You’ve been….Thunderstruck!
Buffalo Rocker ERIK EIMILLER Captures Fear, Paranoia & a New Wave Vibe in Debut Single, “Cross the Ocean” — Available Now!
“It was an amazing dream,” rocker and multi-instrumentalist Erik Eimiller says, setting the scene for how his debut 80s-esque new wave-vibe single, “Cross the Ocean” came to mind. “Vivid. Palpable.”
Okay, yes. Tell us more.
“It was like a full-on music video,” the Buffalo-based artist obliges, detailing his REM cycle. “The singer was running towards the camera, and running away from something terrifying, whatever it was, that was chasing him.
“The chorus for what would become ‘Cross the Ocean’ was blasting inside my subconsciousness, and the chord progression and melody line were ingrained in my mind as I awoke. I quickly grabbed my phone and recorded a voice message, humming the vocal line while clicking my teeth to the beat.
“I couldn’t quite remember all of the words, but I had what I needed.”
With much of the track locked in, the only elements remaining were the verses. Enter: COVID-19.
“A month after this dream, the pandemic strikes our world and the media coverage, naturally, is non-stop. Just 24/7, every news channel, every radio station… It’s just about impossible to block out.”
It was here that Eimiller — a life-long accomplished musician who’s played thousands of stages as a drummer — took a step to the side, observing the happenings from an empathetic and storytelling perspective, as he aims to do in his richly descriptive songwriting. “The coverage started to consume some people to the point of paranoia.
“I feel for those people because I understand that fear is real.
“Perhaps the only solution would be to ‘run away from the television’ because ‘you’ve got time to make yourself feel right’ — which is the chorus of the single. Once I realized the fear, the verses hit me like a ton of bricks.”
The video for “Cross the Ocean” serves as the perfect complement, and weaves the storyline and vibe together with striking visuals, colour processing, and overall mood. This, of course, is by no accident. “My sister Amy created the video, and she harnessed that nostalgic, yet futuristic feel with perfection,” Eimiller says of the song’s visual representation.
“Cross the Ocean” is available now.
Burning Man Meets Skate Park: Alt Rock EDM Toronto’s KRONIS Shatters Sonic Norms with “Against The World”
Canadian outfit KRONIS debuts their firm yet inventive footing on the fault line between alt rock and EDM with the release of their newest single, “It’s Time For Love,” and breakthrough album Against The World — both available now!
“I spent three years in the studio with Parker creating Against The World,” Toronto and Los Angeles, California-based frontman Aaron Kronis says, name checking mix engineer and producer Parker Ament of XLNTStudios. “We didn’t know what the title would be, or the number of tracks, but we knew we were onto something.”
That ‘something’ is alt rock streamed live with live guitars, live vocals, and Ableton. It’s guitars into cell phones while on hoverboards. It’s the essence of skateboarding at Burning Man channeled into a technologically enabled sonic sojourn spanning the ages.
“KRONIS has become the final evolution of a lead singer and an extraordinary guitar player who’s into electronic sounds and manipulations of waveforms to create something new that sounds familiar,” Kronis says. “And Against The World wholly captures the constant stamina required to endure this music industry based on my life in Los Angeles, and the world today.”
There’s a lot of moving pieces to the project, including contributions from musicians Matt Starr (Mr. Big, Ace Frehley), Chris Moore (RockOfAges Tour, Project Nfidelikah), and Andy Sansei (Missing Persons, Frankie Valli). There’s live performances at the links of the Viper Room, and features on KLOS Los Angeles and 102.1 The Edge with Alan Cross’ Ongoing History of New Music.
And there’s a lot more to come, Kronis adds. “We already have enough material for two or three more albums, so we’re just continuously working on tracks and live performance setups going forward.
‘Everything’s on a cob,” he continues, bringing his focus back to this Summer 2020’s debut LP, Against The World. “I mean, I watch just as much inter dimensional cable as the next guy, but this album seriously has zero compromises — and I never ever say that about a project.
“Why, though, for this one? Because it was my final say, and I gave the other artists involved the freedom to express themselves as they felt.
“It provided me with the best results imaginable.”
Hear just what that means on “It’s Time For Love” and Against The World. Both are available now.
Legendary Canadian Band HONEYMOON SUITE Hit Top 30 Rock Charts for First Time in 19 Years
36 years on, that headline above makes the fact all the more impressive. Canadian classic rockers Honeymoon Suite hope you “Find What You’re Looking For” in this, their newest single — available now!
The newest preview for the iconic band’s forthcoming album, “Find What You’re Looking For” has been eagerly ushered in by fans and critics alike, hitting the Top 30 rock charts in Canada in no time flat. It’s their first chart-climber in 19 years, and follows late 2019’s “Tell Me What You Want” — their first single release since 1992.
The two tracks lift the curtain, revealing the latest in what’s to come from the band who’ve long made themselves a household name. Early listens show the release has an unmistakably fresh energy to it, while still keeping true to the classic Honeymoon Suite sound fans have loved for nearly four decades.
First formed in 1981, Honeymoon Suite first broke onto the scene thanks to hit single “New Girl Now” taking the cake in a ‘Homegrown’ radio station contest put on by Toronto’s Q107. Founding members Johnnie Dee and Derry Grehan would soon be joined by Gary Lalonde, Dave Betts, and Peter Nunn, and go on to win a JUNO Award for ‘Group of the Year’, countless nominations, and continued International recognition over their near-40 years.
“Sometimes you just know when everything starts lining up, and sounding really good early on,” says Honeymoon Suite. “This new album will be the strongest new music we’ve released in a long time.”
“Find What You’re Looking For” is available now.
40,000+ Streams & 600+ Playlist Adds, Hamilton, ON’s Hip Hop/Popster TONYTONE’s New Single “Poppin” Is THE Summer Anthem
TonyTone has Summer 2020 “Poppin” with the release of his new single, an upbeat, modern hip hop track complete with heavy 808’s and catchy chorus melodies — available now!
“This track was meant and inspired to be a great party or event song for the summer,” the Hamilton-area artist says. “There’s influences from emo and cloud-style pop rap in there, as well as unique flute melodies.”
With over ~ 40,000 total streams across platforms, and included on upwards of 600+ Spotify playlists to date, the latest from TonyTone — aka Anthony Marzanek — falls seamlessly inline for his brand of lounge beats and an ambient moods that nod to both hip hop and indie influences, while staying pop-centric at its core.
TonyTone’s knack for the craft is easily apparent in breakout singles “Shaded” (2018), “Losing Control” (2019) and “Two Roses” (2019). Early 2020 saw the release of “Fade Away” and “Mental,” tracks with ~ 200,000 streams across platforms. “‘Fade Away’ is a good example of a track I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered myself,” he says. “It was not meant to fall into any sort of genre… I just play around with sounds and write until I come up with something I like.
“I taught myself how to use recording software,” he recalls of his sleeves-rolled-up start. “Doing the production and mixing process makes me feel like I’m really in control during the creative process and final sound.”
“Poppin” is available now.
Swedish Electro Pop Riot Grrrl Punksters THE MAGNETTES Deliver Runaway Fever Dream Hit in NEW Single, “American” — Available Now!
Swedish alt-electro pop x riot grrrl punk outfit The Magnettes mince no words when it comes to delivering their anthemic, angst-ridden, runaway drama-laden new single, “American” — available now.
Landing as a certifiable 21st century wall-of-sound, the indie treasures that be Rebecka Digervall and Sanna Kalla — along with guitarist, keyboardist, and producer Tomas Bäcklund Tuneström — deliver layers of dreamy guitar, thunderous drums, hard-hitting piano, and vintage string machines in the driving, Springsteen-esque opus.
“Since we were babies, we’ve lived through our TV set,” Digervall says. “Growing up in a remote, small arctic town in Sweden, the way out was through American movies, music, sitcoms, and reality shows.”
“It taught us what love was and how to ‘live the dream,’” Kalla adds. “Like junkies, we swallowed it in chunks: the twist and turns of teenage drama, the cute narratives, and the noble ideals that real life continuously fails to live up to…”
“But ‘American’ isn’t really about America at all,” the duo sum up. “It’s about finding that rush, having that runaway, ‘ride or die’ feeling in your crappy hometown, and abandoning that last shred of romance for a taste of the real thing.”
With SXSW, CMJ, a Netflix sync for the show Elite, and main subjects in the film fest fêted documentary Pajala State of Mind (Hans-Erik Therus) on their roster, The Magnettes first released their debut album, Ugly Youth, in 2017.
Dubbed one of the ‘Best Albums of the Year’ by PopCrush, the band has been critically acclaimed across radio and media around the world, including Earmilk, Perez Hilton, The 405, Elle Sweden, Cosmopolitan (Russia), and more.
Hailing from Pajala, Sweden — a sleepy Arctic Circle town of ~ 2,000 — and with Digervall and Kalla having first met at age six, The Magnettes weave the remote region’s once-forbidden minority language of Meänkieli, and the area’s traditional folk music, into their now-signature infectious and inimitable brand of glitter punk pop.
“Our manifesto is to ‘say what you want to say, and do it as loud as you want,’” Kalla says. “We say, ‘be weird, be ugly, be too much, eff as much as you want…
“And question everything,” Digervall nods.
“We describe ourselves as non-normative, as witches, and as sisters of the ugly youth,” Kalla continues. “We’re reclaiming the word ‘ugly.’ Why does ‘beautiful’ have to be the standard? We have no regrets. We’re saying exactly what we want to say.”
“Something happened in Nashville when we went for a songwriting session,” Digervall says. “We were just like, ‘yeah, it’s time to be fearless and write whatever the eff we want.
“So we did!”
“There’s some sort of Northern rebellion,” Tuneström offers. “We don’t want to be your average self-obsessed diary entries. We aim to do something bigger, but we want to do it without moving to Stockholm, London, or LA, and without writing songs about ‘beaches’ and ‘being super fit’ because, what’s interesting about that?”
With “American,” that’s not a worry. Hear what that means; “American” is available now.
John Oates & The Good Road Band ‘Live In Nashville’ Set For September 18th Release
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer John Oates has had a home in Nashville for more than a decade, performing with some of the city’s most sought-after musicians. John’s Thirty Tigers debut, Arkansas, performed with The Good Road Band, was released in 2018, proving a critical and commercial success in the Americana and roots community, a combination of originals with classic songs popularized by Mississippi John Hurt, Jimmy Rodgers and Don Gibson.
After two-plus solid years of honing their chops through touring, that group – mandolin stalwart Sam Bush, pedal steel maestro Russ Pahl (Dan Auerbach), electric guitar whiz Guthrie Trapp, expert bassist Steve Mackay, cello prodigy Nate Smith (Kacey Musgraves) and drummer/percussionist extraordinaire Josh “Daddy” Day – returns intact for Live In Nashville, set for release on September 18 on all major digital streaming platforms. The set was recorded last January 9 at Station Inn, the legendary intimate listening room in The Gulch section of Nashville where the band first took shape.
“This album represents a full-circle moment for me,” said John, in quarantine with his family in his adopted Music City home. “It feels like the culmination of the Arkansas project, being able to bring these guys back, and to be able to make this record after touring and playing so many shows together.”
Inspired by Mississippi John Hurt, Live in Nashville features songs like the gospel-blues opener, “Lord Send Me,” the Delta blues of the standard “Stack o Lee” and an electrified take on “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor,” dubbed “Pallet Soft and Low,” where John manages to show off some of his well-honed rock guitar skills. In yet another “full circle moment,” John pays tribute to his own childhood with a cover of Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me,” the first song he learned to sing and play on guitar as a six-year-old after hearing it on the radio. Several of the songs come with Oates’ own stories about the songs, connecting the dots as to their connections, including popular hits of the era like the Mississippi Sheiks’ 1930 success, “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” Emmett Miller’s 1924 breakthrough, “Anytime” and Jimmy Rogers’ 1932 classic, “Miss the Mississippi and You.”
“I was always fascinated by this rural Americana Appalachian music, which opened the door for me to John Lee Hooker and other blues artists long before the British Invasion turned kids on to them. I always preferred the originals myself.”
Live in Nashville traces how country, blues and gospel bubbled up from Mississippi and New Orleans and landed in northern urban cities like Chicago, St. Louis, and New York. John describes the sound as, “Dixieland, dipped in bluegrass, and salted with Delta blues.”
“Something magical happened,” said John about his first time playing with The Good Road Band in the studio. “The thing you pray for, but so rarely achieve. My producer just said, ‘I don’t know what this is, John, but keep doing it because it’s cool.’”
Live in Nashville shows what they are capable of on any given night, and in lieu of being able to see them in concert, this is the next best thing.
“This experience has made me a better player,” said John referring to what he’s learned with his work in Daryl Hall and John Oates. “Playing with this caliber of musicians has really elevated my game and my ability to play guitar. As a musician, it helps me articulate what I need to do in a better way. I’m an improved singer, my vocal chops are stronger. For Daryl and I, our writing styles are totally predicated on how good we are as singers and musicians. I’ve been working my ass off. There’s nothing like touring to keep you sharp.”
Live in Nashville offers concrete proof of that.
Christine and the Queens releases La Vita Nuova ft. Caroline Polacheck EP
Today, the French artist Christine and the Queens releases alternative versions of her latest EP’s title track “La vita nuova” feat. Caroline Polachek.
Sydney-born producer and DJ, Logic1000, applies her signature sound of UK-centric dance rhythms, hyper-accurate digital synths and disembodied textures to the original. Logic1000, aka Samantha Poulter has previously remixed for the likes of Låpsley and Don Toliver. Her eponymous self-titled debut EP has already racked up over 1.2 million streams and received the nod of approval by dance scene behemoths Four Tet and Carl Craig.
PC Music head honcho, A. G. Cook is known for his nightcore style amplifying the clichés of mainstream pop music from the 1990s-2000s and his ongoing collaboration with Charli XCX. Populous is a Queer activist and Italian DJ and beatmaker at Wonderwheel recordings. Real name Andrea Mangihas, his Last album ‘W’ is a tribute to free and diverse feminine musical imagery, taking rhythmic influences from around the globe.
The original is taken from her stunning 5 track La vita nuova EP and short film, which has received rave reviews and accolades for “Best Of The Year So Far-releases by NPR, Time, Billboard, The Ringer, Consequence of Sound etc.
During this unprecedented, hectic year, Christine and the Queens released her EP La vita nuova which draws strength from extreme vulnerability. Produced by Christine and the Queens and Ash Workman, the EP is available digitally, on CD and vinyl on Because Music.
La vita nuova arrives with an accompanying short film of the same name, imagined by Christine and featuring the EP’s five new songs in as many sequences. The 14 minute film is an inward journey that sees the artist invest Opéra Garnier, the world famous Paris opera house, filling it with stories of ghosts and mythical creatures. Through the lens of long-time collaborator Colin Solal Cardo (Robyn, Charli XCX) and with choreography by Ryan Heffington (Sia “Chandelier” VMA Award 2014, Grammy nominated), Christine and her dancers appear in succession on the Opéra rooftop, its grand stage and most secret recesses, culminating into a feverish moment with Caroline Polachek, a collaborator on the EP’s title track.
Chris has performed her single “People, I’ve been sad” live from her window in Paris for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert HERE, her track “I disappear in your arms” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon HERE. Besides producing and filming unique cover versions of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” HERE, Travis Scott’s “Highest In The Room” HERE and Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” HERE while in quarantine, Christine and the Queens participated in Global Citizen’s “One World: Together at Home” HERE to celebrate and support healthcare workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
La vita nuova followed 18 months of live shows, collaborations and international distinctions, around the release of Christine and the Queens’ breathtaking second album Chris. Most recently, Christine and the Queens collaborated with Charli XCX on the acclaimed single “Gone,” released last autumn and a mainstay of 2019’s end of year lists.
Chris was written, arranged, produced and performed by Christine and the Queens, and charted at #3 in the official UK album chart; it has been certified silver in the UK. Chris is the follow up to her already-iconic debut record Chaleur Humaine, released to near-universal acclaim in France in 2014, the USA as self-titled Christine and the Queens, selling more than 1.4 million copies worldwide to date.
Christine and the Queens received a GLAAD Media Awards nomination, her second nomination for International Female Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards 2019, was named Q Icon at the Q Awards 2019 and won the Artist Award at the Attitude Awards 2019. She starred in numerous artist, album and song of the decade lists.
Crown Lands released triumphant self-titled debut album this month
Following an unrelenting wave of new music this summer, today powerhouse Canadian rock duo Crown Lands unveil their self-titled debut album with Universal Music Canada. The stunning 12-inch record features art designed by Bruno Borges and stays true to the Crown Lands aesthetic; “a reflection of the world we live in, but bent through a heightened, psychedelic otherworldly lens. The colour palette is meant to reflect the sonic palette of the album: warm, inviting, nostalgic. Grand landscapes are what we live for – we spend as much time communing with nature as possible, and it comes out on our work,” describes lead singer and drummer Cody Bowles. Crown Lands is sure to be a favourite of any record collection.
Crown Lands was recorded in the iconic RCA Studio A in Nashville and produced by six-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb (Rival Sons, Chris Stapleton). On the album, Kevin Comeau (guitar, keys) explains, “the record is a culmination of five years of work. We started Crown Lands in 2015 with the view to put out a cohesive body of work. We have finally done that! We started writing this record last year after touring with Primus and Jack White. We took that influence and ran with it. When we met Dave we knew he had to be the guy to make this record with us. We loved his organic, live-off-the-floor approach and the desire to capture a real performance. He pushed us way out of our comfort zones and I think I’m ultimately a better guitarist for it. He’s a masterful arranger and we spent a lot of time on the Mellotron arrangements on the record. I love the retro yet timeless quality of the sonics on the record. It captures us as we are – two music nerds obsessed with prog rock of old, but with a desire to bring those sounds into modern song writing.”
The album follows the band’s acoustic EP Wayward Flyers Volume 1 and features four brand new songs as well as three previously released tracks; Crown Lands’ major label debut, “Spit it Out”, which Classic Rock observed “jerks along friskily like some kind of adolescent Led Zeppelin, with all the snap, pop and effervescent crackle of The White Stripes.” Their mystical second song, “Howlin’ Back” which American Songwriter described “feels both crazed and focused, hair-raising and relentless.” Plus the most recent release “End Of The Road” which pays a cinematic tribute to the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirits along Yellowhead Highway 16 in B.C., known as the Highway of Tears. See full track listing below.
Crown Lands debut record arrives alongside the ferocious video for the albums lead single “Leadfoot”. On the track itself, Comeau interprets, “’Leadfoot’ started as a cautionary tale about speeding but quickly became some sort of song about interstellar love. Lots of space and nature imagery keep the song from touching down into reality but the music is quite rooted in blues and glam rock. Is it about aliens? Is it about cars? Is it about aliens driving cars? Maybe. Either way, it’s a lot of fun to play.”
Directed by Blake Mawson who is known for his work with Orville Peck, the video for “Leadfoot” showcases the majestic rock stars in electrifying glory and brings the thunderous track to life. Bowles expands, “We wanted to get really ambitious and weird with this one, and Blake’s vision was perfect for what we wanted. It was the first post-COVID shoot for everyone involved, so that was interesting to work with those restrictions, but everyone was so happy to be back to work and eager to do a great job. On set we had this whole warehouse studio booked and subdivided into different sets for the corresponding scenes in the video. My favourite moment would have to be when I was in the blue box room with the TV. It was this little cramped room setup where they told me to play with the space between myself and the fisheye lens, so I kinda went wild with it and of course I thoroughly enjoyed that, aha!”
After meeting six years ago and bonding over their shared love of music Bowles and Comeau became “instant best friends” and started jamming together in a local barn, switching up instruments, but never straying from a two-piece set-up. Crown Lands have released two EPs Mantra (2016) and Rise Over Run (2017). Making music that brings together a range of influences from folk and blues to psychedelic to prog rock, and drawing on their own intense personal chemistry, Crown Lands are a startlingly fresh jolt of energy.
The group’s name is indicative of their musical ambitions: “Crown Land” is territorial area belonging to the monarch—or, as Bowles puts it: “Crown Land is stolen land and we are reclaiming it.” Crown Lands are on a mission to represent a sense of empowerment for marginalized communities through their music and the weighty subject matter of their lyrics. “People are going to listen to you, so you may as well say something that matters,” says Comeau.
CROWN LANDS ALBUM TRACK LISTING:
Spit It Out
River
Leadfoot
Howlin’ Back
End Of The Road
Forest Song
Sun Dance