The Royal Foundry: WAKEUP WAKEUP

By Kerry Doole

The Royal Foundry - WAKEUP WAKEUP (indie):  On Sept. 27, the Alberta alt-pop duo The Royal Foundry (husband and wife team Jared Salte and Bethany Schumacher) releases a new album, WAKEUP WAKEUP, the follow-up to 2017’s full-length album Lost In Your Head.

The band first made waves in 2015 when they won Alberta’s Peak Performance Project grand prize of $75K for their song “Running Away”, which became their first Top 30 radio hit in Canada. They have since had two more singles in the Top 30, including Hopefully, the first single released from WAKEUP WAKEUP .

Released today, this new title track song (and video) also has commercial potential. Salte's earnest vocals are complemented by a big production sound, and the repetitive hook has an earworm quality.

In a press release, Schumacher says this of the new album: "It’s not a concept record by any means, but much like a conversation can dabble in different themes and topics, we see this album as just that - a record that’s best appreciated within the context of being a singular piece of art. When I think about albums, I gravitate back to records that shaped my childhood and young adulthood, that I’d sit down and listen to in one sit."

In 2016, the band nabbed three Edmonton Music Awards for Single of the Year, Group of the Year, and Music Video of the Year, as well as licensing the song Dreamers to Disney. They also licensed their single Start This Fire for an international ad campaign, which led to The Royal Foundry being signed to a publishing deal with peerMusic. Their music has also been featured in numerous television shows, including Rookie Blue and Catfish.

They’ve also won three John Lennon Songwriting Competition Grand Prize Awards, and multiple Edmonton Music Awards. Their music is nearing 3M streams on Spotify.

The Royal Foundry will embark on a cross-Canada tour (their eighth) in October. A list of tour dates here 

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Publicity: Paula Danylevich