“Hard Luck” by Patrick Krief

We’ve heard a few teases of a new album by Patrick Krief, but now we have a release date! Skylines comes out September 8th, and comes along with another new song, “Hard Luck”

The whole album is an “exploration of place, purpose and belonging — told through the eyes of a first generation immigrant and a first-time father” and Patrick says the song itself “is a sorta tongue in cheek song aimed at a narcissist in a perceived state of permanent victimization. Superficial charm, apathetic, and selling dreams that have already been" long-lost. I wrote the song on acoustic guitar, it felt very Lennon ish to me in chords and in its melody, but I was inspired by a recent Motown binge to arrange it in a sort of neo-synthy motown manner.”

The album is already high up on my ‘most anticipated’ list, and check out the new video below!

Kirk

“Uncertain Country” by Great Lake Swimmers

Coming off the announcement of their new album Uncertain Country, Ontario’s Great Lake Swimmers have released the title track.
Accompanying it is a music video, which reminds me of an old Microsoft screensaver (and actually made me kinda dizzy!), but fit the vibe of the tune perfectly.

Of the song, which was written between lockdowns in 2020, lead singer Tony Dekker says: “… in some ways it is a stream-of-consciousness about coming to terms with our changing landscape both environmentally and in the so-called information era. Distortions in both have become glaringly obvious. And as a society we are obliged to find new ways to navigate them. It was also written and performed to be a sort of balm to the collective anxiety of recent years.”

The band has announced a few shows in North America, but we’re still waiting on a Vancouver date.

Christine

“loving you (baby)” by shy kids

Hot on the heels of releasing their latest EP fresh off a feeling, shy kids are not slowing down and have already announced their next album, house cats.

Along with the announcement, they’ve released a new video for “lovin you (baby)”. The video is a trippy fancy-feast — appropriate for the album’s title — with the “idea for the video was to take that hallucinatory trip and bounce between the real and the feral, the human and the animal. All the feelings of being lost out in the world and lost up in your head together, and when you close your eyes, how it feels to come up, blind behind your eyelids.”

Make sure to put the video on full screen & let it wash over you below, and keep an ear out for the rest of house cats, out July 14 on Everything Forever.

Kirk