RAE SPOON AND LGBTQ AND ALLY YOUTH TAKE BACK THE BATHROOM IN NEW MUSIC VIDEO

ACCLAIMED SONGWRITER AND PERFORMER LAUNCHES NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “I HEAR THEM CALLING” TO PROTEST UNFAIR BATHROOM LAWS

WATCH “I HEAR THEM CALLING” HERE VIA EXCLAIM!

In protest of the recent spate of transphobic bathroom laws restricting bathroom access to transgendered people in the United States, Canadian filmmaker Chelsea McMullan and musician Rae Spoon have collaborated on a protest music video. The music video features the single “I Hear Them Calling”, which is part of Spoon’s new album Armour out now via Coax Records.

“Equal rights are shown in the way transgender people can access public facilities. The recent trend of bathroom laws criminalizes spaces that are already difficult for transgender folks to navigate. I hope this video will help show the youth who will be affected by these laws how absurd they are,” said Spoon.

WATCH “I HEAR THEM CALLING” HERE VIA EXCLAIM!

To create the video, twenty-three LGBTQ and ally youth gathered for a one-day workshop to make their own “monster/beast” costumes, with the idea of reclaiming spaces where transgender people are often treated as less than human. The youth were inspired to make monster costumes in the spirit of the Brothers Grim, Maurice Sendak, and Marcel Dzama.

While public washrooms can be a fraught and difficult space for trans-folks, the video asks Spoon and the youth to reclaim it through a joyful display of dancing and music. In these scenes, the bathroom is decorated with materials commonly found in the space. The streamers are made from toilet paper and the glowing lights were placed inside the soap dispensers, creating a beautiful and surreal space from what already exist inside of it.

This isn't the first collaboration between Spoon and McMullan. The two partnered on the 2013 Sundance Festival favorite and NFB produced documentary-musical feature, My Prairie Home. “This was our first collaboration since My Prairie Home and both Rae and I wanted to address the alarming bathroom laws being enacted in the United States,” said McMullan. “We wanted the video to be part call- to-action, part protest and part dance party.”

The bathroom laws the music video protests includes a bathroom bill that North Carolina passed into law in March 2016. Many other states have proposed similar bills that are at different stages of legislation.

About Rae Spoon:

Rae Spoon is an award-winning Canadian musician, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and author. They have released eight solo albums spanning folk, indie rock and electronic genres over the past twelve years and have toured across Canada and internationally. Rae was the subject and composer of the score for the National Film Board–produced musical-documentary My Prairie Home, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2014. They have been nominated for two Polaris Prizes, a Lambda Literary Award, a Western Canadian Music Award, a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award and a MOTHA Transgender Musician of the Year Award.
www.raespoon.com

About Chelsea McMullan:

Chelsea McMullan’s films and projects have premiered at Sundance, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Photography Festival. Her award-winning shorts have been featured on Nowness, Dazed Digital, Vice and in Vogue Italia magazine. Chelsea is a member of the artist co-operative What Matters Most and was an artist in residence at Fabrica, where she made the Genie-nominated short film Derailments, a tribute to the legacy of Federico Fellini.

My Prairie Home, her musical documentary portrait of gender-neutral singer/songwriter Rae Spoon, won the 2013 Vancouver Film Critics’ Prize for Best Canadian Documentary and garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination.Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John, her second feature film, was released in 2015.
www.chelseamcmullan.com

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COAX RECORDS

YOUR BOY TONY BRAXTON RELEASES SURPRISE ALBUM, ADULT CONTEMPT, TODAY

ADULT CONTEMPT, DEBUT SOFT ROCK ALBUM FROM CANADIAN RAPPER AND MEDIA PERSONALITY SHAD’S NEW PROJECT, YOUR BOY TONY BRAXTON, RELEASED TODAY VIA ARTS & CRAFTS

LISTEN TO ADULT CONTEMPT IN ITS ENTIRETY VIA STEREOGUM OR ON STREAMING SERVICES NOW

GET ADULT CONTEMPT HERE

“This album is awesome and you should make sure to hear it" Sterogum

PHOTO: JUSTIN BROADBENT

Today, rapper, radio host, and now soft rock singer, Shad releases his surprise album, Adult Contempt, under the name Your Boy Tony Braxton via Arts & Crafts. The album premiered today via Stereogum who calls it "a lovely collection of songs that reminds me of Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia, Ultra transposed from a modern R&B context into bright, richly arranged throwback pop in the vein of Scritti Politti and Prefab Sprout.” The writer further states that it “sounds deeply familiar and yet not quite like anything I’ve ever heard." This all might sound a little odd, so let’s let Shad himself give us all of the details:

It’s hard to describe this album.

Actually it’s easy: Adult Contempt is a soft rock album, inspired by late 80s / early 90s pop/rock. The lyrical themes are mainly masculinity, love, and maturation.

If that sounds weird / terrible, did I mention it’s by a Canadian rapper / radio host?

Yeah. I think by ‘hard to describe’ I meant it’s hard to say why I made it and, more importantly, why I like it. To those questions, I think it’s tender, romantic, funny, and I made it with one of my best friends of all-time.

Sometime in Spring 2014, partly inspired by a book about adventure I was reading with my then girlfriend (now wife), I decided to embark on the adventure of making this album. I called up my friend Matthew Johnston and asked if he would help me record some of the pop songs I’d written on guitar. He said yes and, interestingly, didn’t sound the slightest bit surprised by the idea. So I flew back to my hometown of London, Ontario (I was living in Vancouver at the time) to start recording in his guest room.

I’d never really sang before. Only Matthew could’ve gotten these takes out of me. I’ve known him since we were 13, and growing up, he was the only guy I knew who felt music the same way I did. Our passion for music was not common in our city. Anyhow, through the years we’ve played shows together, encouraged each other’s crazy dreams, and generally been BFFs. He had his first kids (twins) around the time we finished tracking. It took a while to wrap up the record (I started hosting this radio show in early 2015 which now takes a lot of my time), but overall, it’s an experience I’ll always cherish: making music in my hometown with one of the greatest friends of my life.

Musically, the inspirations for this album mainly come from the first things I ever heard on the radio. Vague memories of Michael Penn, Terence Trent D’arby, The Cure, Bryan Adams, Janet Jackson, and others that evoke a smile and a nostalgic sense in me. Lyrically, I have some fun here and there but a lot of the lyrics are just honest, simply-put musings-- grappling with insecurity, love, and trying to become a better person.

The name - Your Boy Tony Braxton - obviously speaks to the era I’m evoking, but also to the lyrical content and overall tone: the idea of a dude named Tony Braxton who likes to sing (but obviously isn’t as good as the famous Toni Braxton) is a surprisingly accurate embodiment of how this music feels to me: Vulnerable, funny, and ultimately, hopefully a worthwhile offering.

xx

your boy,

tb

ADULT CONTEMPT TRACKLIST

Good Enough
Happy
All I Think About (you)
Kick
Nightmare
Fall (girl)
The Man?
Conviction
Heluvah Guy
Stay

LISTEN TO ADULT CONTEMPT IN ITS ENTIRETY VIA STEREOGUM HERE

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LITTLE SCREAM SHARES “DARK DANCE” VIDEO

ANNOUNCES TORONTO, OTTAWA, MONTREAL TOUR DATES SUPPORTING BEIRUT BEGINNING JULY 25

NEW ALBUM, CULT FOLLOWING, AVAILABLE NOW ON DINE ALONE

WATCH AND SHARE “DARK DANCE” HERE VIA NOISEY

LISTEN TO CULT FOLLOWING IN FULL HERE

"This is an artist in flux, in constant motion, searching for answers and finding many in her own music. There is wit as well as whimsy and wonder on Cult Following, a quirky, affecting, richly detailed album that deserves more than its title."  The Guardian

“complex and luminous… a magnificent panoply of sound” The Globe And Mail

"Bigger, bolder and wholly encompassing in its creation...Cult Following is a brand new horizon." DIY

“what might transpire if St. Vincent covered the Bee Gees... It’s immaculate” Pitchfork

“ambitious symphonic arrangements …a kaleidoscope of sounds” NOW Magazine

PHOTO CREDIT : CHRISTOPHER WAHL

Today, Little Scream - aka Montreal-based Laurel Sprengelmeyer - shares the accompanying visuals for “Dark Dance”. It marks the second track from her acclaimed second album Cult Following, available now on Dine Alone Records, to receive its visual dues, following on from the heady, intoxicating clip for lead single “Love as a Weapon”. The video, funded by MuchFACT, premiered today via Noisey, who claims it’s "packed with bruised tales of transformation and heartbreak, 'Dark Dance' is a quietly cathartic standout on the album.”

WATCH AND SHARE “DARK DANCE” HERE VIA NOISEY

Of the track, Sprengelmeyer says, “one night I found myself dancing alone down an alleyway, singing in the dark. The further I walked down it, the further I sunk into my memory until I felt like I might actually step into my past when I emerged on the other side. This song was born there, it starts in the present and each verse moves further into the past. The main loop in the song is from an iPhone recording I made – it's a very lo-fi gentle thing that I got really attached to, everything else was built around it.”

Meanwhile, director Lee Skinner elaborates, "'Dark Dance' is ostensibly a music video about the rhythms of attachment, anxiety, and courage in an obscure future. But that just represents the cooled platelets that form on the surface. It’s the turbulent mantle underneath, composed of a dreadful wonder of the natural universe, that drives those outer elements. How do we act in the face of such mystery? Do we worship it? Do we endeavour to profit from it? Do we vow to destroy it? Or do we simply bask in its violet light with a dance partner? That’s what lies at the core for our protagonists. Having the capacity to run and jump. To be sad, mad, and silly. To agree and disagree harmoniously in a dance at the threshold to the void."

All of which are words that could just as easily apply to Cult Following in its entirety. The album sees Mary Margaret O’Hara, Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Aaron and Bryce Dessner from the National, Owen Pallett, and Kyp Malone all make guest appearances on the album, but the world they inhabit is entirely Little Scream’s. Her voice acts as a tour guide through lush sonic landscapes carefully constructed with her creative partner, Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry, and while the duo - alongside their heady cast of collaborators - dance across myriad moods and styles, what runs through Cult Following to its core is a sense of giddy creation and joyous experimentation in the face of an increasingly frightening world.

WATCH “LOVE AS A WEAPON” HERE

CULT FOLLOWING TRACKLIST
1. Welcome to the Brain
2. Love as a Weapon
3. Dark Dance
4. Introduction to Evan
5. Evan
6. Aftermath
7. The Kissing
8. Wishing Well
9. Wreckage
10. Someone Will Notice
11. Silent Moon
12. Goodbye Every Body

TOUR DATES

Jul 12 - San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
Jul 14 - Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
Jul 15 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Jul 16-17 - Vancouver, BC @ Vancouver Folk Festival
Jul 22 - New York, NY @ Panorama Music and Arts Festival
Jul 23 - Oro-Medonte, ON @ WayHome Music & Arts Festival
July 25 - Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix*
July 26 - Ottawa, ON @ Algonquin Commons Theatre*
July 28 - Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre*
Jul 30 - Sackville, NB @ Sappy Fest
Aug 12 - Eau Claire, WI @ Eaux Claires Festival
Oct 28-30 - New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Music Experience

* w/ Beirut

MORE ABOUT CULT FOLLOWING :

Little Scream's Laurel Sprengelmeyer says she began conceiving of Cult Following while visiting a friend in a small intentional community in northern Brazil that was on the verge of becoming a cult. “People were running around reading auras, interpreting each other’s dreams, and ‘living on light’ instead of eating — which was as compelling as it was absurd. I became very aware of the entropy of belief. You could feel the magnetism of ideas take shape and pull people into their center like a black hole… a thing so filled with light that its own gravity means that none of it can escape.” That experience laid the groundwork for Cult Following, a lush, expansive, retro-leaning gem.

With nods to Tina Turner, Tracey Thorn, and White Album-era Beatles, Cult Following ambitiously straddles intimate fragility with bombastic dancefloor-ready songs. It stuffs glorious eras of art pop into a weird modern package—a far more extroverted expansion of the cinematic landscapes and themes from Little Scream’s previous album, The Golden Record. Sprengelmeyer elaborates: “The first record was a ‘bedroom adventure,’ as in, songs you write in your bedroom without a real consciousness of them ever being public. With this record, I was really engaged with what it meant to be a ‘songwriter’ and performer, and pushed myself to go further on all fronts.”

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