. At the time I was considering shooting this as a live-action music video. He dug it and immediately agreed. When I later switched gears and decided to do the video fully animated, I still wanted Fred to star in the role. I explained and asked if he remained interested. He was, and the rest is history.”
— Are you able to tell us what Fred has said about the video after he saw it?
“Fred said that he loved the video and thought the song was great. I was thrilled. Fred was the first person to see it.”
— Can you give us a few sentences about the storyline of the video?
“A lost and lonely soul wanders through a world of faceless people and things, but the one constant dynamic he sees everywhere he goes are the vibrant ads for his favorite red licorice. He falls for the poster girl who appears in the ad campaign, thinking she’s beyond his reach, if not beyond reality… Until he wanders past the storefront window of a supermarket and spots her working the register inside. He sets out to win her over in his own, goofy, but charming way. All the while Osaka Popstar appears in animated form, popping up in the most unlikely of places, providing the soundtrack to the story—which features cameos from the Osaka Popstar Devil Dogs, the Kawaii Black Metal Trio, Sweetie Candy Vigilante, and more, including homages to Saturday morning breakfast cereals, the Partridge Family, the Archies, and the Monkees. The latter three bands all having a kinship with Osaka Popstar in that they reach beyond the confines of the average band, existing in a universe of their own, while simultaneously existing in ours.”
In his much-anticipated and latest album focusing on the inequities of life in North America housed in his most musically eclectic collection to date, Canadian artist, songwriter, and producer David Bray releases his new album, Land of Extremes.
The 18-track LP features the newly unveiled single, “Some Day (feat. Lorraine Reid),” and is the final installment in the Toronto-based musician’s ‘Crowded Isolation’ trilogy of three separate releases. Including Land of Extreme’s predecessors — 2016’s Night Rains and 2018’s Crowded Isolation — the project has been in the works for more than a decade and ranges musically from contemporary R&B to Soul, rock, and folk.
As a poet and a storyteller, David Bray’s unique artistic vision has established him as one of Canadian music’s leading songwriters. Approaching his craft more like an author than that of a normal tunesmith, the quality of the words and more traditional concept of literacy enhancing context and story structure are key goals for Bray.
As such, his compelling lyrical flair combined with an ear for musical hooks has been hailed by critics and industry veterans alike. With his work airing on 100+ stations around the world, in addition to online streaming sites, it’s clear Bray never compromises on the superb infectious music which is the bedrock of the collection.
Land of Extremes has multi-JUNO Award-winning and Platinum-selling producer and composer Chris Birkett (Steve Earle, Sinead O’Connor) on board as associate producer and engineer.
Helping flesh out his songs are some of Bray’s illustrious friends — including Bill King (Linda Ronstadt, Pointer Sisters, Martha Reeves, Janis Joplin), Garth Hudson (The Band), Justin Abedin (Jacksoul, Nelly Furtado), Colin Linden (Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan), David Bradstreet, John Dymond, Gary Craig (Bruce Cockburn, Jann Arden), Paul Reddick, and The Extreme Horns that are Gene Hardy, Christian Overton, and William Sperandei — as well as Motown legend Bob Babbitt (Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder), who passed away after recording with Bray, plus Bray’s longtime partner and collaborator, Lorraine Reid.
From his early work with Daniel Lanois, Eugene Martynec, and John Capek, to his more recent work with Jeff Healey, Kim Mitchell, Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel), and a host of other all-star musicians — including those who contributed on the album — David Bray has earned his well-deserved reputation.
Land of Extremes — including “Some Day (feat. Lorraine Reid)” — is available now via The Pangaea Music House and Under Duress Music.
// Land of Extremes Tracklisting
1. Who Can You Trust? 4:36
2. I’ll Be Flying 3:10
3. Claustrophobic 3:57
4. What Comes Next 3:16
5. Normal Is 3:36
6. Some Day featuring Lorraine Reid 3:43
7. Overdue featuring Lorraine Reid 3:17
8. Live It Up A Little 3:38
9. Land Of Extremes 3:46
10. Furious World 3:00
11. Only You featuring Lorraine Reid 3:35
12. Under Duress 3:36
13. Speaking As One 3:30
14. So, In Conclusion 3:58
15. Come The Fall 4:37
16. Child Mother 3:11
17. I Don’t Know Why 5:17
18. Nothing Left featuring Lorraine Reid 3:44
The countdown is on; North by Northeast Music Festival (NXNE) has announced its initial list of Showcasing Artists invited to perform at this year’s music festival June 14th – 19th in Toronto.
The annual cultural explosion featuring music and more is set to feature over 300+ of the world’s best artists of today and tomorrow — including Omega Mighty, Osé, Balto, Dallas, Broken Islands, Vicky R, Jeremy Voltz, and hundreds more!
“We’re back and taking over more than 20 of Toronto’s top live music venues,” NXNE Founder and President Michael Hollett reveals. “We want to make it very easy for people to come back to live music and experience stage-hopping like festivals used to be.”
The festival is committed to gender equity and BIPOC representation, boasting a diverse lineup that reflects the festival’s core theme, ‘Talent is Everywhere.’ NXNE also makes great music accessible and inclusive to all; no artists are asked to pay to apply, all performers are paid, and admission to Club Shows in 2022 is extremely low-cost.
Full festival five-day passes are just $20 — an inflation-defying $9.99 less than in 1995 when NXNE launched. “That’s actually cheaper than when it first started,” Hollett notes. “Given the pummeling the live music scene has taken over the last two years, we wanted to remove financial barriers to attending NXNE to best connect artists with audiences. You can see live music all week for the price of a movie ticket and popcorn.
“We can’t wait to present these great acts to the world,” Hollett continues. “It’s time to experience live music again – and listen to the future at NXNE.” While further announcements of NXNE’s full lineup will follow, passes are currently available for sale at nxne.com.
A partial list of artists invited to perform include:
3409- Toronto, ON
Ana Lía- Toronto, ON
Anna Smyrk- Melbourne, Australia
Atay & JAX- Halifax, NS
B.Knox- Toronto, ON
Balto- Los Angeles
Bealby Point- Vancouver, BC
Big Smoke Brass Band- Toronto, ON
Black Pontiac- Vancouver, BC
Broken Fires- London, UK
Brooklyn Doran- Peterborough, ON
Buffalo Bill- Toronto, ON
Cam Maclean- Montreal, ON
Chad Price- Toronto, ON
December Rose- Montreal, QC
DESIIRE- Toronto, ON
Diane Coffee- Indiana, Usa
Dover Lynn Fox- Toronto, ON
dwi- Vancouver, BC
Emma Campbell- Toronto, ON
Erez Zobary- Toronto, ON
Faeya- Canada
Fjord Mustang- Toronto, ON
Foolproof- St Catharines, ON
FRANKIE FLOWERS- Waterloo, ON
GETCHNAH- Toronto, ON
GROWERS- Toronto, ON
I, the Mountain- Kitchener, ON
INNR CIRCLE- Toronto, ON
Jeff Beadle- Niagara, ON
Jeremy Voltz- Toronto, ON
Jhyve- Toronto, ON
Joan Smith & the Jane Does- Toronto, ON
Jordan Astra- Toronto, ON
Just Costa- Montreal, On
Kingdom Of Birds- Toronto, ON
Kyara Tetreault- Toronto, ON
Kydd Jones- Austin
Late Night Thoughts- Brooklyn/NYC
Late Night Trouble- Montreal, QC
Lexxicon- Toronto, ON
Lindsey & The Lonelies- London, ON
LOR- Toronto, ON
Luxe- Toronto, ON
Maddisun- Vancouver, BC
Majo- Toronto, ON
Mattie Leon- Hamilton, ON
Mear- Toronto, ON
Mélissa Vales- Ottawa, ON
Michaela Slinger- Vancouver, BC
Mighloe- Toronto, ON
MY ØWN MØNEY- Toronto, ON
Newby- Toronto, ON
No Tourists- Toronto, ON
Olivia Khoury- Montreal, ON
Omega Mighty- Toronto, ON
Osé- Toronto, ON
Paige Warner- Owen Sound, ON
Peter Peres- Toronto, ON
prettyboys- Montreal, QC
Pyramid Theorem- Richmond Hill, ON
Raeshaun- Mississauga, ON
Rise Carmine- Toronto, ON
Sabby Sousa- Toronto, ON
Sleepy Gonzales- Vancouver, BC
Spitty- Brampton, ON
TAKAAYLA- Toronto, ON
Talking Violet- Windsor, ON
The Broken Islands- Vancouver, BC
The Crease Rule- Toronto, ON
The Free Label- Toronto, ON
The Holy Gamblers- Toronto, ON
The Midnight Echo- Vancouver, BC
The Redhill Valleys- Hamilton, ON
The Sarandons- Toronto, ON
Toebow- Brooklyn/NYC
Tripper and the Wild Things- Hamilton, ON
Twice Bleached- Cambridge, ON
Victory- Toronto, ON
Vintage Boring- Toronto, ON
NXNE is proud to work with their supporting partners of this year’s festival including Slaight Music, Indie88, Gladstone House, Steam Whistle, Bulova, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Long & McQuade, Yamaha, Exclaim, Grassroots, along with showcase sponsors KW TheMuseum, The City of Brampton, Music Manitoba, and WKBO The Bridge — with funding made possible by FACTOR, Canada Summer Jobs.
NXNE will take place Tuesday, June 14th – Sunday, June 19th in Toronto.
Rooted in pulsating beats and flowing vocals, Canadian alt-indie rock duo Blackout Orchestra masterfully deliver a soothing shoegazer with the release of their new single, “Unfound.”
Like its recently released predecessors, the new single represents yet again the lavish eclecticism solidified on their forthcoming album, Beauty Sleep; “It’s Fine” and “Tongues” lead the charge of singles between last year and Valentine’s Day 2022, with each providing introspective insight into Blackout Orchestra as songwriters and their ability to vocalize the full range of the human experience. “Unfound” continues that journey, breaking out in unassuming, melodic undertones — soon blending the lush harmonies of Ben VanBuskirk (vocals, music) and Morgan Thompson-Reid (vocals).
“‘Unfound’ was a bit of a turning point in making the record, coming late in the game,” says VanBuskirk. “I knew a girl in high school — she transferred in and back out within about a month, but we became really close in that time.
“We were the only ‘grunge’ kids at our school, listening to Fugazi and Velvet Underground,” he continues. “I remember she had Kid A on vinyl and I thought she was just the coolest person ever. After she moved, she was quite transient — going from city to city so I never knew how to reach her, but for years every now and then a package would arrive in the mail with these beautiful ramblings, art, knick-knacks, and mixtapes.
“Eventually they stopped coming, and I honestly have no idea what happened to her. The song is sort of a fictionalized look at where we ended up — these idealized punk rock kids who thought we’d never ‘sell out’; that we’d always be these creative weirdos and never compromise.
“I wonder if she ever found a way to navigate the ‘adult’ world, and what each of us might have gained and lost along the way.”
Blackout Orchestra burst onto the scene in 2021 with the release of their debut album, I Will Want You When We Are Ghosts. A self-described chronicling of heartbreak and recovery, their upcoming sophomore release Beauty Sleep navigates “finding your footing after a fresh start.”
“The last album was very much about hitting bottom and the slow climb back up,” VanBuskirk explains. “This record is the continuation of that — when you get your life together, it isn’t ‘happily ever after’… Life keeps happening; there are still the ups and downs of day-to-day life, those quieter battles that happen between the big moments of your life.
“I was particularly interested in taking softer acoustic sounds and marrying them with minimal electronic beats and flourishes, to further add to the feeling of being between two worlds,” VanBuskirk continues.
The morose realization that you’re alone is a sentiment explored on the track. But this satisfying prose from Blackout Orchestra churns the tides of “longing” to satisfaction in being “Unfound.”
