‘Times Infinity Volume One’ Out Today

Today is the day. The Dears’ new record Times Infinity Volume One is finally out for you all to hear!

Stream the record on Spotify or Rdio

and then pick it up on iTunes or order the CD or LP

Read the 8/10 review from Exclaim! Magazine:

On Times Infinity Volume One, the Dears’ songs vary in terms of depth and intricacy, but each is a fully realized narrative, layered with wild intricacy. Murray Lightburn’s guitar lines bloom in measured expanses and unspool in frenzied bursts; Natalia Yanchak’s fingers dance across the keys like stones skipping across a pond; lyrics burst with secret revelations and wry truths.

Not every track is trying to shatter salt-lick hearts. There’s a delectable, macabre humour about love at work throughout, particularly on the lead single, “Here’s To The Death of All The Romance,” and the jangly, album-closing crooner “Face of Horrors.” A funky lilt belies the tension of Lightburn and Yanchak’s blended vocals on the taut “We Lost Everything.”

“To Hold and Have” features Lightburn at his most vocally restrained, and everything about the instrumentation works. The swell of the strings, the dreamy guitar line — all of it adds a sorrowful warmth to the fraught, tragic romance of lines like, “This life that we fought so hard for / Well, I want more to hold and have.” Like your new favourite anthology of short stories — think Alice Munro meets Edgar Allen Poe — Times Infinity Volume One is a magnificent testament to the human heart in all of its complexity.

Good For Grapes Premiere Single “Waiting On A Ghost” Via Exclaim! Sophomore Album The Ropes Out October 2

Vancouver-based indie-folk group Good For Grapes have released their first single “Waiting On A Ghost,” via Exclaim!, which you can listen to here. The single comes off their upcoming sophomore album set for release on Pheromone Recordings on October 2nd, 2015.

The Ropes, follows Good For Grapes acclaimed 2013 full-length debut Man on The Page. Recorded at The Warehouse in Vancouver and produced by Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother, Dear Rouge), this album is bigger, bolder, and more compelling. The album is the sound of a young band that, five years into its career, has truly found its voice. In November 2014, Good For Grapes were crowned the winners of The Peak Performance Project BC, one of Canada’s highest coveted music prizes. Chief songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Daniel McBurnie explains that, “The Peak prize allowed us to do many things we likely could not have done with the record otherwise. It gave us time to sit back and be creative with it.”

In support of the release the band will head out on a Canadian tour that kicks off at the end of October. They will travel across the country to play shows in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Thunder Bay and more. “You just can’t help but smile as you watch the group pound out their music, bursting with sheer joy – when they’re on stage it’s obvious there’s no place they’d rather be,” mentions Vancouver daily newspaper The Province. Full tour dates to be announced soon.

Poor Young Things Release New EP Force Of Nature; Join The Glorious Sons On The Contender Tour This Fall

Poor Young Things couldn’t have picked a better title than Force Of Nature for their new EP. The six-song sonic blast is the Toronto-based outfit’s follow up to their 2013 full-length debut, The Heart. The Head. The End., reconfirming their status as one of Canada’s most exciting, emerging and modern indie rock bands. Force Of Nature will be released October 9.

“We poured our blood, sweat and tears into Force Of Nature and we couldn’t be happier with the result,” front man Matt Fratpietro says. “It’s a driving record, plain and simple.”

The EP’s first single,”Like An Animal,” landed at radio this summer, offering a double-barreled blast of euphoric guitar pop, while ingeniously co-opting perennial New York City mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan’s catchphrase for its hook, “You can’t pay the rent ’cause you’re too damn high.”

The band recorded Force Of Nature with producers Gus Van Go and Werner F at the pair’s Brooklyn, NY studio The Boiler Room in January 2015. It marked Poor Young Things’ first sessions since being named Sirius XM’s 2013 Emerging Artist of the Year, and earned them a slot on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour.

Poor Young Things, comprised of Matt Fratpietro, guitarists David Allan Grant and Michael Kondakow, bassist Scott Burke, and drummer Konrad Commisso, formed in Thunder Bay, ON. The band released its first EP, Let It Sleep, in 2012, and embarked on a full-time touring schedule that now averages over 100 shows per year. Poor Young Things head out across Canada again this October and November, supporting The Glorious Sons on their The Contender Tour.

The Dears Unveil New Track “Here’s To The Death Of All The Romance” Via Exclaim!

A month ahead of releasing Times Infinity Volume One, The Dears share their first single, “Here’s to The Death of All the Romance,” via Exclaim!. Propelled by emotive lyrics against a grandiose, orchestral backdrop, the track from Times Infinity Volume One is a dark but realistic sentiment on unconditional love. Listen here.

Times Infinity Volume One is out September 25th via Pheromone Recordings and is available for pre-order on iTunes now. “Here’s To The Death Of All The Romance” follows the band’s release of the teaser track “I Used To Pray For The Heavens To Fall” last month. To view the animated lyric video for the corresponding song visit here.

The Dears will be heading west next month for a number of dates including a performance at Rifflandia Festival. In addition, the band will be hosting a record release show in Montreal, QC at the Phi Centre. A limited amount of tickets will be available exclusively through the band’s social networks. Stay tuned for more information and additional tour dates.

THE BUZZ
“The Dears are sexual, knowledgeably sensitive beasts, uniquely gracefully and delicately ornate. A band that folk can believe in, and trustworthy in the task of carrying the emotional baggage invested in them by those who do so.” – NME

“Spanning nearly two decades together, releasing 5 albums and playing some of the worlds largest festivals from Glastonbury to Coachella, this Montreal band surely knows a thing or two about writing a great pop hit.” – Indie88

“”I Used To Pray For the Heavens to Fall’ is an early taste of what’s to come, and it demonstrates how, if anything, this band has only gotten better with age.” – New Canadian Music

Poor Young Things Release New Single “Like An Animal” From Forthcoming EP

Last month, Canadian rock radio got a shot in the arm when Poor Young Things delivered their new single “Like An Animal.” The song is now available at iTunes.ca, in advance of the Toronto quintet’s upcoming six-song EP to be released this fall on Pheromone Recordings. “Like An Animal” is a double-barreled blast of euphoric guitar pop, which ingeniously co-opts perennial New York City mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan’s catchphrase for its hook, “You can’t pay the rent ’cause you’re too damn high.”

“With ‘Like An Animal’ we wanted to make something with a fun vibe that people could dance to,” Poor Young Things front man Matt Fratpietro says. “It’s a song about that one friend we all have who loves to take summer nights to the next level and beyond.”

The band recorded “Like An Animal” with producers Gus Van Go and Werner F at the pair’s Brooklyn, NY studio The Boiler Room in January 2015. It marked Poor Young Things’ first sessions since the release of their 2013 full-length debut, The Heart. The Head. The End., which led them to be named Sirius XM’s 2013 Emerging Artist of the Year, and earn a slot on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour.

Poor Young Things, comprised of Matt Fratpietro, guitarists David Allan Grant and Michael Kondakow, bassist Scott Burke, and drummer Konrad Commisso, formed in Thunder Bay, ON. The band released its first EP, Let It Sleep, in 2012, and embarked on a full-time touring schedule that now averages over 100 shows per year. Poor Young Things are set to head out across Canada again this October and November, supporting Kingston, ON’s The Glorious Sons on their The Contender Tour.

“Poor Young Things might be the next big mainstream rock band out of Canada” –
Paul Morris, HTZ FM

“Genuine, original, accomplished: these are just some of the adjectives that come to mind when describing Toronto indie-rock band Poor Young Things” – The Scene Magazine

Joel Plaskett Comes To Toronto; Performs With Choir! Choir! Choir! And Stops By The Toronto Star

“Epic Nights” is a chance for Toronto’s Choir! Choir! Choir! to sing with some of their favourite musicians. Joel Plaskett joined the choir at The Drake Underground in Toronto for this version of “When I Close My Eyes” that was a wonder to witness.

When I Close My Eyes with Choir! Choir! Choir!

While Joel was in town, he also dropped by The Toronto Star for their Newsroom Concert Series hosted by Ben Rayner and performed an exclusive version of “Captains of Industry” off the new album, The Park Avenue Sobriety Test.

Captains Of Industry for the The Toronto Star Newsroom Concert Series

The Dears Announce New Album ‘Times Infinity Volume One’ Out September 25th

To commemorate their 20th anniversary, Montreal’s The Dears entered the studio with a collection of new songs. They emerged some months later with Times Infinity Volume One, the group’s first new studio album since 2011’s Degeneration Street – which saw them long listed for that year’s Polaris Music Prize. Times Infinity Volume One, set for release September 25th via Pheromone Recordings in Canada and Dangerbird in the U.S., marks the band’s sixth LP to date.

“I Used To Pray For The Heavens To Fall,” the first track available from the upcoming album, premieres via Noisey today. To listen click HERE.

The Dears frontman Murray Lightburn states, “When you start a band, you never think of the end. When we began work on this album, it was a process that consumed us completely, harkening back to our earliest days. In turn, the record became about sentimentality but in the face of great uncertainty; the concept of eternal love and all its fragility.”

Written over a two-year period, the work was finally committed to audio at the luxuriant Revolution Recording (Toronto) and thee mighty hotel2tango (Montreal) between the summer of 2014 and spring of 2015. The sound is described by the band as “both refined and sloppy. At times chill, always trill.” Lightburn continues, “Times Infinity is made of daydreams and spontaneous yet careful inspiration…. we want what comes out of your speakers to be true – ‘to you and for you.’ That is what always has been and always will be the sound of The Dears.”

Known for a commanding live show that established The Dears as a unique and powerful presence, the band will head out on tour this fall. Dates to be announced soon.

Fans can look forward to Volume Two in early 2016.

The Fratellis To Release ‘Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied’ On August 21

The Fratellis have announced the release of their brand new album ‘Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied,’ out August 21 via Cooking Vinyl and Pheromone Recordings.

Their new single ‘Baby Don’t You Lie To Me,’ is a foot-stomping anthem. Its fully charged nature is reminiscent of the energetic soul that paraded through their 2006 debut album smash ‘Costello Music’. But there’s a glorious new level to it, the sound of freedom, a force that runs throughout the album. After three full-length records (two top 5’s), a Brit Award, four sold-out nights at Brixton Academy and countless sell-out shows, exuding Zen-like calm, Jon Fratelli has embraced this newly found freedom, and boy does it show.

Listen To Their New Single ‘Baby Don’t You Lie To Me’ Here
Listen To The Track ‘Me And The Devil’ Here

Following the release of 2013’s ‘We Need Medicine’, the Glaswegian trio (formed in 2005), completed by Barry Fratelli (bass) and Mince Fratelli (drums), spent a year touring the world. At the tail end of 2014, they decamped to LA to work on album number four with Tony Hoffer (The Dears, M83, Depeche Mode and Belle & Sebastian), who also produced their first album. With Hoffer at the helm, the band could revel in playing for the fun of it again, a feeling that radiates throughout the entire record.

Beginning in July, the band will embark on a huge world tour with two stops in Canada, in Vancouver 9/30 and Toronto 9/16. Known for their energetic and engrossing live show The Courier (UK) exclaims – “I’ve never seen an audience dance as hard or jump as high. This is what it’s all about.” – and In Your Speakers raves “Once in a while you hit a show that you just know is going to stick with you. The Fratellis, is one of those.” Get ready folks, the show is just beginning!