JOLIE LAIDE RELEASE IN THE LOW LIGHT, A COLLECTION OF B-SIDES

JOLIE LAIDE RELEASE IN THE LOW LIGHT, A COLLECTION OF B-SIDES FROM THEIR LATEST RECORD, CREATURES

OUT TODAY VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS

LISTEN / SHARE “HONEY DON’T” HERE

BUY / STREAM IN THE LOW LIGHT HERE

Photo Credit : Heather Saitz // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Jolie Laide releases a series of B-sides and curiosities entitled In The Low Light EP, following up their acclaimed early 2025 album Creatures. The songs arrive after a summer of touring some of Canada’s largest festivals, including Calgary, Winnipeg, and Canmore folk fests, as well as Hillside in Guelph, and Ottawa Bluesfest. These tracks were recorded during the Creatures sessions on Vancouver Island with producer Colin Stewart (Dan Mangan, The New Pornographers). The b-sides include two new original Jolie Laide songs and a rousing cover of Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t” which showcases the powerful duet voices of Nina Nastasia and Clinton St. John. 

“Honey Don't” was a “fun exercise to take a song that would seem like an unlikely pick in its original form and turn it into a Jolie Laide song,” the band says. “It surprised us as a band in how defined our sound came across as uniquely Jolie Laide.”

LISTEN / SHARE “HONEY DON’T” HERE

EP title track, “In the Low Light” details “when the body will not wait for the ‘proper’ setting,” the band explains, while “Ranchlands Hum” highlights the “unexplained hum in a small suburb in Calgary that residents have come to accept. Either you go on with your day and let it drift out of focus, or you get caught in the distraction that eventually drags you to madness. ‘The maniacs are running down the hall…’ We are the victims of our own brains, and it takes great effort to let the hum drift out of focus for a moment of quiet.”

BUY / STREAM IN THE LOW LIGHT HERE

MORE ABOUT JOLIE LAIDE
Comprised of revered American indie singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia (who has amassed a stunning and critically acclaimed discography of unique, darkly melodic albums), and Jeff MacLeod, Clinton St. John, and Morgan Greenwood (also of the band Florida BC), Jolie Laide planted its roots some two decades ago through a mutual connection. The lion's share of Nastasia's solo albums were masterfully recorded by the late, great Steve Albini, and in the mid-00s, MacLeod and St. John's old band The Cape May had just finished recording their album Glass Mountain Roads with the veteran engineer. Nina was next in line for the studio. A night of commiserating in the studio led to Albini’s suggestion that The Cape May become Nastasia’s touring band for her upcoming North American and European tours and this pairing turned into a fruitful collaboration and a longstanding friendship.

Looking back on the trajectory from Jolie Laide's self-titled debut to the brand new Creatures, it's anyone's guess where this group will go next. For fans of Nina Nastasia or the Florida BC band family, there's plenty of both of those things, but there's also a whole new, unified thing; with Creatures they're presenting it in widescreen. 

PERFORMANCES
Oct 15 - Edmonton, AB - The Aviary (Album Launch) w/ Cassia Hardy TICKETS
Oct 16 - Calgary, AB - Ironwood Stage and Grill (Album Launch) w/ Nina Nastasia

BUY / STREAM CREATURES HERE

“Creatures is a phenomenal record, both ambitious and cohesive despite the many cooks in the kitchen. All songs are duets, with Nastasia and St. John doing call-and-response or harmonizing on dark, mesmerizing numbers.” – Calgary Herald

“Creatures is bolder, weirder, and more beautiful: a swirling blend of murder ballads, spaghetti western gloom, post-punk urgency, and melancholic electronic textures.” – Range Magazine

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

IN THE LOW LIGHT TRACKLIST
01 Honey Don’t
02 In the Low Light
03 Ranchlands Hum

JOLIE LAIDE ONLINE
INSTAGRAM
BANDCAMP

JOLIE LAIDE’S NEW LP, CREATURES, OUT TODAY - ADD MORE FESTIVAL DATES

JOLIE LAIDE’S NEW ALBUM, CREATURES, OUT TODAY VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS

WATCH / SHARE “CHEYENNE” (CHAD VANGAALEN ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO) HERE

BUY / STREAM CREATURES HERE

CANADIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL & CLUB DATES THIS JULY

“Jolie Laide…is a kind of travelogue that traces the line between freedom and empty aimlessness: a child’s oceanside liberty that becomes an adult’s existential terror.” - Pitchfork

“It is self-evidently brutal…But it is beautiful, too, the unadorned music – just her and an acoustic guitar – luminous and clarion…” - The Guardian

Photo Credit : Heather Saitz // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Jolie Laide releases their new album Creatures via Victory Pool Records. Comprised of revered American indie singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia (who has amassed a stunning and critically acclaimed discography of unique, darkly melodic albums), and Jeff MacLeod, Clinton St. John, and Morgan Greenwood (also of the band Florida BC), Jolie Laide planted its roots some two decades ago through a mutual connection. The lion's share of Nastasia's solo albums were masterfully recorded by the late, great Steve Albini, and in the mid-00s, MacLeod and St. John's old band The Cape May had just finished recording their album Glass Mountain Roads with the veteran engineer. Nina was next in line for the studio. A night of commiserating in the studio led to Albini’s suggestion that The Cape May become Nastasia’s touring band for her upcoming North American and European tours and this pairing turned into a fruitful collaboration and a longstanding friendship.

Announcing itself via a series of earthy thumps on a floor tom, Creatures opens wide with Nastasia's unmistakable voice, at once disarmingly sweet and laser-sharp. Jolie Laide is an intriguing way to hear the singer, who developed a tight, focused approach over the course of her active solo career. Here, she embraces sounds that would have been out of place on one of her own albums; on opener “Cheyenne”, Nastasia's voice swims in a swirl of delay trails, enveloped by a storm of overdubbed toms, and Clinton St. John's instantly evocative voice provides the perfect foil. 

A desert dirge, a spaghetti western backdrop, “Cheyenne” is a song in two distinct parts with two unique voices. Nastasia's disarmingly sweet and laser-sharp voice swims in a swirl of delay trails, enveloped by a storm of chaotic percussion. In the first half, she laments about troubled relationships with metaphors around ending up in a body of water or on a sinking boat, fighting constantly to keep from drowning. Eventually the struggle becomes so familiar, almost comfortable, that the idea of swimming to dry land seems just too difficult. ‘It’s better to hate what we have here and go down with the ship.’

The song intensifies with an instrumental break before St. John’s voice continues the conversation: ‘The road to Cheyenne never ends.’ The drifter arrives, the shadow of a hatchet stretches long across the desert floor.  A thirsty rambling presence with a clouded memory—a wasteland survivor. ‘There’s a hoarse voice that I wield, of the plan I say no more…’ There is no rescue ship. We stopped calling out for it.

WATCH / SHARE “CHEYENNE” (CHAD VANGAALEN ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO) HERE

MORE ABOUT JOLIE LAIDE & CREATURES

This sonic sea change of Jolie Laide may have something to do with one of the key elements that initially birthed this band. In early 2020, Kennan Gudjonsson, Nastasia's partner and longtime musical collaborator took his own life. This tragic and dislocating event took place right before the world found itself similarly unmoored as the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking for solace, Nastasia and MacLeod leaned on their deep friendship and shared songwriting obsession, throwing themselves into the remote recording sessions that became their self-titled 2023 debut. Nastasia found liberation in her new “band” environs: no longer the sole focal point, and working with a new set of parameters for how her music could sound and exist in the world, Jolie Laide provided something of a revelation. 

WATCH / SHARE “NO SHAPE I KNOW” HERE

Reflecting on the impressive scope of Creatures, MacLeod says, “the album plays like a mix tape”, citing its deep range (folk to spaghetti westerns to post-punk to sludge to electronic pop) of sonic approaches. Fittingly, as their name translates to ugly/pretty, the band’s stories find grace and beauty in the imperfect. Powerfully poetic, often anthemic, narratives soar over Greenwood and MacLeod’s layered multi-instrumental wizardry. Making good on that description, “Something For The Thrill” takes a mid-album left-turn, delivering a veritable rock song, complete with thick, hairy guitars, heavy drumbeat and brash, pissed-off sounding vocals. But within the menace, there is that sweet melodic aspect cutting the hard edge, and the song is once again a testament to these singers’ inspired pairing, with the duet being the through line of Creatures. Despite how different some of these songs feel to each other, and indeed to Jolie Laide's 2023 debut, the instantly recognizable voices of Nina Nastasia and Clinton St. John tie everything together.

The astute observer might notice a strong uptick in the electronic realm on Creature, most clearly in the album’s brilliant one-two of cautionary dystopian nightmares, with “No Shape I Know” and “Small Things”, boasting the album’s most wearily hopeful, soaring choruses. Indeed, the album is replete with warm synths and uniquely textured drum machine patterns, and largely attributed to producer and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Greenwood who was invited wholesale into the fold for some of their first shows in 2023. Greenwood (ex- Baths, Azeda Booth), who cut his teeth on Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin, was warmly encouraged to liberally apply his sensibilities to the record – as was producer/engineer Colin Stewart, who oversaw the production at his studio, the fabled Hive Creative Labs. “The majority of this record was written in the studio,” MacLeod says, “and Colin took on the traditional producer role, becoming essentially a fifth member, providing direction and ideas.”

WATCH / SHARE “HOLLY” HERE

Another album highlight, “Wharwolf” is a tour de force of ideas and shifting moods; beginning with intricately programmed drum sequences and a plaintive, bleak vocal from St. John, it crashes into an epic wall of guitars and propulsive drumming, before uncannily sliding into a glistening calm after the storm, Nastasia's reverb-drenched voice floating amidst sparse webs of guitar. The whole thing unquestionably hangs together, but it's a hell of a ride. MacLeod says that “the song was originally demoed in a fairly traditional manner,” but after the band opted for a more unique approach, “we completely dropped it to the studs and rebuilt it, spending days in the studio  tinkering,” and it paid dividends.

Elsewhere, “Murder Ballad”, while confronting the notion that ghosts might actually exist even if god doesn’t, skews closer to Florida BC territory. Fronted by St. John and continuing the long line of bands he and MacLeod have helmed (including The Cape May and Pale Air Singers), Florida BC has spent the last number of years carving their own niche, one that radiates a similarly unmistakable feeling as Nastasia's. But here, MacLeod's gently brushed, loping drums and St. John's signature emotive drawl are buffered by Nastasia's equally world-weary vocals, and one could be forgiven for asking “what took so long?” 

Looking back on the trajectory from Jolie Laide's self-titled debut to the brand new Creatures, it's anyone's guess where this group will go next. For fans of Nina Nastasia or the Florida BC band family, there's plenty of both of those things, but there's also a whole new, unified thing; with Creatures they're presenting it in widescreen. 

BUY / STREAM CREATURES HERE

JOLIE LAIDE PERFORMANCE DATES
July 10 -13 - Winnipeg Folk Festival
July 15 - Montreal, QC - Casa del Popolo w/Marlaena Moroe
July 16 - Toronto, ON - Baby G w/Marlaena Moore
July 17 - Ottawa Blues Festival
July 18 - 20 - Hillside Festival
July 24 - 27 - Calgary Folk Fest
July 30 - Sherwood Park, AB - Festival Place
Aug 02 - 04 - Canmore Folk Fest

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

CREATURES TRACKLIST
01 Cheyenne
02 Holly
03 Murder Ballad
04 Wharwolf
05 Dalton
06 Something For The Thrill
07 No Shape I Know
08 Small Things
09 Old Collapser
10 Saw The Wave

JOLIE LAIDE ONLINE
INSTAGRAM
BANDCAMP

JOLIE LAIDE SHARES NEW SINGLE “HOLLY” FROM UPCOMING ALBUM

JOLIE LAIDE’S NEW ALBUM, CREATURES, OUT APRIL 30, 2025 VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS

WATCH / SHARE “HOLLY” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HOLLY” HERE

PRE-SAVE CREATURES HERE

CANADIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL DATES NOW ANNOUNCED

“Jolie Laide…is a kind of travelogue that traces the line between freedom and empty aimlessness: a child’s oceanside liberty that becomes an adult’s existential terror.” - Pitchfork

“It is self-evidently brutal…But it is beautiful, too, the unadorned music – just her and an acoustic guitar – luminous and clarion…” - The Guardian

Photo Credit : Heather Saitz // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Jolie Laide is sharing another single off their upcoming album, Creatures, due out April 30, 2025 via Victory Pool Records. Comprised of revered American indie singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia (who has amassed a stunning and critically acclaimed discography of unique, darkly melodic albums), and Jeff MacLeod, Clinton St. John, and Morgan Greenwood (also of the band Florida BC), Jolie Laide planted its roots some two decades ago through a mutual connection. The lion's share of Nastasia's solo albums were masterfully recorded by the late, great Steve Albini, and in the mid-00s, MacLeod and St. John's old band The Cape May had just finished recording their album Glass Mountain Roads with the veteran engineer. Nina was next in line for the studio. A night of commiserating in the studio led to Albini’s suggestion that The Cape May become Nastasia’s touring band for her upcoming North American and European tours and this pairing turned into a fruitful collaboration and a longstanding friendship.

The new single “Holly” is a song about “two strangers meeting at the edge of a dense forest and a sun baked clearing,” says St. John. “They begin a conversation as one asks the other, a girl named Holly “Where’d you get that long brown hair” alluding to the long lock of braided hair in her hands--clearly not her own. The other stranger goes on to share what has transpired in his life; rambling through the post apocalyptic wasteland they both inhabit.”

WATCH / SHARE “HOLLY” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HOLLY” HERE

MORE ABOUT CREATURES
Announcing itself via a series of earthy thumps on a floor tom, Creatures opens wide with Nastasia's unmistakable voice, at once disarmingly sweet and laser-sharp. Jolie Laide is an intriguing way to hear the singer, who developed a tight, focused approach over the course of her active solo career. Here, she embraces sounds that would have been out of place on one of her own albums; on opener “Cheyenne”, Nastasia's voice swims in a swirl of delay trails, enveloped by a storm of overdubbed toms, and Clinton St. John's instantly evocative voice provides the perfect foil. “Holly”, a character study of two strangers rambling through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, is awash in beautiful cascades of affected electric guitars, imbuing a gently psychedelic glow to the song's edges, while remaining grounded in a more familiar dusty, percussive rhythm.

This sonic sea change may have something to do with one of the key elements that initially birthed this band. In early 2020, Kennan Gudjonsson, Nastasia's partner and longtime musical collaborator took his own life. This tragic and dislocating event took place right before the world found itself similarly unmoored as the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking for solace, Nastasia and MacLeod leaned on their deep friendship and shared songwriting obsession, throwing themselves into the remote recording sessions that became their self-titled 2023 debut. Nastasia found liberation in her new “band” environs: no longer the sole focal point, and working with a new set of parameters for how her music could sound and exist in the world, Jolie Laide provided something of a revelation. 

WATCH / SHARE “NO SHAPE I KNOW” HERE
BUY / STREAM “NO SHAPE I KNOW” HERE

Reflecting on the impressive scope of Creatures, MacLeod says, “the album plays like a mix tape”, citing its deep range (folk to spaghetti westerns to post-punk to sludge to electronic pop) of sonic approaches. Fittingly, as their name translates to ugly/pretty, the band’s stories find grace and beauty in the imperfect. Powerfully poetic, often anthemic, narratives soar over Greenwood and MacLeod’s layered multi-instrumental wizardry. Making good on that description, “Something For The Thrill” takes a mid-album left-turn, delivering a veritable rock song, complete with thick, hairy guitars, heavy drumbeat and brash, pissed-off sounding vocals. But within the menace, there is that sweet melodic aspect cutting the hard edge, and the song is once again a testament to these singers’ inspired pairing, with the duet being the through line of Creatures. Despite how different some of these songs feel to each other, and indeed to Jolie Laide's 2023 debut, the instantly recognizable voices of Nina Nastasia and Clinton St. John tie everything together.

The astute observer might notice a strong uptick in the electronic realm on Creature, most clearly in the album’s brilliant one-two of cautionary dystopian nightmares, with “No Shape I Know” and “Small Things”, boasting the album’s most wearily hopeful, soaring choruses. Indeed, the album is replete with warm synths and uniquely textured drum machine patterns, and largely attributed to producer and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Greenwood who was invited wholesale into the fold for some of their first shows in 2023. Greenwood (ex- Baths, Azeda Booth), who cut his teeth on Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin, was warmly encouraged to liberally apply his sensibilities to the record – as was producer/engineer Colin Stewart, who oversaw the production at his studio, the fabled Hive Creative Labs. “The majority of this record was written in the studio,” MacLeod says, “and Colin took on the traditional producer role, becoming essentially a fifth member, providing direction and ideas.”

Another album highlight, “Wharwolf” is a tour de force of ideas and shifting moods; beginning with intricately programmed drum sequences and a plaintive, bleak vocal from St. John, it crashes into an epic wall of guitars and propulsive drumming, before uncannily sliding into a glistening calm after the storm, Nastasia's reverb-drenched voice floating amidst sparse webs of guitar. The whole thing unquestionably hangs together, but it's a hell of a ride. MacLeod says that “the song was originally demoed in a fairly traditional manner,” but after the band opted for a more unique approach, “we completely dropped it to the studs and rebuilt it, spending days in the studio  tinkering,” and it paid dividends.

Elsewhere, “Murder Ballad”, while confronting the notion that ghosts might actually exist even if god doesn’t, skews closer to Florida BC territory. Fronted by St. John and continuing the long line of bands he and MacLeod have helmed (including The Cape May and Pale Air Singers), Florida BC has spent the last number of years carving their own niche, one that radiates a similarly unmistakable feeling as Nastasia's. But here, MacLeod's gently brushed, loping drums and St. John's signature emotive drawl are buffered by Nastasia's equally world-weary vocals, and one could be forgiven for asking “what took so long?” 

Looking back on the trajectory from Jolie Laide's self-titled debut to the brand new Creatures, it's anyone's guess where this group will go next. For fans of Nina Nastasia or the Florida BC band family, there's plenty of both of those things, but there's also a whole new, unified thing; with Creatures they're presenting it in widescreen. 

PRE-SAVE CREATURES HERE

JOLIE LAIDE PERFORMANCE DATES
Winnipeg Folk Festival July 10 – 13
Hillside Festival July 18 – 20
Ottawa Blues Festival July 17

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

CREATURES TRACKLIST
01 Cheyenne
02 Holly
03 Murder Ballad
04 Wharwolf
05 Dalton
06 Something For The Thrill
07 No Shape I Know
08 Small Things
09 Old Collapser
10 Saw The Wave

JOLIE LAIDE ONLINE
INSTAGRAM
BANDCAMP