WATCH / SHARE “TIME” HERE
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LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE OUT MAY 17, 2024 VIA SLOW WEATHER
PRE-SAVE LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE HERE
TOUR DATES BEGIN MAY 16 - FULL DATES LISTED BELOW
“Major Love — the collaborative project between Edmonton songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Colleen Brown and Scenic Route to Alaska — are following up their 2018 debut this May, excavating the painful reverberations of pandemic isolation with latest single "Making the Most of It." Produced by Marcus Paquin, the upcoming record promises catharsis and introspection like only Brown and co. can provide.” Exclaim! | Most Anticipated Albums of 2024
Photo Credit : Ryan Parker // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
The new track from Major Love, “Time”, from their upcoming album, Live, Laugh, Major Love, “reflects on the passing of youth, the loss of years in lockdown, the looming reality of death, and even the sort of comforting promise of its inevitable arrival for each of us,” says songwriter Colleen Brown.
Brown and the band; Trevor Mann on guitar and vocals, Shea Connor on drums and vocals, and Murray Wood on bass (who also make up the trio Scenic Route To Alaska) recorded the single literally in time - to sync up with the ticking of the clock’s second hand. “We took pains to create space, and not to fill every nook and cranny with sound,” explains Brown. “I love how Trevor’s guitar mimics the lead vocal, but they never totally align. They feel like otherworldly echoes to me in some Chris Isaak musical universe.”
The song arrives with visuals from Dale Bailey (Shoulda Danished), a mesmerizing slow motion synthesis of stark landscapes and light interplay, with fragile bubbles suspended, that bring to mind longform, realtime video like the Fireplace channel.
WATCH / SHARE “TIME” HERE
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Single Art // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
MORE ABOUT LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE
Live, Laugh, Major Love, the long-awaited, Marcus Paquin-produced, semi-eponymous sophomore album from Major Love, comes to us like a cheeky valentine, pairing emotional vulnerability with light-heartedness and the kind of confidence that is synonymous with rock. Earnest without taking themselves too seriously on this record, Major Love’s lead singer-songwriter Colleen Brown playfully scorns romantic love even as she openly longs for it.
“When love relationships go bad, there’s always some part of you that recoils at the next opportunity. You’re like the armadillo. You’re always wearing your armour. And then you attract more armadillos, both of you protecting yourselves, both of you only showing a small part of your tender self. All the while, wishing, at least in part, to relieve yourselves of your shells. To be naked in your need,” says Brown. “The older I get, the more plainly obvious it is to me that in order to survive, we need to learn to love each other, forgive each other, be emotionally vulnerable with one another, look for ways we can collaborate and compromise, and become totally and utterly truthful with ourselves and each other.”
The eleven tracks that comprise Live, Laugh, Major Love showcase Brown’s willingness to do just that, in partnership with her Major Love bandmates: Trevor Mann, Shea Connor, and Murray Wood.
WATCH / SHARE “MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME” HERE
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This latest offering, Live, Laugh, Major Love, began with the creation of these two demos; “The More I Know” and “Mountain Standard Time” and became the starting point for the whole record after a serendipitous meeting with Grammy Award-winning producer Marcus Paquin, who would go on to complete the album with the band. “I met Marcus in early 2020, when the two of us were backing up Hawksley Workman and Sarah Slean on tour. I showed him a bunch of my music. He played me the new Weather Station album he had just completed and I was really blown away, obviously, so I really wanted to work together…and we hatched plans to complete the rest of [Major Love’s] album at the National Music Centre in Calgary.”
There were some worldly delays to getting started on that - during which time Brown released two solo albums - Isolation Songs in 2020 and Winging It in 2022 - the latter of which features Paquin as mixing engineer on the track “I Am Leaving (And It's Okay)”.
WATCH / SHARE “ONE WOMAN” HERE
BUY / STREAM “ONE WOMAN” HERE
The band finally convened in May 2022 to record Live, Laugh, Major Love, titled in homage to the very cheesy home decor of the rental house they stayed at while recording in Calgary, and in a nod to Brown’s self-help journey that colours a lot of the songwriting. “I'm kind of poking fun at myself while also earnestly repeating my daily affirmations… That's the thread that ties all the songs together - it's me wrestling with my shadows, succumbing at times, trying to pull myself back into the light.’
By the time we hear the album’s closing track “Better Excuse” we do feel as though we are once again in the light. Brown brings us back, full circle, to her romantic optimism, but this time holding on to all the lessons gleaned from the preceding tracks, as she sings about living the life she wants without waiting for love, while also putting forth the offering: “I’ll make the time, I’ve always got space for two.”
WATCH / SHARE “MAKING THE MOST OF IT” LYRIC VIDEO HERE
BUY / STREAM “MAKING THE MOST OF IT” HERE
PRE-SAVE LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE HERE
TOUR DATES
May 16 - Edmonton, AB, Varscona Theatre
May 17 - Calgary, AB, King Eddy
May 18 - Lethbridge, AB, The Owl
May 19 - Red Deer, AB, Bo’s
May 21 - Penticton, BC, Dream Cafe
May 23 - Vancouver, BC, The Lido
May 24 - Victoria, BC, The Hallway
Jun 9 - Ottawa, ON, Live on Elgin
Jun 10 - Toronto, ON, Horseshoe Tavern
Jun 26 - Golden, BC, Kicking Horse Culture
LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE TRACKLIST
01 For The Long Run
02 Making The Most Of It
03 Same Girl
04 One Woman
05 The More I Know
06 Mountain Standard Time
07 Keep Your Heart To Yourself
08 Mind Body
09 Mistake Again
10 Time
11 Better Excuse