Crystal Eyes Release Soaring Indie Track "Don't Turn Around" (Bobo Integral Records)

Crystal Eyes. Photo courtesy of the band

Perfect for the pastel wistfulness of spring’s earliest days, Calgary-based psych-rockers Crystal Eyes offer you one simple message – “Don’t Turn Around”. This single marks the second to be released from the band’s upcoming album The Sweetness Restored, out on April 22 via Bobo Integral Records.

Gravelly and nostalgic, “Don’t Turn Around” soars with intensity, toying with notions of surrender overtop of a textural indie haze. The track warmly complements the guiding narrative of leading single “Wishes”, guaranteeing a sense of longing for what’s to come.

In the days following “Don’t Turn Around”’s release, vocalist and guitarist Erin Jenkins sat down with Also Cool to deconstruct her plethora of personal touches to the creative process, along with the stacked lineup of Canadian musicians who helped to craft its sonic depth.

Rebecca Judd for Also Cool Mag: This single packs a heavy thematic punch, and the upcoming record promises to as well – described as a "feel-good self-help record for the age of existential dread". Tell us more about the darker themes to "Don't Turn Around", and which external forces inspired this direction from Crystal Eyes.

Erin Jenkins of Crystal Eyes: My songwriting mostly comes from a subconscious place – so I guess this is inspired by whatever anxieties are secretly lurking down there *laughs*. I don't really set out to write songs about anything specific; I try to stay open to the possibility of what the song could be, and then analyze what it means later.

The songs on this record are equally inspired by external influences – the people I'm playing with, music I'm listening to, or music I've loved, aesthetics I'm trying to interpret as a melody or a rhythm. It's a very collaborative process that everyone contributes to. When I listen to “Don't Turn Around”, I think it's definitely about memories, the weight of years added up, how we measure our worth by what we build and the years by what they take. There is pain in caring too much, but there is beauty too.

Also Cool: "Don't Turn Around" marches forward with grungy vocals and a steady beat, harkening back to the indie rock grit of the 2000s. Which artists and projects influenced the makings of this single?

Crystal Eyes: To be honest, I wasn't necessarily thinking about early 2000s music when we were working on this, but I totally hear it now that it's been pointed out. It makes a lot of sense because I love music from that era – I grew up on it!

For “Don't Turn Around”, I was mostly thinking about stuff like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Chameleons and New Order – post-punk rock that is super pop, but still really organic-feeling.

Crystal Eyes. Photo courtesy of Walter E. Neuman

AC: Contrasting the depths of this track is the music video, featuring breezy vintage footage of parasailors on a beach. How did you put this video together? Was there any intentionality in choosing this footage to complement the sound?

CE: This is some old family footage I discovered one Christmas. I love home movies. I thought the footage really reflected the music, it just felt right. There's kind of a vulnerability in the video and a sense of it being a memory that seemed to work.

I took a stab at a first edit of the video, and then Joleen (Crystal Eyes’ synth player) came in and really sharpened it up and tightened the narrative because we really didn't have much footage to work with!

AC: This record marks your latest release since "Radical Softness" in 2019. How has the band evolved since then, and what more is to be expected from The Sweetness Restored?

CE: I'd say the band has evolved a lot since then, because I've collaborated with so many different people over the years. The recording process for The Sweetness Restored was really amazing. We went to Montreal and recorded at Breakglass Studios – this was shortly before the pandemic.

My friend Andrew Woods produced and engineered the record, and his spirit and vision brought everything together. There was just such an air of creativity and generosity – and silliness. Andrew got the idea to add a string quartet (we were thinking big), so he brought in Eve Parker Finley and Zou Zou Robidoux to add string arrangements to a number of the songs.

Basia Bulat was also a big part of the process, lending her wisdom – especially for the vocals. She sat in the studio while I was recording vocals and would run in between takes to shout suggestions – “try it like this!”. Monty Munroe played bass and just killed it, and is, like, the hardest working person ever. We also got to use some amazing instruments like a Therevox and a Hammond C3 with Leslie Speakers.

Past Crystal Eyes member Kenny Murdoch played drums, and current members Jordan Tettensor played lead guitar and Joleen Toner on synth. There's even a choir on one track (Hermitess and her Witch Choir on “No Heaven”). Mark Lawson mixed the record. We threw him probably 1,000 tracks to work with, and he was somehow able to wrangle it into a cohesive, really beautiful sound.

The album covers a lot of ground - genres, moods, etc., but I think it flows really well together. It's definitely something where I hope people can listen to the album as a whole.

AC: Thanks for your time – we're super excited for The Sweetness Restored to be released in all its glory! Aside from dropping this record, what else is in store for Crystal Eyes for the rest of the year?

CE: We have a couple upcoming festival shows at Big Winter Classic in Calgary and Winterruption in Edmonton. We're looking forward to playing a lot more shows and getting back to touring.

We're also writing a lot of new songs, and I anticipate we'll be starting plans to record more again soon. It's been a weird time to be a band, I'm just trying to be patient with myself and everyone else and do the things we want to do, not things we feel like we have to do. No need to force the universe.

Stream “Don’t Turn Around” below!

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Crystal Eyes

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Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

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Milk Jennings Shares Sombre New Track "Raincoat" Feat. Sam Cohen, Announces Debut Album (Telefono, ORG Music, Modern Sky)

Raincoat cover art via Milk Jennings

The gloomy feeling of stepping outside into freezing rain, hurrying home from the metro because the coat you brought isn't warm enough... These are the emotions summoned by Milk Jennings' (member of Chinese American Bear) latest single, "Raincoat," featuring Sam Cohen.

This is the second single from Seattle-based artist Milk Jennings, who worked with producer Sam Cohen on the release. It's a sombre yet dynamic and bold effort from Jennings, touching on the darker side of life. The song is loosely about self-paranoia and empowerment, and it gets under your skin. It features crisp, soulful instrumentals and backup vocals by Cohen and flute by acclaimed flutist/saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum (Beck, St. Vincent, David Byrne).

Still from Raincoat

"Raincoat" is laced with melancholy using lyrics that Jennings attests are still shrouded in mystery to himself - making each listen uniquely engaging as the wobbly wisps of narrative continue to morph and change.

Jennings is also announcing his debut album titled 'Sleep Talker', out June 3rd via Telefono (Digital), ORG Music (Physical), and Modern Sky (China). Pre-orders for vinyl will be available here.

Watch "Raincoat" featuring Sam Cohen below

Milk Jennings

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Von Shares Spicy Feminist Pop Track "Tiny Boy"

Photo Credit: Photo by Adam Burack @phlegmtop, Edit by Serena Rubin @ipadadult

Today we're celebrating all of the shes theys and gays. It's technically international women's day, but we want to extend it to all of our nonbinary & gender-fluid friends as well. (In case you don't know, this project is run by a core team of all femme and nonbinary also cools, and is very queer and very proud.)

We thought it would be appropriate to share "Tiny Boy," a spicy feminist bop by Von that recently went viral on TikTok. Von is a musician, co-founder, and host of BLOODY MARY KOs & KINK, the first underground NYC fetish party to merge live boxing with talents from sex workers, femme creatives, DJs and performers. Oh, and she's also the first artist to use her own orgasm wave patterns in pop music.

Photos by Ava Rikki @avarikki 

Inspired by the political agendas of Peaches to Pussy Riot, Von dedicates her time to making art that dismantles stereotypes about sex work, sexist agendas in entertainment and aversion to sex-positive dialogues. She places pulsing percussion and sawtooth baselines under glittery synth riffs and genre-bending vocal treatments to make music that defines sexual confidence as what you always wished your misogynistic aunt read it as: powerful.

With artists like Pussy Riot, UNIIQU3, Pauli Cakes, DJ_Dave (who we interviewed a while ago - read it here) & more on the bills, Von and BLOODY MARY KOs & KINK are shaking up the industry. In 2020 Von music directed the first NYFW show to ever feature Pornhub stars on the runway & is on a mission to make art that dismantles shaming stereotypes.

To all the non-cis males of the world, we celebrate you and encourage you to dance out your frustrations to "Tiny Boy." Watch it below.

Von

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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OUT TODAY: We Are Time Celebrates Anniversary with Sophomore Release "Chandra Mixtape Vol. 2"

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Collage cover art by Marin Blanc
Band photos by Kate Young and Heather Rappard

Artist-focused initiative and independent label We Are Time is marking its anniversary with its sophomore release Chandra Mixtape Vol. 2. The brainchild of New York’s mutant disco trailblazer Chandra Oppenheim, and everyone’s favourite Vancouver-based musician and journalist Jesse Locke, We Are Time spotlights the magic of intergenerational collaboration in contemporary music. With this new compilation, We Are Time aptly celebrates its birthday on Bandcamp Friday with a nine-track goldmine of teamwork, remixes and rarities from its roster.

The digital sampler and limited-edition cassette brings together the project’s extended family for a signature melange of eclectic sounds and experimentations. Beginning with the swelling glow of MISZCZYK and Marker Starling’s “The Leaves” and culminating in the glacial vibrations of “Not Exactly Right” from Oppenheim’s trip-hop act GNDN, Chandra Mixtape Vol. 2 unites artists across a spectrum of genres to present a boundless listening experience.

Listen to We Are Time’s Chandra Mixtape Vol. 2 below!

We Are Time

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Carl Schilde Channels Lost California Sound on EUROPOP (Fun In The Church)

Carl Schilde. Photo courtesy of Colin Medley

For each of us, life seems to lead to experiences unexpected; it can shift us from one location or another, however much that may or may not be “part of the plan”. EUROPOP, the debut solo project from Toronto-based, Berlin-born Carl Schilde, is a subversion of the cumulative expectation of “making it” as we’ve been conditioned to think. Rather than focusing on the prospect and ruminating on what could’ve been, its tone seems to bask in the fantasy poolside in the Laurel Canyon heat, already at terms with what is.

The album was recorded following a relocation to Los Angeles, California, which eventually culminated in what Schilde describes as a “disappointing experience”. It’s also a love letter to the lost records and projects of the 70s, such as overlooked post-Pet Sounds projects by The Beach Boys and the sounds of country and folk demos.

“I had a bit of a music burnout and moved to Toronto to be with my wife. I took a year to work at a brewery and not focus on music, just to have that distance,” says Schilde. “I was feeling out of time and out of place myself, so I projected that into the music by sounding like some demo from ’78 that never got heard.”

Carl Schilde. Photo courtesy of Colin Medley

EUROPOP’s mood is dream-like, woozy and thick with atmosphere, featuring deep baritone vocals by Schilde recorded in their Toronto basement. In tone and sound, the record could be compared to contemporary artists such as the late Leonard Cohen, or sonically similar to Timber Timbre’s 2014 release Hot Dreams, which was also reminiscent of heyday 60s/70s Hollywood and the spaghetti Western soundtracks of the time by Italian composers. 

The album kicks off with “Top 40”, the lead single from the album. Croons from a steel lap guitar wax and wane against a constellation of synthesizer notes in the background mix. Schilde’s lyrics seem to speak to an unnamed friend, ruminating on success and its ethereal nature:“We heard your record did well in Germany / And what’s worked there must surely work here / Let’s see if it melts in the California heat / Like a candy in a wrapper / or an apple out of reach” .

‘“It’s definitely about disappointment and dealing with that in an ironic way,” says Schilde. “It’s an elevated version of myself and it makes fun of that ego, of wanting to be successful.”

During our interview, Schilde and I discussed his curiosity for “pop music trickery”, referencing the later releases by Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, as well as Italian soft rock records. The album’s second track, curiously titled “John Stamos”, is a deep-cut Beach Boys reference, as the Full House actor is actually a current touring member of the reformed Beach Boys.  “I’m a big Beach Boys and 70s music fan. Their sound fascinates me; [it’s] rooted in 50s doo-wop harmonies.”

EUROPOP is Schilde’s first time singing lead on a project and producing their own vocals. They remark the greatest challenge they had during the recording process was adapting their production style to fit their own vocal range. 

“The process of recording was very intertwined with the writing. You find your zone where a limited voice [range] does work and try to capture spontaneous moments. Everything I have [in my home studio] is set up for spontaneous workflow.”

Carl Schilde. Photo courtesy of Colin Medley

Schilde is the primary producer of the record, with some assistance from bandmates on backing instruments, and supporting vocals from Schilde’s partner that harmonize with his own. 

“Roadworn'' is a great example of Schilde’s ability to layer sounds and stack textures: phased filtered guitar tones harmonize through a cloud of static and feedback. See also “Landline” parts one and two; the latter is an instrumental highlight of the album, featuring well-stacked vocals like one long exhalation that relieves the weight from your shoulders. 

“Even two-part harmonies, like Simon and Garfunkel, there’s definitely a magic there,” says Schilde, “I think it can change meaning to the lyrics if there’s another harmony.”

The album does eventually reach cruising altitude in the latter half by the track “Phase”, which brings some welcome grand piano chords and more aggressive drums into the mix before eventually dissipating before the ephemeral ballad track, “The Master Tape”.

Schilde is well aware of the irony of the album’s title, considering the project grew from an experience in and was produced in North America. “It's definitely an ironic title. People talk about how ‘Europop is euro-trash’ … as if to say it's not real music. The record doesn’t sound like a Eurodance record [from the 70s].

Schilde also remarked how audiences and communities perceive musically differently in Europe compared to North Americans. “There’s a different sensibility,” says Schilde. “Living in North America now, I realized the only kind of music I can make is Europop, in a way. 

“I’ll always be myself […] even if it doesn’t sound like that.”

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EUROPOP

Released on February 4th, 2022 via Fun In The Church

1. Top 40

2. John Stamos

3. Roadworn

4. Soft Dads

5. Landline Pt. I

6. Landline Pt. II

7. Phase

8. The Master Tape

9. Blue Rinse

10. Credits

All tracks written, arranged and produced by Carl Schilde

Vocals, guitars, pianos, synthesizers, bass, percussion & drum machines by Carl Schilde

Additional vocals by Laura Gladwell

Drums by James Yates

Recorded and mixed by Carl Schilde at home in Toronto, Canada

Drums recorded by James Yates at Majetone HQ in Newhaven, UK

Mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in Los Angeles, USA

Vinyl cut by Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios in Berlin, Germany

Artwork design by Sebastian Schäfer

Illustrations by Judith Holzer

Super 8 footage by Carl Schilde

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Carl Schilde

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Gabriel Lunn is a writer, multimedia journalist, and pop music enthusiast based out of Victoria, BC. When he isn’t trying to decipher the human condition, he can usually be found going for long runs or collecting vinyl records he really doesn’t need.

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In The Pines Invites You to Manoeuvre Young Love and Pandemic Melancholy with "Impossible Daze" (Soul Step Records)

Michael Shular, Charlie Horn, Pat Zopff and Alex Dungan of In The Pines. Photo courtesy of the band

The raw feels of In The Pines’ Impossible Daze will transport you to the Golden Age of Radio, when live bands were broadcasted over the air. Don’t expect the sterile, radio-ready music that replaced many of those old gems; instead, anticipate a constellation of lyrical authenticity, plaintive progressions and intermittent phonographic imperfections. 

With this album, ITP veers from the psych-y Laurel Canyon feels heard on Slow Blink to explore a trad-folk sound further consistent with the narrative around the band’s name. While having turned the reverb down a notch, their new 11-track album remains true to the band’s familiar bare-boned and blurred ambient sound. Tape cassette, lo-fi qualities and innocent nostalgia are the names of the game for this quartet, hauling its listeners through what could very well be an Americana music history class. 

On Impossible Daze, ITP invites you to manoeuvre love alongside the four of ‘em. The album opens with “Bird Song”, a tune about moving on from an unfathomable reality. Maintaining the same direct-address-POV, “Indifferent” enters head strong. A bluesy guitar riff leads the way, reminding the listener that ITP had begun as a blues band. “Avoid Myself” is for pensive days, as is the track that follows, “In My Dreams”. This one haunts me, beginning with vocals reminiscent of Elliott Smith – but don’t be fooled, this soft tenor whisper soon gets washed away with an intricate cacophony of dream folk guitar progressions and an oppositional outro. 

Egg shakers will welcome “Well I’ll Be” to the stage, followed by a tune which showcases the band’s first lap steel guitar appearance, “Brother”. A melancholic “I Don’t Mind” follows, and a starry organ melody seamlessly closes the door to this one. The grainiest track of the bunch, “Jeez Louise”, sports hazy acoustics and atmospheric vocals, while the lyrically spacious and sonically calming “Runnin’ 2 U” wraps up the record. This one reads poetically and leaves the listener pensive: “Can you tell grey from yellow? / Do you hear my hello / My hello / My hello / What will you do when no one comes for you?” 

If you're looking for a myriad of what-you-see-is-what-you-get lyrics melted into a complexity of dreamy Americana textures, this album is for you.

In The Pines. Photo courtesy of the band

CJ Sommerfeld for Also Cool Mag: Congrats on the new album, and thanks for your time today.

Before we chat about Impossible Daze, I have to know – does the band’s name relate to the classic folk tune of the same name? If so, what was it about this song that made the troupe name your band after it?

Michael Shular for In The Pines: Thanks for having us! We get this question all the time, and yes, there is a relation to the Lead Belly tune. There is, however, nothing about that song that made us name the band after it, other than the fact that it's a classic blues tune, and we wanted to be a blues band at the time.

Also Cool: Do you have a preference: Lead Belly’s version or Nirvana’s?

Michael Shular: Lead Belly for sure.

AC: A notable transition from 60s psychedelia to Americana is heard between your earlier albums and Impossible Daze. What forces were responsible for this leap?

MS: I think really it comes down to a combination of wanting to do something new and the influence of what we all were listening to or inspired by at the time. We had just finished this sort of progressive psychedelic record that took entirely too long, and we kind of entered a weird stand-still where we were like, “what do we do now?” From there, we went on our way and started writing as we usually do, and a couple of really cool tunes hit the table. We liked where it was going, so we rolled with it.

AC: Rolling with it definitely worked! Were there any prominent Americana / folk albums from which the band drew inspiration when putting together Impossible Daze?

MS: I wanna say John Prine’s self-titled record? I mean, it’s just so good – I remember listening to “Pretty Good” over and over and over again. He's the man. Around the time we were writing the record, we were also listening to a lot of Neil Young, Michael Hurley, Dr. Dog, & Rose City Band.

AC: This is the first In The Pines album in which we don’t hear sax – was this concurrent with the band’s change in sound, or were there other reasons for this instrumental change?

MS: There were other reasons, mostly just wanting to move on and write stuff we never have before.  

AC: The sax seems to have been replaced by lap steel guitar in one of your tracks. Was this for the sake of remaining true to the Americana direction in which the band was headed? Or did the idea to create a folkier album occur after having first incorporated lap steel guitar?

MS: Our guitarist Charlie Horn had the idea for the part in “Brother” for a while; we just didn't know anyone who could play! We ended up meeting this guy Jeff Jackson through our engineer on the record; he came to the studio, laid down the part in a couple of takes and up and left *laughs*. It was very fast, but when we heard it on the track it was like a loose end on the record had just been tied.

AC: I love the theme of manoeuvring love heard throughout Impossible Daze. Was this lyrical content taken from the band member’s specific experiences, or was it used simply for its relatable qualities? It’s a component we frequently hear in folk music.

MS: *laughs* I think we all were kind of going through it at the time, you know? We were in lockdown, and everyone—including us—was going through it physically and mentally. All the songs and all of the lyrics you hear on the record are very true, very real feelings, from each one of us.

Manoeuvring the vast landscape that is love and heartbreak definitely has relatable qualities, and it’s because whoever it was that was writing that song at that specific moment in time, they were going through it too! And you can feel that kind of thing when you listen to it. You know it when you do, because it hits that soft spot somewhere in you, because you’ve been there before too. Real human experience and taking it as it is and not what we think of it to be, letting it all go like a leaf in the autumn breeze. That's what most of these songs are about.

AC: Lastly, how is everyone feeling with the folksy route the band has taken? Do you think it’ll remain in future albums, or do you think In the Pines will revert to their earlier psychedelic sounds?

We all enjoy playing these songs and writing songs in that sort of style, it’s a large part of what we all are inspired by. So, yes, I do think there will always be hints of folk and Americana-sounding stuff on future records, but it’ll always be something new.

I say it’s a large part of our inspiration, but it is really only a fraction. I see no boundaries when it comes to writing music in this group. No idea gets turned down, and everything is given an equal amount of consideration. I can guarantee you that our next record will sound like nothing we’ve done before.  It’s very important I believe, as an artist or any creative person, to go outside of your comfort zone. Comfort is like the killer of creativity! And you are responsible for developing your craft. I don’t want to be bound by any genre, because what’s the fun in that? 

Thanks again CJ for having me for this interview, it was a blast!

AC: Thank you again for your time! It would be rad if ITP made their way to the Pacific Northwest in the near future…

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Impossible Daze

Released January 28th, 2022 via Soul Step Records

1. Bird Song

2. Indifferent

3. Sweet Darlin

4. Avoid Myself

5. In My Dreams

6. Well I'll Be

7. Brother

8. I Don't Mind

9. Sylvan Island

10. Jeez Louise

11. Runnin 2 U

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Patrick Stolley with the assistance of Ion Harris at Future Apple Tree Studio in Rock Island, IL. All music written and performed by In The Pines.

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In The Pines

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CJ Sommerfeld (she/her) is a Vancouver-based freelance writer with a particular interest in the convergence of language, art and society. When she is not writing, you can find her experimenting with harmonic minor progressions on her keyboard.

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Tuff Bear Shares Indie Disco Track "Talk to You" (feat. bb sway) via Acrophase Records

via Hive Mind

Have you been craving some indie-disco, perfectly wobbly serotonin-inducing tunes? Introducing Tuff Bear, a Bristol, UK-based artist who has just released his latest track, "Talk to You," featuring bb sway.

Tuff Bear is an easy fix for anyone who's a fan of Mild High Club, 2016- era Jerry Paper, Soft Hair, and Drugdealer. "Talk to You" is the first glimpse of his first EP, Tuff Bear's Picnic, which will be out later this spring via Acrophase Records.

Throughout the pandemic, Vernon developed his sound and aesthetic drawing on 70s disco, 90s dance, and contemporary indie-pop. He started on this first instalment of the Tuff Bear project in April of 2020 before signing to Acrophase Records and began piecing together the collection with label-mate PWNT. 

Speaking about the project and this first single, Vernon says:

"Essentially, Tuff Bear's Picnic is a project centred on themes of self-reflection and optimism in the face of anxiety. I felt compelled to draw on the mixed bag of emotional states that we were subjected to for months upon months, while also investigating and romanticizing memories of pre-COVID normality. 

“During a period in which we were all robbed of our sense of togetherness, I took comfort in nostalgic disco/pop music of the 70s and 80s, where concepts such as this often take centre stage as a means to encourage unity through dance."

Listen to "Talk to You" below

Tuff Bear

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and marketing strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Janette King Sinks Into Self-Confidence with Euphoric New Video for "Ooh Yeah" (Hot Tramp Records)

Still from “Ooh Yeah” by Janette King

With less than a week until Valentine’s Day, songstress Janette King is paying intimate tribute to the ultimate lover – herself. The slinky and self-assured “Ooh Yeah”, off Janette’s debut EP What We Lost, is reborn with a liberated new music video.

“Ooh Yeah” sees Janette re-emerge with a deep admiration for all that she is worth, wrapping the listener in waves of inspiration to follow suit. Produced by GRAY, the song documents Janette’s journey into the realm of self-pleasure, offering a masterclass in putting yourself first and chasing your wildest dreams and greatest ambitions. “Ooh Yeah” elaborates on Janette’s unique concoction of R&B and woozy electronica, showcasing her vocal agility.

"'Ooh Yeah' is about breaking trauma patterns, "killing" your old self in order to be reborn into the greatest version of yourself,” Janette reflects on the track. “This idea of walking into a new sense of self came from the forced time alone due to the pandemic, where I was left to reflect and learn what my soul truly needs in order to feel whole.”

Still from “Ooh Yeah” by Janette King

In the new DIY-style video for “Ooh Yeah”, Janette and pals soak in the pleasures of indulgence, transcending through various states of euphoria. Between cupcakes, champagne and video games, the deeper meanings of solace are explored. The video is directed, shot, and edited by Alexandra B. and Elya M.

As Janette explains:

“These visuals are a celebration of joy. It’s a music video about what it means to feel good in one's own skin and not feeling shame when one enjoys that feeling. Liberating oneself from societal pressures and expressing one’s sexuality in whatever way it feels best. It’s about self-pleasure, love, community and independence.”

Watch the video for “Ooh Yeah” below!

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Janette King

Website | Instagram | Bandcamp

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music | Twitter | Facebook

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

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Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez Looks at Longing Head-On with New Video for “40 Days”

Still of Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez in “40 Days,” directed by Sofia Geld

The opening bars of Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez’s “40 Days” invoke a familiar feeling of all-consuming loneliness. From its first moments of gentle piano and haunting vocals, you are pulled into the Brooklyn-based singer’s personal experience of deep solitude and recovery. 

Released in May 2021, “40 Days” is just one of several emotionally-resonating songs off the singer’s debut album If They’re Mine. On this track, Sokolov-Gonzalez explores themes of longing. Her lyrics “I dreamed of you for forty nights and forty days” lament not being ready, or able, to let go of a version of yourself that no longer serves you. 

Still of Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez in “40 Days,” directed by Sofia Geld

While the song alone packs a heavy emotional punch, the experience is heightened by the captivating visuals of the recently-released music video. Premiered in December and directed by Sofia Geld, the video paints a visceral picture of Sokolov-Gonzalez’s experience, as she embodies the feelings of longing that inspire this track.

As “40 Days” opens on a decidedly-desolate note, it establishes shots of an empty home that feels silent and heavy with dust, emphasizing the feeling of something missing. Shots of body parts, belonging to Sokolov-Gonzalez and her backup dancers, appear fragmented on-screen as an instrumental transition shifts upwards; this suggests that though something is over, it is now time to pick up the pieces. 

Still of Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez in “40 Days,” directed by Sofia Geld

Just as the viewer sinks into a comfortable feeling of melancholy, the arrival of layered drum, bass and keyboard, as well as the introduction of Sokolov-Gonzalez’s vocals, transform the love-sick ballad into a much needed pick-me-up. 

Sokolov-Gonzalez’s powerful voice, enriched by a layered harmony, creates a choral sound that is both invigorating and tender. That rich, soft sound is mirrored in the warm light that permeates so many moments in her video. Geld’s directional vision embodies the sound of “40 Days,” which can best be described as the euphoria of letting light into a dark room. 

Still of Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez in “40 Days,” directed by Sofia Geld

The focal point of this video is the body – namely, the physical manifestations of longing and solitude. Seemingly sequestered in a dark home that may be understood as symbolic of the singer's mind, we watch as she returns to her body and her feeling of self. It is in the repetitive movement of the hands and the erratic dancing of the backup singers that the audience is able to understand a powerful somatic experience that can’t be translated through lyrics alone. 

Everything about this project is deeply moving. The smooth R&B of “40 Days” makes for an anthem that will have you driving around the block a second time just to hear it again. Similarly, the world created in the accompanying music video will pull you into a dream-like state from which you will be reluctant to wake up. 

Watch the video for “40 Days” below!

Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez

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Kate Addison

Website I Instagram

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Ura Star and Fireball Kid Release Sparkly Pop Album "Emotional Bros Hotline"

If we're being real, who hasn't been in their feelings lately? With their latest album, Emotional Bros Hotline, Ura Star and Fireball aren't afraid to be vulnerable. 

The sparkling pop rhythms, tender lyrics, and upbeat vocals with just a touch of hyper pop give us the rush of serotonin we need. The album dances through different genres of pop, drawing on emo, electronic, and mainstream influences.

Over the past decade, Ura Star & Fireball Kid have grown alongside each other as artists. This comes after their previous indie-rock ventures as Polaris long-listed band Stegosaurus and other East Coast Canadian rock outfits.

Now working in Montreal, the duo uses starry-eyed dance music to spotlight vulnerability between friends, kindred maritime party values, frantic emotional dispatches via voicemail, and how weekend night celebrations tie it all together.

Listen to Emotional Bros Hotline below

Executive produced, mixed and mastered by @_xomargoxo_

All art by @pup.py

Production and mixing by @_sidechick_ on Come Thru and Be There For You

Piano by @brimacombeben on Be There For You & vocals/writing on Come Thru

Vocals by @pretemccoy on Working It Out and Be There For You

Guitar by @karl.heck on Kissin N Makin Love

Hotline operator @realvoid on Kissin N Makin Love

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Milk Jennings Shares Debut Single "Head Talk" (Prod. Sam Cohen) via Telefono & ORG Music

Walking the line between dreamy ambiguity and the harsh complexity of untangling a friendship, Milk Jennings shares his debut single "Head Talk." Milk Jennings, who is one half of Chinese American Bear. Accompanied by a surrealistic music video released via Telefono and ORG Music, the single gives us a taste of his upcoming album to be released this spring.

"Head Talk" was created in collaboration with Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Alexandra Savior, Cass McCombs), with the music video produced by Milk Jennings. The mellow tune teeters between love and resentment in a friendship with non-linear, hazy lyrics imitating the complex, often chaotic inner monologue.

The "Head Talk" music video was shot, animated & directed by Milk Jennings. The process consisted of taking 3D photogrammetry scans of himself and importing them into Cinema 4D, where he then manipulated and edited them, adding in lights and cameras. The overall direction takes inspiration from 15th/16th-century renaissance portrait paintings, adapting them to the strange digital world. The literal exploding heads are an ode to the song's lyrics, partly to offset the seriousness of the song's message with a bit of humour. 

Watch the video below

Milk Jennings

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Dutch Indie Quintet The Klittens Tackle Coming of Age on New Track "Herkenbosch"

The Klittens by Megan Bruinen

On their latest offering “Herkenbosch,” Dutch five-piece The Klittens tour a small town just south of Holland. With a population of about 4,200 people, a single church and a skatepark, the modest Herkenbosch is the hometown of guitarist Winne Conradi’s parents, and where she spent her teenage years.

“Herkenbosch” still by Megan Bruinen

Following the release of their single “Canned Air” —premiered on October 15th via So Young Magazine— “Herkenbosch” is the band’s take on a theme as old as time: coming of age. Unlike its lamenting predecessors, such as “Old World” by The Modern Lovers, “Herkenbosch” finds lightness in reminiscing, and outgrowing, a past version of oneself: “You can’t live in a hamster ball/I miss the ruins of my childhood/What else can we do about the modern way of death?” sings The Klittens’ Yaël Dekker.

“Herkenbosch” still by Megan Bruinen

Fittingly, “Herkenbosch” supports The Klittens starting a new chapter as a band. Since the release of their 2020 maxi-single Pigeonhole, the group opened the 2020 Amsterdam Fashion Week in Paradiso, played the Left Of The Dial Festival at Maassilo in Rotterdam, and caught the attention of Beats Per Minute and Matthew Wilkinson of Apple Music’s The Matt Wilkinson Show. 

“Herkenbosch” still by Megan Bruinen

Along with “Canned Air,” “Herkenbosch” is The Klittens’ second hint at what we hope is a full-release to come.

Watch the music video for “Herkenbosch” below! 

The Klittens

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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Sounds Cool 2021 (Also Cool’s Top Albums)

Illustration by Malaika Astorga

Once again, music has unsurprisingly gotten us through the year. Throughout the whirlwind of 2021, we here at Also Cool were lucky enough to discover a range of compelling releases across a spectrum of genres. What unites these projects is their radiance, their ability to captivate us through trials and triumphs and be a constant when seemingly nothing else was. In no particular order (except alphabetical), we’ve compiled a mix of stand-outs from our 2021 favourites. 

If you haven’t been introduced to these artists via our music section or radio shows on N10.AS and FSR, take a listen to our year in review. There’s something here for everyone, and maybe you’ll see one of your friends here, too – spread the love and send them this article to tell them that they are indeed also cool.  

We’d like to extend our gratitude to all the artists on this list for keeping us company through the last year. Our listening habits have been elevated and comforted by these selections, and we’re looking forward to what’s in store from here and beyond in 2022.

Whether experienced in-person during the brief resurgence of live music, or in solitude weathering out your headphones, here’s to music for filling the void in the best way possible. 

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Sounds Cool 2021 (Also Cool’s Top Albums)

Ada Lea - one hand on the steering wheel, the other sewing a garden (Next Door Records / Saddle Creek)

Interview with Ada Lea by Malaika Astorga (October 21st, 2021) 

“The introspective folk/pop songs walk with you through the process of finding your identity and losing it again to someone who's not worth it, daydreaming about life in other cities, and wondering when to go home again.”

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BACKXWASH - I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES (Ugly Hag Records)

Interview with Backxwash by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter and Rebecca L. Judd (June 20th, 2021)

“With I Lie Here, BACKXWASH claims her title as contemporary hip-hop’s greatest force to be reckoned with, and we are celebrating her reign.”

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Bnny - Everything (Fire Talk)

Interview with Bnny by Malaika Astorga (August 20th, 2021)

“Written in sessions that span several years by singer Jess Viscius as she processed the death of her partner, the album is a chronicle of love at its most complex and loss at its most persistent.”

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Clairo - Sling (FADER)

“On her second album, reluctant Gen Z ambassador Clairo turns back the clock, embracing classic touchstones of 1970s folk.” — Cat Zhang, Pitchfork

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Das Beat - Identität (Arbutus Records)

Interview with Das Beat by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (June 3rd, 2021) 

“In four flawless tracks outfitted with celestial atmospheres and pulsating undercurrents, Identität offers a dioramic perspective of the couple’s intimate creative dynamics, backdropped with the essence of Berlin’s esoteric nightlife.”

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Dish Pit - DIPSHIT (Self-Released)

“Following the sudden closure of their record label, Montreal-based DISHPIT's long-delayed debut album is finally seeing the light of day as the band begins working on the follow-up. DIPSHIT — recorded with veteran producer Steve Albini — unleashes a devastation of post-punk and lo-fi grunge upon the world.” — Matt Owczarz, Exclaim!

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Dorothea Paas - Anything Can’t Happen (Telephone Explosion)

Interview with Dorothea Pass by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (May 7th, 2021)

“On her new LP Anything Can’t Happen, Paas illuminates how she came to define success as encountering and reconciling self-discovery through her work, all while establishing growth on her own terms.”

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Ducks Ltd. - Modern Fiction (Royal Mountain)

Interview with Ducks Ltd. by Malaika Astorga (August 17th, 2021) 

“Toronto's Ducks Ltd.'s new single How Lonely Are You? is the perfect soundtrack for your mildly existential end-of-summer playlist.”

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Hildegard - Hildegard (Chivi Chivi / Section1)

Interview with Hildegard by Malaika Astorga (June 8th, 2021)

“Their debut record has been described as the result of merging their identities, coupled with a complete loss of ego. The result is a beautiful and experimental eight-track experience, documenting the creative bond they share.”

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Jane Inc. - Number One (Telephone Explosion)

Interview with Jane Inc. by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter 

“Building off samples, break-beats and Ableton tutorials, Jane Inc.’s debut Number One serves as a reminder that Bezic is no one-trick-pony.”

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Kekko - Dreaming Life (Spirit Goth Records) 
Interview with Kekko by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter

“If not already evident by the band’s namesake —which combines the last names of the husband and wife duo, Tim Kek and Cherie Ko— Kek’s lush atmospherics intertwined with Ko’s ethereal vocals manifest a radiance unique to a soulmate connection.”

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kolenżanka - Place Is (Bar/None)

Interview with kolenżanka by Malaika Astorga (June 16th, 2021)

“To leave an old life behind and begin a new one is an anxiety-inducing and transformative process that Phoenix-born and NYC-based singer kolenżanka has mastered.”

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L’Impératrice - Tako Tsubo (microqlima)

Interview with L’Impératrice by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (May 22nd, 2021)

“L’Impératrice’s latest venture is a shimmering think-piece on life’s ever-perplexing phenomenon of broken-heart syndrome, which derived from the name Tako Tsubo (meaning “octopus trap” in Japanese).”

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Magi Merlin - Drug Music (Self-Released)

Magi Merlin “Mock Meat” review by Malaika Astorga (February 23rd, 2021) 

“A little spooky, a little bit sultry, Magi Merlin's "Mock Meat" draws you in with textured sounds and silky vocals.”

Magi Merlin Drug Music premiere by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (March 5th, 2021) 

“Throughout Drug Music, Magi Merlin owns her truth between entrancing beats and smokey basslines, while getting hot and heavy with lush vocal harmonies and a playful raspiness.”

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May Rio - Easy Bammer (Dots Per Inch)

Interview with May Rio by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (June 22nd, 2021) 

“Much like its origin story, May Rio’s Easy Bammer documents and celebrates the romantic unexpectedness of everyday life.”

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Motorists - Surrounded (Bobo Integral / We Are Time / Debt Offensive)

Interview with Motorists by Malaika Astorga (September 16th, 2021) 

“Comparable to various eras of punk, jangle rock, and mid-2000s Canadian indie rock, Motorists express their struggles with isolation by pairing a post-punk vocal tone with optimistic and upbeat melodies.”

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New Chance - Real Time (We Are Time) 
Interview with New Chance by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (July 28th, 2021) 

“On her latest offering Real Time, Cheong brings her reflections on nature’s abstract cycles to the forefront, between spellbinding textures and an eclectic sampling of everything from Calypso percussion to a sunrise rooster crow.”

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Ouri - Frame of a Fauna (Born Twice / Lighter Than Air) 
Interview with Ouri by Rebecca L. Judd (October 30th, 2021) 

“Marking the latest notch in Ouri’s belt, Frame of a Fauna carefully wields experimental and classical curiosities to seek deeper truths between the bars.”

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Oxford Drama - What’s The Deal With Time? (Self-Released)

Interview with Oxford Drama by Rebecca L. Judd (July 7th, 2021)

“Inspired by the never-ending mazes of modern technology and society, the duo – consisting of Małgorzata Dryjanska and Marcin Mrówka – transforms crushing emotions and uncertainties into a musical experience that transcends the turmoil.”

Oxford Drama “Too Busy” video premiere by Malaika Astorga (December 9th, 2021)

“Although it may seem like everyone else has their lives together, they're probably just good at keeping a curated online presence. Our Polish pals Oxford Drama encapsulate this chaos energy perfectly in their music video for “Too Busy”, a single off their recent album What's The Deal With Time?”

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PACKS - Take The Cake (Royal Mountain / Fire Talk) 

Interview with PACKS by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (May 17th, 2021) 

“Toronto’s PACKS are filling an indie-rock void with their sound that is equal parts laid-back and jangly, while also sophisticatedly pensive and bright.”

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PinkPantheress - to hell with it (Parlophone) 

“The 20-year-old UK producer broke out on TikTok with snippet-sized songs that ache with nostalgia for the recent past. Her intimate, lived-in music succeeds where cheaper imitations fail.” — Arielle Gordon, Pitchfork

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Yves Tumor - The Asymptotical World (Warp Records) 

“Even on a brief EP, Yves Tumor’s prismatic world seems to get bigger as it mutates into certain conventions of goth rock, dream pop, and shoegaze.” — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork

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Listen to our year in review below!

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Beatrice Deer Extends Multidimensional Motivation on Sixth Album "SHIFTING"

Beatrice Deer. Photo courtesy of Alexi Hobbs

With this time of year comes the inevitable flow of introspective reflections. Accomplishments, setbacks, and moments in between shape our stories all the same, informing who we are and granting the strength needed for what’s ahead. Determined to encapsulate this process of forward motion, Montreal-based “Inuindie” artist Beatrice Deer has released her sixth studio album SHIFTING, out now.

Deer has garnered acclaim for her innovative approach to indie rock. Her award-winning catalogue has been recognized for its fusion of traditional Inuit tales and throat singing with contemporary folk and pensive originality. SHIFTING continues in that vein, documenting the singer-songwriter’s road towards self-actualization. “Emotionally, spiritually, and physically, the transition towards our authentic selves continues,” says Deer of her latest project. “As I shift into the position where I’m meant to be, I want to keep using what I’ve learned to help others.”

Beatrice Deer. Photo courtesy of Alexi Hobbs

Across the album, Deer orients her unique experience in the universally-binding challenge that is seeking light through the darkness. As she expresses her captivating story across three languages (Inuktitut, English and French) and numerous sub-genres, her latest release maintains a steady focus on illustrating the path towards continual transformation.

Certain tracks off of SHIFTING explicitly allude to the woman-in-progress. On recent single “THE STORM,” Deer wields post-punk sensibilities to heighten the metaphor of a northern snowstorm representing the flurries of life itself. “SUNAUVVA” grounds Deer in a shoegaze-y smog, with her euphoric voice eventually breaking from the percussive and throat-sung fury, determined to heal. “MOTHER” coddles the listener in its sonic warmth, as Deer pays a touching tribute to the woman whose journey has inspired her own.

Beatrice Deer. Photo courtesy of the artist

Elsewhere in the album, Deer turns that meditative gaze outwards. With “UQAUTINNGA,” Deer passionately implores the children of tomorrow to believe in their own futures. “HISTORY” sees Deer’s airy vocals cut deep with poignant lyricism; she shakes the listener by the shoulders over a determined indie beat. “Get out of your history and into your destiny,” she cries – these adamant reflections aim to stoke change in others and, at once, serve as reminders for the self.

Altogether, the sonic and lyrical elements to SHIFTING traverse the same meandering and enlightening road. Its dips and forks tell stories of versatility and resilience, grounded in Beatrice Deer’s distinctive blend of tradition and experimentation.

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SHIFTING

Released December 10th, 2021

1. FREE

2. UQAUTINNGA

3. AANNGIQ

4. ILINNUT - a prayer

5. THE STORM

6. SUNAUVVA

7. CANNIBAL

8. HISTORY

9. MOTHER (version francaise)

10. CHRISTMAS

Vocals, Inuit throat singing, and ukele by Beatrice Deer

Acoustic/electric guitars, keyboards, and bass by Chris McCarron

Drums and keyboards by Mark Wheaton

Drone synthesizer and bass by Michael Felber

Lap steel and acoustic/electric guitars by Jordey Tucker

French horn, piano, and keyboards by Pietro Amato

Harp by Sarah Pagé

Flute and saxophones by Erik Hove

Accordion by Eva Deer

Backing vocals by Elliott Wheaton


All lyrics written by Beatrice Deer except for AANGIQ (traditional)

All songs written by Beatrice Deer and arranged by Mark Wheaton & Chris McCarron

Recorded, engineered and produced by Mark Wheaton & Chris McCarron at BSE Studios and Skybarn in Montreal

Lyrics for MOTHER (version française) adapted by Kathia Rock

Mixed by Jace Lasek {tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11}

Mixed by Pietro Amato {tracks 3, 4, 9}

Mastered by Philip Gosselin

Album cover art by Niap, design & layout by Heath Cairns

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Beatrice Deer

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

YouTube | Apple Music | Twitter | Facebook | Website

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

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Take A Sip of Calm Lake's Sparkling Anti-Jingle "Le Seltzer"

Single art by Jess

With yet another series of doom-and-gloom announcements under our belts, it’s easy to get caught up in the one-two punch otherwise known as the past couple of years. Now more than ever is the time to practice gratitude and reflect on the little things that bring us joy: aimless strolls, loved ones, and — of course — a crisp can of seltzer. Montreal’s Calm Lake has freshly released “Le Seltzer”, a gleaming bedroom-pop track that does just that.

Calm Lake is a project by Filipino-Canadian songwriter Nikki Celis (known as one-half of shoegaze duo cmfrtble.), who is currently based in Montreal. Calm Lake is a collaborative effort featuring friends from around Canada, including Andrew Joshua, Shane Spencer, Alex Lavoie and Jessica Segura. The project finds their inspiration from 90s emo and dream-pop, citing influences like Pedro the Lion, The Radio Dept., and Bilinda May.

Nikki Celis of Calm Lake. Photo courtesy of Nikki Celis

“Le Seltzer” marks the project’s second single, following the angsty “Toothache” released in August of this year. “Le Seltzer” was written as an earnest tribute to the locally-owned seltzer water brand that started during the pandemic. The track is described as an “anti-jingle”, inspired by the fluorescent catchiness of ‘90s product commercials. On the story of “Le Seltzer”, Celis remarks:

"In Montreal, people have been finding ways to express their creativity, whether that's making new musical projects like Calm Lake, making their 'quarantine songs' or even starting new businesses. This is my take on a quarantine song."

From start to finish, “Le Seltzer” paints a sanguine picture with dream-pop production that’s as effervescent as the beverage itself. This track leaves you with no choice but to smile, evoking memories of sunset-tinted park hangs and breezy balconies through its jangly fog. As major fans of this delicious drink, we here at Also Cool are pleased to report that Calm Lake’s latest single is just as satisfying. Kick back with a can of yuzu blossom and pomelo and don’t lose sight of the escapades that await you.

Stream “Le Seltzer” below!

Calm Lake

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

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Mue Releases Abstract IDM Track "Andand" (Halocline Trance)

Single artwork for “Andand”. Artwork courtesy of Mue

While I can’t speak to other’s experiences of the genre, this reviewer has gravitated towards instrumental and ambient electronic music for its ability to produce spaces and energies few other genres can accomplish. The ability to blend composition with refined style and improvisation leads to pretty unique and inexplicable headspaces while listening, it seems to make me feel all the more aware of our world continuing and ever changing around myself, that I’m dwarfed by it all. 

So, it’s always intriguing to know of talented Canadian producers continuing this tradition, inventing their own spaces and compositions made impossible to replicate. Montreal's IDM duo Mue have released their next single "Andand" in anticipation of their full-length LP Les vasières.

Catherine Debard and Léon Lo of Mue. Photo courtesy of Vincent Castonguay

Comprised of Léon Lo and Catherine Debard (YlangYlang), Mue’s production blends elements of minimalism, ambient electronica, and, in their own words, the “natural phenomena” of their real-time hardware improvisations to intertwine patterns, textures, and produce a sense of space and scale.

“Andand” continues a precedent from Mue’s previous singles, evoking that cerebral in-between feeling before you’re swept off to sleep. Warped piano chimes and fractured vocal samples cut through echoed clicks and bass kicks like heartbeat arrhythmia. It evokes the feeling of remaining fixed in place within a cycling void. Imagine hearing howls of a grand piano from the innards of a derelict underground tunnel system. 

Lo describes “Andand” as a composition with, “no binaries [and] no simple opposition”. “Either/or is subsumed by infinite relations and dizzying possibilities, by the perpetual crest of and/and.”

“Andand” is accessible for streaming on Bandcamp and Soundcloud as well as all other major streaming platforms. Mue’s full-length LP Les vasières is planned to release by next spring via Toronto label Halocline Trance on digital platforms and vinyl press. 

Stream “Andand” below!

Mue

Instagram | Soundcloud | Bandcamp

Tune in to Debard and Lo’s monthly radio show on N10.AS, Heavy Metal Parking Lot – streaming every 4th Saturday of the month at 5pm EST!

Gabriel Lunn is a writer, multimedia journalist, and pop music enthusiast based out of Victoria BC. When he isn’t trying to decipher the human condition he can usually be found going for long runs or collecting vinyl records he really doesn’t need.

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Julia Daigle Shares Glittering New Album "Un singe sur l'épaule" (via Lisbon Lux Records)

Julia Daigle (member of the duo Paupière) has released her album "Un singe sur l'épaule" via Lisbon Lux Records. The album is a collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Dominic Vanchesteing. Drawing on Kate Bush, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and even some krautrock, glittering psychedelic melodies carry Julia's latest body of work. 

The song Nanette was inspired by the biography of Nanette Workman and the energy of New York City. Julia whispers, "Fifth Avenue dans l'infini Sous les néons, les dieux sourient." It's the perfect soundtrack for your weekend adventures and your "I'm The Main Character" playlists. 

The video for Nanette is inspired by The Star, Arcanum XVII of the Tarot de Marseille and the work of Henry Corbin. It's an excursion into a haunted landscape, an emotional labyrinth that has become physical, where a figure retraces, in an infinite ring, the path of her inner wanderings. In this liminal space between night and dawn, she wanders through strange - and unexpectedly familiar - places in search of a sign, a key. Territory without landmarks of the exile of the heart. 

For fans of Melody's Echo Chamber, Wild Nothing, and TOPS, Julia's Daigle's "Un singe sur l'épaule" is for you.

Julia Daigle by David Cannon

Julia Daigle

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Dayton Swim Club’s Debut "Hangman" Invites You to Rage With Them (Perpetual Doom)

Nick Flessa and Dominique Matelson of Dayton Swim Club. Photo courtesy of Mario Luna

A rager takes place in some unspecified, sprawling Southwestern desert. Visualize Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas’ opening scene, except noir. Dayton Swim Club are playing for the party-goers when a mob of zombies overwhelm the space. These zombies look familiar; they are not corporeal revenants, but instead a tyrannized social cult. 

Fresh from American indie label Perpetual Doom, Dayton Swim Club’s debut Hangman offers a soundscape for pensive days. Its seven hypnotic tracks will rouse thoughts about sinister social norms as the sequel of a tormented history. Nick Flessa’s droned lead vocals are reminiscent of a late-70s shoegaze mood; together with Dominique Matelson’s ethereal voice and Mario Luna’s fuzzy, reverb-soaked guitar riffs, Dayton Swim Club’s concoction of space and distorted atmosphere(s) are magnified.

Melodic, lo-fi guitar riffs hint towards 60s psychedelia, setting the stage in “Pillow Talk.” As these riffs darken into an ambient sparseness, a collection of Me Too realities and other familiar authoritative perversions are confronted. Flessa and Matelson spiral between direct address, first, second and third person POV, alluding to the twisted yet very real nature of the track’s themes. “Night Breed” is a “Pillow Talk” season 2 of sorts: here, the sun sets and the mood dampens. Backing vocals evocative of female screams haunt an arid town where street lamps flicker. A rhythmically dark guitar persists, reminding us that here, days are as sunless as the nights.  

An eerie mélange of strings pierces the hovering gloomy clouds in "Landers”. The remote, Californian desert community that the track was named after renders a multifarious conceit for issues related to individualism and destruction. The track’s motif “Be your own man / Be your own hang / Be your own hang, man”  is chanted by Flessa and, paralleled with Matelson’s operatic vocals, induces an artful abstraction of social terrors. Dayton Swim Club have wrapped resentments of the ruinous Manifest Destiny and other deteriorating effects of political ideologies in shoegazed, Western-noir packaging.   

We caught up with Flessa just after the release of “Landers” to chat about the (pandemic-induced) means of recording and mixing the album, tonal and lyrical inspirations, and the bar featured in the “Landers” video.

Dayton Swim Club. Photo courtesy of the band

CJ Sommerfeld for Also Cool Mag: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with Also Cool today, and cheers on the new album!  What forces were responsible for Nick Flessa Band’s conceptual and sonic transition into Dayton Swim Club? 

Nick Flessa for Dayton Swim Club: Thank you! I guess the main force behind the transition is my collaboration with guitarist Mario Luna, who took over composition and production duties. Mario has a strong and focused vision for the project. He’s also responsible for a lot of our visual presentation – flyers, band photos, etc. So far in Dayton Swim Club I’ve mostly been a lyricist and frontman, as well as the de facto manager.  

Nick Flessa Band hit a stride in 2019 with a lineup including Dominique Matelson, Jessica Perelman and Kirsten Bladh. At the beginning we were playing songs from my previous solo releases. Once this band became a regular unit, and we started writing new material together, it began evolving into its current form. Without having released anything, we played three shows as Dayton Swim Club in late 2019/early 2020 shortly before the shutdown. 

Also Cool: Dayton Swim Club is a collaborative ensemble between numerous L.A.-based musicians. Were you acquainted with these artists prior to creating music together, or did you get together for this project? 

Nick Flessa: We mostly knew each other in some capacity. It’s funny because Mario and I went to CalArts at the exact same time but didn’t cross paths until later, through music. Then we kept running into each other at Kaldi Coffee in Atwater Village and became friends. A few years later I also met Dominique at Kaldi, where she was working at the time. Greg Marino, who plays sax on the record, works there too. Mario, Jessica and I have all played in another project called Fragile Gang. Kirsten is an old friend from Cincinnati, where I’m from originally. J.D. Carrera (pedal steel on “Predatory Drift”) and I have collaborated a bunch and were roommates for a long time, and Pauline Lay (strings on DSC) is another art/music friend. 

Most of the players we’ve worked with are people I've been familiar with already – knowing so many excellent musicians is a huge perk of living in Los Angeles. The current iteration of the band includes our friends Daniel and Scarlett (on bass and synth, respectively), whom I met for the first time at a practice a few months ago. Mario brought them in and they’ve been doing great work – our live show feels stronger and more cohesive than ever.  

AC: Hangman was written during the pandemic – what was it about that time that encouraged the creation of this project? 

NF: Like many, I needed a project to hold me together during that time. At first it was a challenge to try to coordinate everything remotely, but Mario and I developed a workflow where he would send me song ideas and I would write lyrics in response, then record vocals and send them to him for mixing – Postal Service style. We found ways for our other collaborators to contribute parts remotely, and developed some pre-pandemic demos into full-fledged songs. 

Working on the record helped create structure to combat the general isolation of that period. The stakes of life itself felt raised, and since I had the freedom to focus solely on writing lyrics, I tried to take the day-to-day as a prompt to explore my thoughts and feelings about the past few years as we collectively bore the bizarre brunt of American history – a nightmare from which I'm still trying to awaken. I took a break from drinking, sharpened the focus of my reading and writing, and went on long walks. Making this record was part of surviving and processing that time and the years that led up to it, fueled by some distant hope that we’d eventually be able to finish, share and perform the project.  

AC: The locations where [the video for your track] “Landers” was filmed —Landers and Palm Springs—reflect the death cult that the United States has become. Can you tell me a little more regarding what it is about these communities that represents both a history and present state of self-destruction? Can you elaborate on the track’s lyrical motif “Be your own man, be your own hang-man"? 

NF: I spent much of 2020 in Palm Springs at my partner Chloe’s dad’s house, right next to a public golf course. It was a huge luxury to be in a relaxed environment with a swimming pool and plenty of space to walk around. It felt like I was hiding out on a permanent vacation during the apocalypse. I walked around the golf course frequently, and thought a lot about how many resources went into maintaining it. 

Those thoughts led to more thoughts about Western expansion, “Manifest destiny”, and the US as a colonial superpower; how the pandemic laid bare so many structural failures, but how control is always prioritized here. American individualism came full circle in 2020, a sort of ouroboros where the self-made head eats the tail of its own self-destruction — the anti-mask movement and nationally sanctioned super-spreader events being examples. “Be your own man, be your own hang-man” refers to this, and also to the isolation of having to be one’s own “hang” during the pandemic.  

Landers is a remote community in the high desert near Joshua Tree. It’s beautiful, isolated, and the site of a lot of extraterrestrial and UFO sightings. We performed there one night in 2019 a few days after the death of the late, great David Berman. It was a heavy and heady trip. Jessica’s drum kit got run over by a drunk driver in the parking lot of the venue. There had just been a rainstorm, which caused our ill-equipped cars to get stuck in the sandy dirt roads on the way in and out. The night had an enchanted and cursed quality to it. This experience was also a tonal and lyrical inspiration for the song. The venue we played at was called Landers Brew, it’s also featured in the video. Just a few weeks after we filmed there, it was bought by a developer and shut down. I learned this via Instagram when I announced the video premiere.

AC: The remainder of the album carries strong socio-political concerns. Much has changed between when you wrote this album to now. In what ways do you think your next album will reflect this social change? 

NF: One concrete change is that we’ve all been able to gather together and perform live shows, now that there’s a vaccine. That’s been very new and exciting, but also a big moment of adaptation.  As a group we are hoping to have the opportunity to record in a studio together. We are gunning to make a very deliberate record that is conceptually thought through with an arc from start to finish. There's a sense in which Hangman is a cut-up record in terms of its structure, and I think that’s a strength, but I also think a more focused follow-up is in order.  

As much as the 2020 election was a pivotal moment, things aren’t great here. There’s a point, politically, where you can never go home again. As much as the attempt at a sanitized return to the Obama era has been a reprieve for some, I think there is much worse to come unless the Left can consolidate in a meaningful way.  

Our music speaks to a popular resentment. It’s valid to feel resentment at the way things work in the US, and that feeling is potent; ideally this is a power that can be harnessed to fight injustice rather than enforce it. While there are plenty of things to be optimistic about, even the most seemingly progressive of our elected politicians are doing more to appease Republicans than represent their own constituents. Corrupt city councilmen abuse the unhoused with impunity. Military budgets continue to inflate. The charade can’t be kept up forever, though. People are savvy. We can all see it happening in real time. Climate change, too, promises big catastrophes soon. This will continue to change the world we live in, and by necessity my writing will reflect that change.  

AC: Thank you again for your time, I’m loving this album and am looking forward to your future projects. What can we expect to see next from Dayton Swim Club? 

NF: Thank you so much! We have a few new things coming up, including a video by our brilliant friend Will Wiesenfeld (Baths) for our track “Predatory Drift”. We’re also doing a TV theme song cover for Perpetual Doom’s Stay Tuned compilation.  

Several DSC members have solo projects with upcoming shows and releases. Mario, Scarlett and Daniel are all playing in Daniel’s project Dearly Departure at Substance Festival in November. Dominique has a solo record she’s been working on concurrently with this one, coming soon. I'm working on a cover of a song by our friend and labelmate Austin Leonard Jones, also coming soon.  

We’re DJing labelmate Grady Strange’s residency at the Echo on November 1st, ahead of a short hiatus before one final 2021 show in December. Once we wrap these, then it’s back to the drawing board. 

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HANGMAN

Released September 17th, 2021 via Perpetual Doom

1. Darker Moves

2. Pillow Talk

3. Night Breed

4. Landers

5. Predatory Drift

6. Rage All Night

7. DSC

Produced and mixed by Mario Luna

Contributors include Jessica Perelman, Kirsten Bladh, Pauline Lay, Greg Marino, and J.D. Carrera

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Dayton Swim Club

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CJ Sommerfeld (she/her) is a Vancouver-based freelance writer with a particular interest in the convergence of language, art and society. When she is not writing, you can find her experimenting with harmonic minor progressions on her keyboard.

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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