Suuns announce third album Hold/Still, share video for first single ‘Translate’

31 January 2016

Suuns - Hold StillThree years after their last album, and following last year’s collaborative album with Jerusalem in My Heart which was one of our 15 Picks of the Year, Suuns are back with their third album, Hold/Still. The Montreal quartet recorded the album in Dallas, Texas over the course of three weeks with John Congleton on production duties. Played as a suite of music, Hold/Still has no overdubbing with Congleton driving them to capture perfect live takes, as the press release explains.

Suuns are giving us the first taste of the album with the excellent and driving first single ‘Translate’. In the works for years and one of the last songs to be finished, it mirrors well the sound of the album – “the sound of a band working in mental lockstep, crafting guitar music that feels unbeholden to clear traditions or genre brackets”. ‘Translate’ comes with a video shot by longtime collaborator Charles-André Coderre, who’s also one half of Jerusalem In My Heart. This is the first of a trilogy of videos for the album, with the other two instalments set to emerge ahead of the album release on April 15th through Secret City in Canada and Secretly Canadian in the rest of the world. Coderre had this to say about the video:

“’Translate’, the first music video of a triptych series, is an incandescent vision. It was shot with thermal imagery. The concept was simple: film the band in their rehearsal space and transfigure the footage into something unusual and gorgeous. We experimented the different meanings of the word “translate” and explored a new film language by shooting what the human eye can’t see”.

Here’s the video.

To celebrate the album release, Suuns will embark on a world tour kicking off on March 13th at the Tremor Festival in the Azores Island, Portugal and including a London show at the ICA on May 24th.

Three Trapped Tigers return with second album Silent Earthling and announce UK tour

28 January 2016

Three Trapped Tigers- Silent EarthlingStop whatever you’re doing for some long-awaited news: Three Trapped Tigers have a new album on the way, their first since their 2011’s mighty debut Route One or Die. Entitled Silent Earthling, the effort arrives on April 1st via Superball Music.
The trio may not have released an album in nearly five years, but they have been busy with a multitude of other unique projects, stellar collaborations and touring, all of which helped to shape the new album. They were part of an electro-orchestral, multi-media reworking of Joy Division material, played Goldie’s album Timeless at the Royal Festival Hall, performed the Blade Runner soundtrack, and have also played with bands like Deftones and Dillinger Escape Plan, to name a few. Whilst writing Silent Earthling, Three Trapped Tigers worked with Underworld’s Karl Hyde and Brian Eno, whose ‘Oblique Strategies’ cards were employed and proved instrumental in “forcing the group out of their comfort zones”, as the label describes.
“I think the problem for anyone striving to create their own sound is, once you – hopefully – have achieved that, how do you expand that whilst maintaining it?”, said guitarist and keyboard player Matt Calvert. “Some of the tunes are quite aggressive, some are poignant, some are just dumb, rocking fun… I guess we have tried to refine our sound whilst keeping it vital and exciting.”

We had the immense privilege to see them perform the entire album from beginning to end in a special show in London last June, which makes us all the more anxious to get our hands on Silent Earthling. Luckily, the band have shared the first single to be taken from the record, the monumental title track. Here it is.

To celebrate the album’s release, Three Trapped Tigers have also announced a run of dates across the UK beginning mid April in Glasgow and including a show in London at Scala on April 28th. See the full run of dates below.

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Denovali Records announces the release of Orson Hentschel’s debut album Feed The Tape

26 January 2016

Orson Hentschel - Feed The TapeDenovali‘s first release of the year comes from the hands of Düsseldorf based composer and producer Orson Hentschel. Feed The Tape, his debut album, will see the light of day on February 26th.

Classically trained on the piano from a young age, Hentschel’s compositions see him exploring and employing unconventional techniques. Classical minimal music is a major influence on the album, in particular Steve Reich’s compository methods like phase variations, looping and imitation. “These methods serve as characteristic compository elements rather than being in the focus of the pieces”, says the label. “The loop, which often is the starting point of one of Hentschels works, usually plays the role of a constant sound substrate on which harmonic-melodic elements can thrive.”

Ahead of the album’s release, we can already hear the spectacular first single ‘What’s Going On’.


In other related news, Orson Hentschel has announced a string of shows in Germany next month and he will also grace both Berlin and London’s editions of Denovali Festival in April.

Glenn Jones set to release new album Fleeting in March

25 January 2016

Glenn Jones - FleetingStoryteller and guitar virtuoso Glenn Jones first picked up the acoustic guitar at the age of 14. A master of American Primitive Guitar, Jones draws from the style invented by John Fahey in the late 1950s. He’s also know for making up his own tuning, hoping, in his own words, “that what you hear are not the tunings and partial capos and all that, but the music — the feeling within these pieces.”

The guitarist is ready to unveil the follow-up to his 2013’s My Garden State. Fleeting marks his sixth solo album and it drops on March 18th via Thrill Jockey.
On Fleeting, and as the label describes, the guitarist “reflects on the brevity — the fleetingness — of all things, while also looking towards the future”.

‘Flower Turned Inside-Out’ is one of the gorgeous and engaging tracks lifted from the album. Take a listen now.

Listen to Golden Dawn Arkestra’s new single ‘Sama Chaka’

23 January 2016

Golden Dawn Arkestra - SAMA CHAKA

We had already heard the monumental and hip-shakin’ title track from Golden Dawn Arkestra‘s upcoming debut album Stargazer. As we’re getting closer to release day, the Texas based collective of “Kosmic Funkateers” are offering another glimpse into their album with new single ‘Sama Chaka’. Listen to it below and watch out for the release of Stargazer on February 26th via Modern Imperial.