REUBEN AND THE DARK SHARES VIDEO FOR FAN FAVOURITE “HOLD ME LIKE A FIRE”

WATCH AND SHARE “HOLD ME LIKE A FIRE”

STREAM / BUY “HOLD ME LIKE A FIRE” HERE

CANADIAN TOUR DATES BEGIN FEBRUARY 21

PURCHASE / STREAM ARMS OF A DREAM

“Bright Eyes meets Mumford & Sons” - American Songwriter

“Compelling and evocative from start to finish” - Exclaim!

“It’s not hard to envision the songs on Arms of a Dream filling a stadium” - The Calgary Herald

“Soaring, cinematic songs replete with heartstring-tugging harmonies” - Winnipeg Free Press

PHOTO CREDIT : Scott Ramsay // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

With its Canadian Winter tour dates just around the corner, Reuben and the Dark is sharing the new video for the previously unreleased fan favourite track “Hold Me Like A Fire.” The video, recorded at the National Music Centre in frontman Reuben Bullock’s hometown of Calgary, features a full choir of fans and National Music Centre members joining the chorus.

Available to stream on all platforms today, the song “started as some kind of mantra for myself,” Bullock says. “I found I was singing the words over and over on an endless loop. It’s comforting. It felt healing. The first time we played it, the audience did the same thing, sang it over and over again past the end of the song. That’s all I really want to do as a songwriter. Write something for myself, then give it away to be someone else’s. The song deals with finding comfort in the things that confuse you. Coming to peace with the things you don’t understand. Faith in chaos.”

WATCH AND SHARE “HOLD ME LIKE A FIRE”

STREAM / BUY “HOLD ME LIKE A FIRE” HERE

In December 2018, The National Music Centre (NMC) welcomed Reuben and the Dark to Studio Bell as Artist in Residence. To conclude the residency, the band featured a community-sourced choir on a new recording, inviting over 70 Calgarian fans to sing on the record. NMC's Artist in Residence program is generously supported by Bell Media.

In the past year, Reuben and the Dark has taken its new record, Arms of a Dream, throughout the US and Canada including stops at Field Trip Festival, Interstellar Rodeo, and Calgary Folk Festival, and throughout Ireland with Hermitage Green. Next week the band returns home to Canada for a run of tour dates throughout Ontario and Quebec. Full tour dates can be found below.

Out now via Arts & Crafts, Arms of a Dream finds songwriter/vocalist Reuben Bullock working outside his comfort zone, both musically and lyrically. The result is Bullock’s most vivid and transformative music to date: an intimate exploration of the inversion of imagination and reality in dreams. Exclaim! called the LP “compelling and evocative from start to finish”, while The Calgary Herald claimed that “It’s not hard to envision the songs on Arms of a Dream filling a stadium.”

WATCH AND SHARE “DREAMING” HERE

PURCHASE // STREAM ARMS OF A DREAM

Last year, the spirited folk-rock outfit released a cover of The Tragically Hip’s timeless and nation-defining song “Bobcaygeon” to benefit the Gord Downie And Chanie Wenjack Fund, which is part of Gord Downie’s legacy and embodies his commitment, and that of his family, to improving the lives of First Peoples, and to aid our collective reconciliation journey through awareness, education and action.

PURCHASE / STREAM “BOBCAYGEON” HERE

2019 WINTER DATES
Feb 21 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
Feb 22 - Ridgeway, ON - Sanctuary (TICKETS)
Feb 23 - Creemore, ON - Avening Hall
Feb 24 - Creemore, ON - Avening Hall (TICKETS)
Feb 27 - Quebec City, QC - L’anti (TICKETS)
Feb 28 - Trois Rivières, QC - Nord Ouest Cafe (TICKETS)
Mar 1 - Sherbrooke, QC - La Petite Boite Noire (TICKETS)
Mar 2 - Drummondville, QC - La Sainte-Paix (TICKETS)
Mar 3 - Ottawa, ON - Club 27 (TICKETS)
Mar 6 - Kingston, ON - Grad Club (TICKETS)
June 27 - Parry Sound, ON - Stockey Centre
June 28 - Oshawa, ON - The Music Hall
June 29 - Tobermory, ON - Chi Cheemaun Ferry

REUBEN AND THE DARK ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM

DEAD SOFT SHARE HEAVY NEW SINGLE, ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

LISTEN AND SHARE “PORCH” HERE

TOUR DATES WITH DANIEL ROMANO AND GOON BEGIN FEB 25

NEW EMOTION, OUT NOW VIA ARTS & CRAFTS

BUY / STREAM NEW EMOTION HERE

"Impossibly hooky song, which might be the band's best work yet" - Exclaim!

“’Bones’ is anthemic, taking colossal melodies and intertwined guitar leads, and pushing it all ever upward, aiming their burning chord progressions and harmonies straight toward the sky.” - Post-Trash

"90s era grunge/alt-rock...similar to something you might have heard on the indie stations back in the late 90s." - Austin Town Hall

Photo Credit : Magdalena Bourne // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Last year, Dead Soft released their 5-song EP, New Emotion, on Arts & Crafts and hit the road for a lengthy, successful tour with fellow Canadian punks The Dirty Nil. Today, the Vancouver rock band is announcing a 40-date North American tour run with Daniel Romano and Goon, making stops across Canada along the way. Full tour dates can be found below. To pave the way for the tour, band is sharing the new grunge-pop single, "Porch".

The verse begins sweetly with vocalist / songwriter Nathaniel Epp singing with Elliott Smith-like layered dream pop vocals: “I have nothing for you. I have nothing that you need / I just want to be around you. I just like to hear you speak”. Suddenly, the squeal of a guitar shakes you out of the daydream and back to reality. (What am I doing with my life?)

“It's heavy, It's gonna take me down. I want to move back to my hometown,” howls Epp as the fuzz out grunge chorus hits. Like so many 20-something transplants trying to find their place and feeling aimless, Epp laments “Made up my mind ten thousand times, but isn't it just impossible to know where to go.”

On the track, vocalist / songwriter Nathaniel Epp says, "’Porch’ is a song written by the ghost of my former self who forever wanders the alleys of Vancouver daydreaming, worrying about money, trying to come up with a game plan for his life, wondering which town he should move to, talking to himself, speaking with people who aren't there, making up tunes, scribbling things down, slowly figuring it out."

LISTEN AND SHARE “PORCH” HERE

Buy / Stream - https://DeadSoft.lnk.to/Porch Dead Soft on Tour - http://www.dead-soft.com _______________________________________ "Porch is a song written by the ghost of my former self who forever wanders the alleys of Vancouver daydreaming, worrying about money, trying to come up with a game plan for his life, wondering which town he should move to, talking to himself, speaking with people who aren't there, making up tunes, scribbling things down, slowly figuring it out."

2018’s New Emotion features five catchy, earnest pop punk songs that act as an empowering reminder that you are in control of your life, even when life feels out of control. The EP symbolizes renewal and growth.

On the EP, Dead Soft Bassist/Vocalist Keeley Rochon says, "This EP truly showcases us approaching the recording experience for the first time as a four piece and seeing what opportunities that afforded us sound-wise. “Bones" is us really flexing those new muscles in a big way - duelling guitars, heavy-hitting drums, and a wild crescendoing outro of cascading vocal harmonies that came together in the studio like a miracle."

BUY / STREAM NEW EMOTION HERE

TOUR DATES
02/25 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret *
02/26/ Victoria, BC - Lucky Bar *
02/28 Calgary, AB - Commonwealth *
03/01 Edmonton, AB - Starlite *
03/2 Saskatoon, SK - The Capitol *
03/03 Regina, SK - The Exchange *
03/4 Winnipeg, MB - Good Will *
03/05 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
03/08 Savannah, GA - Savannah Stopover
03/09 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
03/12 Dallas, TX - The Nines
03/14 Austin, TX - SXSW
03/15 Fort Worth, TX - Main at South Side ^
03/16 Hot Springs, AR - Valley Of The Vapours ^
03/19 Nashville, TN - The End ^
03/20 Cincinnati, OH - North Side Yacht Club ^
03/22 Washington, DC - Pie Shop ^
03/23 Philadelphia, PA - Creep Records ^
03/24 Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus ^
03/25 Flemington, NJ - Flemington DIY ^
03/26 Boston, MA - O'Brien's ^
03/27 Montreal, QC - L'Escogriffe ^
03/28 Ottawa, ON - Dominion ^
03/29 Toronto, ON - Baby G ^
03/30 Waterloo, ON - Jane Bond ^
03/31 Detroit, MI - PJ's Lager House ^
04/02 Fort Wayne, IN - Brass Rail ^
04/03 Chicago, IL - Subterranean ^
04/05 Fort Collins, CO - Pinball Jones ^
04/06 Denver, CO - Streets Of London ^
04/07 Albuquerque, NM - Sister Bar ^
04/09 Phoenix, AZ - Lunchbox ^
04/10 San Diego, CA - Soda Bar ^
04/11 Los Angeles, CA - Moroccan Lounge ^
04/13 San Francisco, CA - Bender's
04/14 Portland, OR - White Owl Social Club
04/17 Seattle, WA - Belltown Yacht Club
04/18 Vancouver, BC - Static Jupiter

* = with Daniel Romano
^ = with Goon

MORE ON DEAD SOFT

Dead Soft was founded in 2011 by partners Nathaniel Epp (vocalist/songwriter) and Keeley Rochon (bassist/vocalist) as “a fun living room rock project.” At the time Epp and Rochon were living in Victoria, BC, but had been best friends and playing music since they were teenagers in the small coastal fishing town of Prince Rupert.

Epp grew up obsessed with luminaries of the American underground like Elliott Smith, the Ramones, and the Replacements. Artists who write simple, beautiful pop tunes that highlight dread and saccharine in equal parts. Epp and Rochon also developed a “soft spot” for 90s Canadian indie-pop bands like Limblifter, Inbreds, Eric's Trip, and Sloan.

Like most small town or suburban kids who want to play music, the pair eventually moved to the nearest big city: Vancouver. There, Dead Soft joined the inspiring scene that produced pivotal Canadian acts like Mac Demarco, Japandroids, and White Lung.

In Vancouver, Dead Soft became a three-piece and, after a string of singles, released their self-titled debut in 2014 on Kingfisher Bluez and JEFF the Brotherhood’s Infinity Cat Recordings . The band spent the next four years on the road, including support tours with Bully and The Dirty Nil. A sophomore follow up would have come sooner, but the recording process, and life, became mired in difficulties.

The theme of new beginnings align closely with changes in the band. Specifically, the recent additions of Alex Smith (drums) and Kyle Schick (guitarist) have allowed for a bigger sound, more hooky guitar leads, Beach Boys-like harmonies, and more strength and purpose. The new line-up initiated a wellspring of creativity.

That fresh start extended beyond their creative endeavors, facing down the realities of living as an artist in one of North America’s most expensive cities, Epp and Rochon left Vancouver for the familiar environment of a small coastal town, Gabriola Island, where they now run a landscaping company in between writing music and touring.

DEAD SOFT ONLINE
WEBSITE
BANDCAMP
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM

LYDIA AINSWORTH ANNOUNCES NEW LP, SHARES NEW VIDEO

PHANTOM FOREST DUE OUT MAY 10

WATCH AND SHARE “CAN YOU FIND HER PLACE” HERE

PRE-ORDER PHANTOM FOREST HERE

"Lydia Ainsworth doesn't so much subvert pop music, but skates around its edges... [She] blurs melodies and rote formats with a sense of mystery." - NPR

"Among pop music's experimental architects, Lydia Ainsworth has a unique knack for making grand sweeping gestures feel human." - PITCHFORK

"Ainsworth creates enough comforting fantasies to make us all feel at ease." - STEREOGUM

PHOTO CREDIT : Bryan Hyunh // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Lydia Ainsworth, the acclaimed singer/songwriter/producer, announced her third album Phantom Forest today, due out May 10. The record, the follow up to 2017's Darling of the Afterglow and her first since relocating from Toronto to Los Angeles, is themed around the precarious state of nature in the modern world.

Today, Ainsworth shares the video for “Can You Find Her Place” and describes the track as "a song about Mother Nature's elusive yet powerful strength in the face of adversity. I'm singing a number of the songs on Phantom Forest from the perspective of Mother Nature and her views on humanity's hubris, however on 'Can You Find Her Place' I am using my voice as a kind of Greek chorus singing about where you can find her strength, setting the scene for Phantom Forest."

The ornate video, directed by Lydia’s sister Abby Ainsworth, was inspired by Botticelli's painting "Primavera", an allegorical representation of the burgeoning fertility of the earth in spring. Lydia notes: "The video features the Greek gods of the painting in a choreographed Baroque style dance."

The Fader calls the  video "one of her catchiest compositions yet" and adds, "Ainsworth's vocals work in tandem to catch light and color from new and exciting angles."

WATCH AND SHARE “CAN YOU FIND HER PLACE” HERE

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydia.ainsworth/ twitter: https://twitter.com/lydiaainsworth facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lydmusic This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada's private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

Lydia Ainsworth's third album, Phantom Forest, introduces a lush, complex dream world that the singer, composer, and producer created and inhabited largely on her own.

Ainsworth produced Phantom Forest herself, and wrote all the songs with the exception of the closing track "Green Is The Color," a Pink Floyd cover, and "The Time" and "Give It Back To You," which she co-wrote with Kyle Dixon of Survive (Stranger Things).

Ainsworth, who's relocated to Los Angeles from Toronto since 2017's Darling of the Afterglow, explains that the collection revealed itself to her "as a play taking place in Mother Nature's vanishing home," aka Phantom Forest, and that she's singing from three perspectives: herself, Mother Nature, and Greek Chorus. For instance, of the album's opener, "Diamonds Cutting Diamonds," she explains: "The Greek Chorus sets the scene, narrating and offering direction on how to enter Phantom Forest. It's my hope that the listener will imagine the narration to be directed to them as well, as they begin the journey of the album."

In line with the classical and historical depths of Phantom Forest, Ainsworth, who holds a Masters Degree in film scoring composition from NYU and studied composition as an undergrad at McGill, notes that although the album might be considered pop, she approached it as an orchestrator. "Even if I'm dealing purely with synths," she says, "The songs are like a score, each one an evolving journey. I love to use strings so I've included my string arrangements on 'Tell Me I Exist' and 'Can You Find Her Place.' I recorded live musicians on drums, bass, and guitar on 'Edge of the Throne,' 'The Time,' and 'Floating Dream,' and wove those live elements into my programmed elements."

Phantom Forest is a beautiful, vast collection that mixes the historical and the hands on, with hooks about the apocalypse and people obsessively using face-recognition software to see what paintings their face match with, in search of some kind of connection.  It's a journey that holds up to close listening (and lyric reading) and to dance floors, but that can also exist on a purely emotional plane. In all cases, it asks that you listen, and take some kind of action.

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

PHANTOM FOREST TRACKLIST
1. Diamonds Cutting Diamonds
2. Tell Me I Exist
3. Can You Find Her Place
4. Edge Of The Throne
5. Kiss The Future
6. The Time
7. Give It Back To You
8. Floating Dream
9. Green Is The Color (Pink Floyd cover)

LYDIA AINSWORTH ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM