WATCH / SHARE “THE FUTURE IS DEAD” HERE
BUY / STREAM CERULEAN HERE
TOUR DATES CONTINUE LATER THIS MONTH // GET TICKETS HERE
ALL TOUR DATES LISTED BELOW
"It’s another lyrical vessel of yearning and emotional reckoning matched up with strummed acoustic guitar, further setting the scene for what Cerulean has in store." - FLOOD
"Cerulean is more astral than backroads, a soundscape that gives Yates room to ruminate, approaching the concert hall atmospherics of The War on Drugs, Andy Shauf, and Big Thief." - The Creek 100.9
“Yates has now asserted himself as one of Canada’s most unique folk artists with a true knack for effective songwriting.” - Canadian Beats
"An enchanting song of acceptance and resolve, Ken Yates’ “The Big One” is a soothing and stirring apocalyptic lullaby that finds refuge in the face of life’s fragility." - Atwood Magazine
"Ken has earned a strong reputation as a bona-fide composer who combines his emotionally charged storytelling with some incredible and unforgettable melodies.” - Great Dark Wonder
“The Future Is Dead” Video Still
This summer, Ken Yates has been touring across Canada and the U.S. together with Jadea Kelly, Abigail Lapell, Jenny Berkel, Brian Dunne, and Kathleen Edwards supporting his new record, Cerulean, available everywhere now. Today, just before he’s set to return to the road with Stephanie Lambring later this month, the songwriter is sharing the new video for “The Future Is Dead” from director Alex Stephenson.
"When I first sent this song to Alex, he had the idea of combining animation with live action shots using a ‘probe lens’,” says Yates. “We wanted to capture the futile feeling of ‘falling down the rabbit hole’ of the news cycle, and the anxiety that comes from the daily bombardment of information. These days it seems like we're waking up to a new heart break every morning, which at times is so overwhelming it becomes paralyzing. Some days you want to run away from it, some days you want to fight it, and some days you can't help but get dragged down by it. By using a probe lens to film in very small spaces, Alex created these incredible shots of claustrophobic environments for animator Kwan Yi Chan to design a character who's stuck in a loop and essentially running from her own brain.”
“The song felt like it was about a paranoia and fear of the outside world, and when I asked Ken about it he pretty much confirmed I was right,” says Stephenson. “Since the song has a central character who is trapped by her own misperceptions, it made sense to have a central location that we could start the video by entering at the beginning, and leaving at the end. Starting and beginning with the same object in the same place - albeit with changes that happen to it throughout the story - is always an appealing idea to me, and this seemed perfect for that. The narrative of the song is cyclical, so it made sense for the video to do the same. Physically it seems like she is moving around a lot in the video, but in the end it turns out she was always standing in the same place, ignoring that her world is falling apart around her.”
WATCH / SHARE “THE FUTURE IS DEAD” HERE
MORE ABOUT CERULEAN
Cerulean meets Yates at his darkest and most vulnerable, as he transforms the pain of grief, fear and loss into an 11-track quest towards hope, light and peace. A crucial vehicle out of the depths of darkness and bitterness for Yates, Cerulean serves as a powerful reemergence filled with his signature remarkable vocal intimacy as well as a profound yet candid peek into the universal human experience.
LISTEN / SHARE "DON'T MEAN TO WAKE YOU" FEAT. STEPHANIE LAMBRING
In May 2020, Yates released his third album, Quiet Talkers, which was met with high praise from tastemakers like Atwood Magazine, who wrote the album's track, "Surviving is Easy" is "an earnest, heartfelt rendering of everyday struggle." Author and host of the popular The Minimalists Podcast, Joshua Fields Millburn said of the album, "That ebullient feeling when you stumble into something special—that’s what I felt when I happened upon this album. A quiet masterpiece—winsome, muscular songwriting, perfect for a late-night drive." Praise also has come in the form of a co-sign from fellow musician John Mayer, who said, “Want to hear a great song? I mean a REALLY great song? Ken Yates wrote a tune called “I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love” and posted a live video of it on YouTube. This song moved me when I first heard it and it still does today.”
WATCH / SHARE “HONEST LIGHT” FT CAROLINE MARIE BROOKS HERE
WATCH / SHARE “BEST OF THE BROKEN THINGS” HERE
Over the last decade, Ken Yates has solidified himself as a prolific musician, combining heartfelt lyricism, genuine authenticity and hypnotic guitar strums. After studying at the Berklee College of Music, Yates released The Backseat EP in 2011, followed by his full-length debut Twenty-Three in 2013. He won the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award in 2014 for his song "The One That Got Away" and released his second album, Huntsville, in 2016, produced by Jim Bryson. By 2017, Yates was making waves in folk with his poignant songwriting, winning the awards for Canadian Folk Music Award for both Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year. Now, with a fresh perspective and renewed sense of self, Yates brings honesty, growth and profound peace to his latest work, Cerulean. Nonetheless, Cerulean feels like a hard reset on Yates’ art and artistry. Reuniting with producer Jim Bryson, the album firmly steps into indie folk and alternative territories – he cites Big Thief, Andy Shauf, and The War On Drugs as a few of his inspirations.
WATCH / SHARE “THE BIG ONE” FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS
WATCH / SHARE “CONSOLATION PRIZE” FT. KATIE PRUITT HERE
TOUR DATES
09/27 Southgate House Newport, KY *
09/28 SPACE Evanston, IL *
09/29 20 Front Street Lake Orion, MI *
09/30 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI *
10/01 The Timber House Rochester, NY *
10/03 Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 New York, NY *
10/04 Pie Shop Washington, DC *
10/05 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, PA *
10/06 Spire Center Plymouth, MA *
10/08 Cafe 939 The Red Room Boston, MA *
10/09 The Parlor Room Northampton, MA *
10/20 Aeolian Hall London, ON Tickets %
10/27 Red Bird Live Ottawa, ON %
* With Stephanie Lambring (Solo)
% Full Band Headlining Performance
All tickets can be found HERE
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