KROY RETURNS WITH ANOTHER NEW SINGLE, “THE WOLF”

JUNO AWARD WINNER AND TWO-TIME POLARIS-LONGLISTER FROM MILK & BONE, RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE, “THE WOLF”, OUT VIA LIGHTER THAN AIR

WATCH / SHARE “THE WOLF” LYRIC VIDEO HERE
BUY / STREAM “THE WOLF” HERE

Photo Credit : KROY // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

KROY, is the stage name of singer, songwriter and composer Camille Poliquin, the Montreal singer-songwriter and half of JUNO Award-winning duo Milk & Bone. KROY’s deeply personal approach to music and her bold pop explorations have seen her accumulate millions of streams. KROY has been described as a visionary artist and Montreal’s queen of electropop, and is known for her soaring voice, synth-pop melodies and brooding lyrics.

Today, she returns with her second single of 2023, “THE WOLF”, an ominous track forgoes drums to centre KROY’s vulnerable voice as she sings of a frightening, all-consuming love that you can’t live without. Influenced by Beth Gibbons (Portishead), the track embraces country-goth darkness, reminiscent of her debut EP SCAVENGER which won praise from Rolling Stone, Nylon, FADER, and more.

This is the first day of THE WOLF.

WATCH / SHARE “THE WOLF” LYRIC VIDEO HERE
BUY / STREAM “THE WOLF” HERE

Photo Credit : JAILLI  DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

MORE ABOUT KROY
Camille Poliquin released her first songs under the alias KROY in 2014 and was quickly dubbed the next Montreal indie pop sensation. A year later, she began to create music with Laurence Lafond-Beaune, forming the minimalist electro-pop duo Milk & Bone, and together they spawned two critically acclaimed albums and one EP: Little Mourning (2015), Deception Bay (2018) and DIVE (2019).

In the fall of 2016, KROY released her debut solo album SCAVENGER. With hypnotic electro rhythms and lyrics dominated by stories of impossible love, the album draws inspiration from spacey trip-hop and inventive modern pop. SCAVENGER’s whirlwind of synths has garnered praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Nylon, FADER, Complex, Noisey and more. Reflecting KROY's polished black-and-white imagery, the cover won a prize at the 2017 Grafika Awards. The album’s success has also allowed KROY to perform throughout Canada and abroad, including New York and Paris, Le Printemps de Bourges, Austin (SXSW), Hamburg (The Reeperbahn) and Montreal (Osheaga). In 2020, the musician collaborated with prolific Belgium-born producer Apashe on the single “Rain”.

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

To express her forward and varied interests, Camille likes to say that, much like Seinfeld’s George Costanza, she could’ve become a marine biologist or an architect had she not turned her attention to music. On top of the success of KROY and Milk & Bone, the musician, who completed studies in orchestral composition, has crafted music for two Cirque du Soleil shows and several feature films with Laurence Lafond-Beaune, including the theme song for King Dave for which the pair earned a nomination at the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards. Camille has also written the original music for the 2019 documentary Sisterhood, and KROY songs have been selected to create the right feeling in key scenes of multiple major international TV shows. Throughout her career, Camille has won a JUNO Award (2019), a Félix Award (2019), and has been twice long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize (2015 and 2018).

After a long wait and relentless requests from her fans, KROY returns to unveil the fruits of her lyrical and musical explorations in a new album to be released in 2021. The musician’s new work features dark pop melodies inspired by love, death, robots, space and the deep ocean.

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HOVVDY RELEASE NEW SINGLE “BUBBA”

Photo Credit: Adam Alonzo // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Hovvdy, the Texas duo composed of Charlie Martin and Will Taylor, release “Bubba”, a piano-driven new single produced by the band with Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver, Dijon) and Ben Littlejohn, out now via Arts & Crafts. 

“The song tells a story from two perspectives: the brother (Bubba) and his sister. It’s about sibling-hood in the midst of really hard times and getting through it all together. I was lucky to have my older brother through all our childhood shit, and I can’t imagine how it would’ve gone without him. But still it’s tough and time flies and we grow older and process in our own ways; and this song is about how that feels,” Martin explains. 

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

The track follows the release of “Jean”, the band’s latest single which received praise from Pitchfork, Stereogum, UPROXX, Brooklyn Vegan and Paste, who called the song “quintessential Hovvdy with an added edge. Martin and Taylor know exactly what they’re doing, and they make it perfect every single time."

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

Hovvdy is currently on tour doing a rare run of intimate duo performances and have announced dates supporting Cold War Kids in the new year. All dates below.

TOUR DATES
12/6/2023 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Cid + SOLD OUT
12/12/2023 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall +
12/14/2023 - Nashville, TN - The Blue Room +  SOLD OUT
12/15/2023 - Brooklyn, NY - Public Records + SOLD OUT
1/31/2024 - San Francisco, CA - Fillmore *
2/1/2024 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
2/2/2024 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue *
2/3/2024 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre *
2/5/2024 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory *
2/6/2024 - Bozeman, MT - The Elm *
2/8/2024 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up *
2/9/2024 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theater *
2/10/2024 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theater *
2/13/2024 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom *
2/15/2024 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues *
2/16/2024 - Houston, TX - House of Blues *
2/17/2024 - Austin, TX - Stubbs *
5/25/2024 - Bristol, UK - Dot To Dot Festival
5/26/2024 - Nottingham, UK - Dot To Dot Festival

+ duo tour
* supporting Cold War Kids

Single Art Credit: Adam Alonzo // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

PRAISE FOR 2021’S TRUE LOVE

"The candid reflexivity in Hovvdy’s songwriting and instrumentation guards against oversentimentality. They’re not stuck in the past; they’re moving forward, craning their necks back to see what’s been left behind." -Pitchfork

"A fantastic soundtrack to taking in the first October weekend of the year, posted up in the backyard with a six-pack of Shiner and a couple of pals or reminiscing on the last time you did those sort of things on a weekday." -SPIN

"With each Hovvdy release, Charlie Martin and Will Taylor inch a little closer to the sunshine. On 'True Love,' the first single off their new album of the same name, they’re fully there, all aglow and with open arms." -The FADER

"Erupts with unshakeable charisma... The Texas duo's fourth album is driven by sharp lyricism, in search of joy and closure." -Paste

"Feels like a warm hug... With their fourth studio album, Austin pop duo Hovvdy presents its most mature and grounded sounds yet." -The AV Club

"True Love feels warm and approachable, like a close friend finally pulling you out of that persistent rut." -Consequence of Sound

"Hovvdy’s triumphant, enveloping True Love couldn’t have arrived at a better time." -UPROXX

"True Love is the most realized version of Hovvdy yet, a record that finds the duo peeling back the layers of their previous work until they arrive at the essential center." -FLOOD

"Their most authentic record to date" -American Songwriter

"Their fullest, catchiest release yet... Even in heartbreak, True Love's velvet soundscapes offer welcome comfort." -Austin Chronicle

HOVVDY ONLINE
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MOONRIIVR REVEALS VIDEO FOR “10,000 SUNS”

WATCH / SHARE “10,000 SUNS”  HERE

DEBUT LP, VOL. 1, OUT NOW VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS

BUY / STREAM VOL. 1 HERE

MOONRIIVR IS THE NEW PROJECT FROM GAVIN GARDINER (THE WOODEN SKY) AND CHAMPAGNE JAMES ROBERTSON (LINDI ORTEGA), FEATURING BEN WHITELEY (THE WEATHER STATION), AND LYLE MOLZAN (KATHLEEN EDWARDS) 

TOUR DATES IN JANUARY 2024

“Sounds as if Buddy Holly and Chris Isaak made a record with Damien Jurado. The slowmotion-surf on “10,000 suns” as well as the Folk-Blues “Run” with it’s sizzling analogue amps are outstanding.” - Rolling Stone (Germany)

Photo Credit : Colin Medley // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Following the release of MOONRIIVR's debut album, titled Vol. 1, the quartet of vocalist Gavin Gardiner (The Wooden Sky), guitarist "Champagne" James Robertson (Lindi Ortega), bassist Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), and percussionist Lyle Molzan (Kathleen Edwards) are releasing a video for their track, "10,000 Suns".

Crafted with a Tascam 388 tape recorder, Vol.1 is representative of an idiosyncratic brand of exotic indie-folk, laced with sweetly reverberating slide guitars, wonky string synths, and nimble percussive environments that Rolling Stone DE said, "Sounds as if Buddy Holly and Chris Isaak made a record with Damien Jurado."

Discussing the contents of the track, Gardiner said, "10,000 Suns addresses the weight of the past. How one can be crushed by shame, anger and regret. I’m not searching for answers within the song, but simply living in the present and looking towards love & forgiveness."

WATCH / SHARE “10,000 SUNS”  HERE

MORE ABOUT MOONRIIVR
The story of MOONRIIVR’s incarnation began in the spring of 2020, early days of the pandemic. Gavin Gardiner – best known as the front person for JUNO Award-nominated indie-folk mainstays The Wooden Sky, and as a producer and engineer at All Day Coconut studios for artists such as Fiver, Jason Collett, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – visited his friend “Champagne” James Robertson at the Robertson family farm north of Toronto. After years touring as lead guitar with acts like Lindi Ortega and Dwayne Gretzky, Robertson was similarly adrift during those strange early pandemic days. The two had been circling around each other in the Toronto music scene when the chance to collaborate landed in front of them. Armed with a vintage Tascam 388 tape recorder, mellotron and a nylon string guitar the two got stuck in and quickly realized they had stumbled onto something special. 

WATCH / SHARE “FLOWERS ON THE FIRE ESCAPE” HERE

The songs on MOONRIIVR’s aptly titled debut, Vol. 1, came together on an old analogue tape machine, laced with sweetly reverberating slide guitars, wonky string synths, and nimble percussive environments. MOONRIIVR's knack for creating sonic worlds that are at once lightly trippy and wholly inviting means that, as much as Vol. 1 draws on inspirations from decades past, it maintains a pleasing, distinctly out-of-time feel. The band half-jokingly likened the album to ‘Buddy Holly meets Krautrock’, and strange as it sounds it's not far off the mark. 

WATCH / SHARE “BACHELOR NATION” HERE

Thematically, the songs are wide ranging, providing a winning contrast to the laser focus of MOONRIIVR's sonic architecture. Running the gamut from personal reflections on finding pleasure in the minutiae of everyday life on “Blonde Hair Now” to meditations on some of the more disturbing and inescapable developments in world politics over the last few years (“Midnight at the Garden Hotel”, “Flowers on the Fire Escape”), Gardiner deftly addresses these seemingly disparate thought-poles with a balance of opacity and directness. While not beating the listener over the head, Gardiner doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics, be it climate change or navigating friendship schisms that developed around divergent pandemic politics. It's the kind of record that can thrum warmly in the background but also pays dividends for those listeners willing to dig a little deeper. 

WATCH / SHARE “MIDNIGHT AT THE GARDEN HOTEL” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) 

WATCH / SHARE “THE HYPNOTIST” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) 

After this initial round of writing and recording sessions at the farm, the two decamped back to Toronto where they roped in first-call bassist Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station, Basia Bulat, Julia Jacklin) and percussionist extraordinaire Lyle Molzan (Kathleen Edwards, Corb Lund), and continued tweaking and refining their sound during weekly sessions at All Day Coconut. The two added a new layer of depth to the proceedings, with Whiteley's tasteful, earthy bass playing providing a warm anchor to the music, and Molzan largely eschewing a standard drumkit in favour of triangles, congas, and other sundry percussive items.

WATCH / SHARE “BLONDE HAIR NOW” HERE

Finally, MOONRIIVR returned to the farm to pull the whole thing together. They set up shop in the garage, placing guitar amplifiers in cars and opening and closing the car doors to adjust sound leakage during recording. The 30 degree July heat made it necessary to keep the garage doors open, letting the natural ambient sounds of their rural environs seep into the background of the songs. Gardiner in particular delighted in this refreshing change from the status quo, re-setting himself with this open-ended, at times magical creative process, which he says “really opened up a whole new musical world to me that I had heard in the music I loved.”

BUY / STREAM VOL. 1 HERE

TOUR DATES:
Jan 25, 2024 - Red Deer, AB, Canada - Bo's Bar and Grill *
Jan 26, 2024 - Edmonton, AB, Canada - Winterruption Festival *

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VOL. 1 TRACKLIST
01 Blonde Hair Now
02 Midnight At The Garden Hotel
03 Flowers On The Fire Escape
04 No Turning Back
05 The Hypnotist
06 Let The World Turn
07 Mother To Me
08 Bachelor Nation
09 10,000 Suns
10 Run
11 Let’s Tell Everyone We Know
12 Only The Lonely Know How

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