PIERRE KWENDERS SHARES “YOUR DREAM” FROM UPCOMING LP

LISTEN / SHARE “YOUR DREAM” HERE
BUY / STREAM “YOUR DREAM” HERE

NEW ALBUM, JOSÉ LOUIS AND THE PARADOX OF LOVE, OUT NEXT WEEK, APRIL 29, 2022 ON ARTS & CRAFTS 

PRE-ORDER JOSÉ LOUIS AND THE PARADOX OF LOVE HERE

TOUR DATES CONTINUE MAY 4

“‘Papa Wemba’ adds electronic clout to the soukous beat — it sounds like it’s being punched out on a Teletype — and stirs up a rhythmic vortex” - The New York Times

“Since his 2014 debut LP ‘Le Dernier Empereur Bantou,’ Pierre Kwenders has been an invaluable force in Canadian music with his experimental and playful approach to Congolese rumba.” - The FADER

“Though the beat carries melancholic undertones throughout, it does not take away from the irresistible hip-swaying feel — aided by tantalising afro-beats and gentle melodies.” - Wonderland, on “Heartbeat”

“Your Dream” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Pierre Kwenders shares his new single “Your Dream” off of his forthcoming album, José Louis and the Paradox of Love, out next Friday, April 29, on Arts & Crafts. Certainly the most intimate song on José Louis and the Paradox of Love, “Your Dream” reveals an emotional side of Kwenders, as he opens up about his sexuality and the pressure of meeting others’ expectations, someone else’s dreams. Featuring Congolese singer-songwriter and Kwenders’ former collaborator, Ngabonziza Kiroko aka NGABO, “Your Dream” creates a dialogue between two artists hailing from the same part of the world, mirroring each others’ experiences with Kwenders singing in Lingala and NGABO in Swahili. Portuguese DJ and producer Branko cements the powerful ballad with his layered approach, creating a unique and timeless melody. 

Beginning with a birthday voice note from Kwenders’ mother, “Your Dream” explores the universal moment in life when you have no choice but to be yourself and live your own truth. “‘Your Dream’ is to me an open letter to my mother (we can hear her voice in the beginning and end of track),” says Kwenders. “Often in life we find ourselves confronted with ourselves and the family juxtaposition of traditional expectations of a man’s life. In this song, I respond to my mother. Embracing her love and blessings certainly but letting her know that my dreams are valid and I want to be able to be the best man I can be for myself. My family grew up in a different time. A time of harsh black and white dangerous stereotypes. It’s important for me that I don’t fit into any of those.”

LISTEN / SHARE “YOUR DREAM” HERE
BUY / STREAM “YOUR DREAM” HERE

Following MAKANDA at The End of Space, the Beginning of Time, Kwenders’s 2017 sophomore album, and Le Dernier Empereur Bantou, his 2014 debut – both of which earned Kwenders nominations for Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize – José Louis and the Paradox of Love finds the artist arriving at a new juncture: a moment of resonance, carefully wrapped in freewheeling tapestry, hinged in reverence to its diverse heritage, yet reveling in the inventive combination of its elements. 

WATCH / SHARE “PAPA WEMBA” HERE
BUY / STREAM “PAPA WEMBA” HERE

Seamlessly working across Congolese rumba, contemporary electronic music, pop-R&B, and jazz-infused progressions with a range of global collaborators including Tendai Maraire (Shabazz Palaces), Branko (M.I.A., Buraka som Sistema), Win Butler (Arcade Fire), Michael Brun (J Balvin), and Uproot Andy (Poirier), José Louis and the Paradox of Love is both an embrace of African musical tradition and an evolution of it. Singing and rapping in Lingala, French, English, Tshiluba, and Kikongo, Kwenders similarly weaves his stories across the boundaries of language and geography. Written and recorded while traversing the globe with his Moonshine Collective — holding nearly 100 lunar-based events including a Boiler Room party in his native Kinshasa or performing for COLORS in Berlin — Kwenders has taken his Afro-electronic soirées from Los Angeles to Santiago to Paris and beyond, building a truly international grassroots community of fans and peers.

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

WATCH / SHARE “HEARTBEAT” (FEAT. ANAIIS) HERE
BUY / STREAM “HEARTBEAT” (FEAT. ANAIIS) HERE

TOUR DATES
May 4 - Toronto, ON @ Music Gallery (Album Launch)
May 6 - Montreal, QC @ PHI Centre (Album Launch)
Jun 24 - Carleton-sur-Mer, QC @ Festival Blue Blue
Jul 9 - Toronto, ON @ Field Trip
Jul 21 - Baie-Saint-Paul, QC @ Le Festif!
Jul 30 - Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
Aug. 3 - Montreal, QC @ Pride
Aug. 7 - Québec, CA @ Festival Cigale

PRE-ORDER JOSÉ LOUIS AND THE PARADOX OF LOVE HERE

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JOSÉ LOUIS AND THE PARADOX OF LOVE TRACKLIST
1. L.E.S (Liberté Égalité Sagacité) (Feat. Win Butler, King Britt)
2. Your Dream (Feat. Ngabo)
3. No No No
4. Imparfait (Feat. Sônge)
5. Papa Wemba
6. Religion désir
7. Makambo Ya Gaga (skit)
8. Heartbeat (feat. anaiis)
9. Kilimanjaro
10. Coupé
11. Sahara
12. Radio trottoir (interlude) (Feat. Babel Bukasa)
13. Church (Likambo) (Feat. Africa Intshiyetu Choir)

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BUSTY AND THE BASS + S.T.S. SHARE “MEMORIES ABOUT YOU” FT. JORDAN BROWN

Photo Credit : Kane Ocean // Collage Credit: Habiba Esaad  // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Busty and the Bass + S.T.S. are sharing another track from the upcoming KARNEVAL EP, a collection of soulful late night hip-hop centered around the theme of an abandoned fairground, evoking memories of relationships, desire, and nostalgia. 

“Memories About You” featuring Jordan Brown is “pure R&B”, the band says. “Like all the other tunes, it came about from jamming all together in the room with Jordan and S.T.S. filling in vocal ideas here and there. Jordan floated the melody overtop and it instantly became the hook to the track. The track is introspective and melancholy, and speaks to the ideas of loneliness and separation. It touches on the pain of breaking up with someone knowing I could try to do better for them by ‘changing’ but not being certain if we can change or have the will to change and that they might deserve better. There is a guilt and a shame that can come to heart and those memories, good and bad, can send us on a whirlwind of self doubt and as an artist specifically, that doubt can spill over into your craft and it can be painful.”

LISTEN / SHARE “MEMORIES ABOUT YOU” FT. JORDAN BROWN HERE
BUY / STREAM “MEMORIES ABOUT YOU” FT. JORDAN BROWN HERE

With their seamless blend of soulful vocals, hip hop, jazz-funk instrumentals, and signature brass and synths, Busty and the Bass is ushering in a new era of genre-defying sound. The band has released 2 full length albums, both produced by GRAMMY Award-winning producer Neal Pogue (Doja Cat, Anderson Paak, Tyler the Creator), and have collaborated with George Clinton, Macy Gray, Earth, Wind, & Fire's bassist Verdine White and more. Philly rapper and spoken word artist S.T.S. was discovered by DJ Jazzy Jeff, co-wrote Ciara's hit “Oh” and signed a deal with Def Jam before a near-fatal car accident put his career on pause. Over the years, S.T.S. rebuilt his career collaborating with a diverse range of artists such as Joywave, The Roots, RJD2, Agoria, and many more.

LISTEN / SHARE “MERRY GO ROUND” FEAT. STS
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KARNEVAL EP TRACKLIST
01 Lumberjack Beards (intro)
02 Everything Comes In Waves
03 Waves
04 Merry Go Round
05 My Parade ft. Jordan Brown
06 Memories About You ft. Jordan Brown
07 Carousel (interlude)
08 Time Bomb (bonus track)

2022 PERFORMANCE DATES
May 28 - Denver, CO @ (city outdoor show)
May 31 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echo
Jun 1 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent
Jun 3 - New York, NY @ Brooklyn Made

PRAISE FOR BUSTY AND THE BASS

"An undeniable live performance and a sound that’s best described as a lovechild between jazz, hip-hop, and electro-soul." - Complex

"Some fresh beats along with a juicy melody and you’ve got yourself an aural feast at which a jazzy, funkalicious hip-hop-infused experience awaits you." - The Huffington Post

"...a collection of reflective compositions showcasing their marriage of jazz, hip-hop and electro-soul influences" - Jazziz on Eddie

“If we need to pick a song of the summer – consider Out of Love, a funky, bubbling slice of R&B that cools the edge like tonic does to gin” The Globe and Mail on “Out Of Love”

"The overall vibe is that of a basement make-out party with dim lights, smoke-filled air, and a pile of R&B based rock, funk and soul 45s endlessly dropping down on the automatic record changer. The album should be played at a lower volume than most." - PopMatters on Eddie

“...an album filled with expert musicianship.” - Erie Reader on Eddie

"Combining their love of funk, soul, hip-hop, gospel and dance, Busty and the Bass is one of the baddest in the land when it comes to delivering unified sounds for the masses." - Okayplayer

"...drips with gold, beaming a timeless warmth, innocence, reflection, and adventure on a summery feel-good jazz-funk electro-soul pop fusion." - Atwood Magazine on Eddie

“This Montreal-funk eight-piece pulls out all the stops on its guest-laden new album. It’s Cool.” The Vancouver Sun on Eddie

BUSTY AND THE BASE ONLINE
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PHARIS & JASON ROMERO ANNOUNCE NEW LP, SHARE TWO NEW SINGLES/VIDEO

WATCH / SHARE “SOUVENIR” (MUSIC VIDEO) HERE
BUY / STREAM “SOUVENIR” & “PALE MORNING” HERE

TELL ‘EM YOU WERE GOLD, THE NEW LP FROM JUNO AWARD WINNERS PHARIS & JASON ROMERO, OUT JUNE 17, 2022 VIA SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS RECORDS

PRE-ORDER TELL ‘EM YOU WERE GOLD HERE

Photo Credit : Patrick King // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Pharis and Jason Romero—whose old-time, country-folk, and early roots music has made them three-time JUNO Award and seven-time Canadian Folk Music Award winners—have announced the release of their new album, Tell ’Em You Were Gold, out June 17, 2022 on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. It’s Pharis and Jason’s seventh album as a duo, and the first since 2020’s Bet on Love, which won praise from the BB, NPR, and American Songwriter who said, “To call Bet on Love anything other than masterful would be a disservice.” 

Tell ’Em You Were Gold was written and recorded in an old barn on the couple’s homestead in Horsefly, British Columbia. The barn had long been run down, and between building banjos, adventuring outdoors, and loving up their two kids, Pharis and Jason restored the building themselves, milling their own spruce, hoisting beams, and rebuilding a roof originally covered in tin printing plates. “The music made on this record was made in the spirit of that working transformation and in the spirit of the history that old barn contains,” they write in the album’s liner notes. And while the intimacy of the old building does make its way onto the record in the form of crackling stoves and tapping feet, the sense of ease that glows from the album’s center gives it the warmth of a hearth in a cold BC winter. Like many albums recorded in the past couple of years, Tell ʼEm You Were Gold is an at-home record, one where the performers’ sense of being at home with one another is obvious in their effortless interplay.

Today, they are sharing the first single and video for “Souvenir” as well as a bonus track, “Pale Morning”. "We made this record over six days of playing live in an old barn," says Pharis. "Sometimes the songs took new and surprising directions. Souvenir was made on the last day of recording; the film crew and guest musicians had left, and it was just the two of us and the engineer together in the barn. The banjo and guitar vibe changed as soon as we sat down to play it. Jason retuned the banjo and switched from clawhammer to a rhythmic fingerstyle; I slowed the guitar down and played heavy on the downbeat. A couple takes in, and the song sat where you hear it now. The words are about how experiences in life become souvenirs of times, places and people. It’s about keeping yourself centered as you carry them. In other words, the souvenirs don’t become you - you are at the core of them, and you are gold."

WATCH / SHARE “SOUVENIR” HERE
BUY / STREAM “SOUVENIR” & “PALE MORNING” HERE

MORE ABOUT TELL ‘EM YOU WERE GOLD
Making things by hand comes naturally to the pair: Jason has long been a highly regarded banjo-maker whose designs expand the instrument’s expressive range while respecting both its mechanical history and the music it’s frequently been used to make. When setting out to write and record Tell ʼEm You Were Gold, the duo created something where the depth and brilliance of Jason's banjos would shine on each song, where each of the instrument’s distinct personalities could be showcased through the repertoire. Jason plays seven different banjos on the album, and Pharis plays one gourd banjo guitar—all handmade by Jason in his shop. Each banjo on this record started with an idea of a sound, a feeling, or an aesthetic, and each one makes Jason play and feel a different way. They were even given names reflecting their individual character and identity: Papillon, Big Blue, Clara, Birdie, Mother, Bella, Gourdo, and The Beast.

Nearly half of Tell ’Em You Were Gold’s 16 songs are in the public domain, but the duo make sure to note whose versions have informed their own. The duo’s take on “Train on the Island” takes inspiration from the work of Tom Sauber and Mark Graham, among others, but Jason’s delicate touch—he plays three-finger style with no picks on the song—makes his virtuosity feel gentle and companionable, and contributes to the track’s incredible warmth. On opener “Souvenir”, he lays back, following the lead of Pharis’ guitar, allowing her rhythms to pull him forward as she sings about time well spent. Jason fluidly moves between various banjo styles, displaying mastery of clawhammer and three-finger picking styles and various alternate tunings. 

Pharis’ lyrics shine with wisdom that’s hard won and love that’s kindly offered. “We’re always older than yesterday, but I don’t change and you won’t stay,” she sings in “Sour Queen”. The song is a showcase for her voice, too: She pushes it higher, nearly breaking it into a yodel while Jason chases the melody downward behind her. Pharis grew up in rural British Columbia singing in her family’s folk-country band, playing in the creek, and falling for ’60s folk revival and bluegrass records, and throughout Tell ’Em You Were Gold, she sings with a sweetness that never feels like affectation. Her voice is clear, bright, and informed by the sadness of a song like “Black Guard Mary” without succumbing to it. In “Cannot Change It All”, she sings an ode to the possibility of a better world with an open-eyed view of just how difficult that world will be to achieve; she carries that knowledge in her tone, never expressing it with words, but in the shadow of heartbreak that flickers through the song. 

But what shines through Tell ’Em You Were Gold the brightest is the sense of joy that Pharis and Jason have playing with one another and with their friends. They’re joined by fiddlers Grace Forrest and Trent Freeman, pedal steel player Marc Jenkins, bassist Patrick Metzger, and John Reischman on mandolin. You can hear it in the way Jenkins’ pedal steel slides like liquid among the wiry picking of “The Dose”, or in the contented exhales of “SS Radiant”, a sweet solo banjo meditation dedicated to the duo’s son Sy. Even “Been All Around This World”, a rambling song Pharis and Jason each sang before they met and sing together here, feels quiet, at rest, like it’s arrived—like they’ve been around the world, but they’re here now, and there’s no place they’d rather be than at home together.

PRE-ORDER TELL ‘EM YOU WERE GOLD HERE

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TELL ‘EM YOU WERE GOLD TRACKLIST
01 Souvenir
02 Cold Shout
03 Rolling Mills
04 Sour Queen
05 Pale Morning
06 Trains On The Island
07 Lady On The Green
08 Cannot Change It All
09 The Dose
10 SS Radiant
11 Been All Around This World
12 Black Guard Mary
13 Going To Town
14 Going Across The Sea
15 Five Mils From Town
16 Old Bill’s Tune

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