The Hello Darlins - Clementine Valentine - Georgia Mooney - The Grahams - Shadwick Wilde
After making one of the biggest breakthroughs on the international Americana scene with their debut album Go By Feel, Canadian country/roots collective The Hello Darlins is gearing up to return with an even more ambitious collection of material for its official sophomore release, The Alders & The Ashes, due early in 2024.
The group, led by Romani-Canadian musician Candace Lacina and world-renowned Hammond B3 player Mike Little, The Hello Darlins consist of some of Canada’s most in-demand session musicians who came together to forge a distinct hybrid of country, gospel and blues. After three European Tours that included an Americanafest-UK showcase and a support slot with Lucinda Williams at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, as well as a 36-date cross-Canadian tour with blues-roots icon Matt Andersen with sold-out stops at Massey Hall and National Arts Centre along the way, The Hello Darlins are just getting started.
The latest taste of their new music is the single “Don’t You Fall,” an upbeat, radio-friendly track that showcases Candace’s unmistakable vocals. The song delivers a message to persevere through hard times by enjoying the wonder of life, and the love and support of those closest to us. “I wrote it after a dream,” Candace says. “I was watching someone have a conversation with an old tree and they were both saying the same thing to each another: ‘Hold on, friend. You’ve seen so much, but don’t resign, because there is still so much more.’”
The video for “Don’t You Fall” is a playful variation on the same theme. “As a society, we’re so obsessed with preserving our youth, but age is just a relative concept,” says Candace, who conceptualized and created the video based on animation techniques often used in children’s television programs from the 1960s and ‘70s. “Who didn’t love Romper Room, Mr. Dressup, Mr. Rogers, or Sesame Street,” she says. “Kindergarten is the age of innocence and imagination—you never think about getting old when you’re five.”
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Clementine Valentine - The Rope.
Clementine Valentine, the Coromandel-based art-pop duo formerly known as Purple Pilgrims, share a new single ‘The Rope’ off their upcoming album, The Coin that Broke the Fountain Floor, out August 25th via Flying Nun Records. To celebrate the album's release, the duo will perform four intimate shows around the country this September as well as a show in August alongside Roy Montgomery for the Christchurch WORD festival.
Following their previous album singles ‘Endless Night’ and ‘Time and Tide’, the new single ‘The Rope’ is a captivating siren song, that entices the listener, inviting them into a world of both safety and potential darkness. Produced by Randall Dunn — known for his work with acclaimed artists like Björk, Oneohtrix Point Never and Jim Jarmusch —the track features expressive percussion by Matt Chamberlain, who’s worked with the likes of Lana Del Rey, David Bowie, Fiona Apple to name a few
The accompanying visuals, directed by the Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland-based duo PICTVRE (Veronica Crockford-Pound and Joseph Griffen) and made with the support of NZ on Air, draw inspiration from 1960s films such as Jean-Luc Godard's sci-fi/noir classic 'Alphaville' and Ingmar Bergman's psychological drama 'Persona'. Styled by Tom So, the duo wears all local designers including Emma Jing, Wynn Hamlyn, and Shannen Young. Makeup and hair styling by Kiekie Stanners and Vanessa Mitchell.
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| Photo - Cybele Malinowski |
‘Nothing Is Forever’ takes off like a train in both sound and spirit; an anthemic slice of triumphant alt-folk that will resonate with fans of First Aid Kit and Courtney Marie Andrews with its tumbling drums, potent trumpets, and lush, swelling open chords in a widescreen arrangement featuring dulcimer, mandolin, harmonium, trombone, guitars and bass.
Penned at a high point of the #MeToo movement, the track remains startlingly relevant with its shots at the kind of misogynist that poses as enlightened; “arguably the most damaging type of sexist… the wolf in sheep’s clothing” affirms Mooney, and is ultimately an aspirational call-to-arms that she says promises “Nothing is forever, not even the patriarchy.”
This evocative tone is shared by the track’s cinematic visuals, directed by Nick Mckk (Kate Miller-Heidke, Jen Cloher, Alice Skye) on the land of the Dharug and Gundungurra people in the so-called Blue Mountains. Characterized by sweeping cinematography and long, slow zooms, the video finds Mooney and her dulcimer in an ethereal, serene state against a backdrop of majestic ancient trees, rocks, and waterfalls - a perfect visual complement to the inherent drama of the single.
Of the video, Mooney says “With dulcimer in tow, Nick and I scrambled through bush and fell (literally) into creeks, finding captivating and evocative places for me to perch, strum and sing into the trees. We started at noon and by nightfall had explored waterfalls, valleys, and watched the sunset over the treetops. I enjoyed the contrast of singing ‘Nothing Is Forever’ in an environment so ancient. One wonders how many people and birds have sung to those trees. The video became a love letter to that part of the world, which of course I hope is forever.”
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The Grahams have shared their uplifting anthem “Glory Bound,” the next offering from the duo’s upcoming self-titled album, out September 8 via 3Sirens Music Group. Arriving with a golden-hued music video showcasing the importance of family and love, this meditative song finds The Grahams reflecting on life’s journey, regrets and all, with bright eyes toward a hopeful future. “Glory Bound” was recently featured by Magnet Magazine and is one of ten reimaginings slated to appear on The Grahams, which sees the duo revisiting fan favorites to reflect their artistic growth over the last decade. The Grahams is now available for pre-order.
“On ‘Glory Bound,’ what was once a bold, from-the-chest manifesto becomes a shimmering reflection on hope and regret, building around a subtle, hypnotizing riff,” shares Alyssa Graham, who is one half of The Grahams with Doug Graham. “Listening back to my approach, originally and now, I'm a different person. You can hear it in my voice.”
“Glory Bound” follows the serotonin-boosting “The Wild One,” which was praised by the The Alternate Root, Americana UK, Americana Music Association and more upon its release. On The Grahams, the duo pays homage to a fulfilled commitment they made a decade ago: three concept albums over 10 years, which found them exploring America and its rich tapestry of music. The new self-titled album takes 10 songs from The Grahams’ catalog and pours them through a new filter – what they’ve learned, how they’ve changed, and perhaps most centrally, how they sound today. While these songs bear some resemblance to their Americana roots, they lean harder in a new direction, weaving threads of the duo’s other influences: the bands they grew up with, the input of collaborators, and the ever-evolving love affair that now includes their child. Track by track, the changes are transformative, stripping the songs down in some cases and dressing them up in others.
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Shadwick Wilde has released "Without You," the second single from his upcoming solo record Forever Home, produced by renowned Nashville drummer Ken Coomer (Billy Bragg, Will Hoge, Margo Price, Vance Joy, Al Green, Wilco and Uncle Tupelo), available everywhere September 22nd.
“Without You” is an existentialist love ballad… examining the frailty of memory, the truth of impermanence, and our clinging to one another. Wilde, who lives with major depressive disorder, is a self-described Buddhist-Nihilist, but credits meditation, therapy and a focus on compassion and presence to saving his life. The recording of this album was a practice in surrender for Shadwick… Coomer pushed for live recording and minimal takes to preserve the spontaneity of the creative process, and to let the songs unfold on their own.
“Without You” was the first song recorded live as a group with Shadwick on guitar, Coomer on Drums, and Ted Pecchio on Bass. Sam Wilson was brought in to add some beautifully tasteful guitar work, and Shadwick overdubbed piano and synthesizer parts, resulting in a beautiful rich orchestration to juxtapose the song’s darker subject matter.
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