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FYI

Sarah Harmer: New Low

The first song from an eagerly awaited album features virile electric guitar, a lacing of brass, and forceful vocals, making for a rousing call to arms.

Sarah Harmer: New Low

By Kerry Doole

Sarah Harmer: New Low (Arts & Crafts): This is the first song to be made available from the award-winning Ontario singer-songwriter and environmentalist's new album, Are You Gone.


Due out on February 21 via Arts & Crafts, this is Harmer's first full body of work in ten years, so to term it 'anticipated' is a decided understatement. Her gorgeous voice and potent songwriting have indeed been missed.

In a label press release, Harmer says of New Low: “I was seeing many more people out protesting and standing vigil, beyond the usually dedicated Indigenous leaders and social justice activists. I met with Queen's University students who were organizing to push the university to divest from fossil fuel investments and then met with the principal of the university.

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"When pressed, he dismissed the idea of divestment largely because he said it wouldn't make a difference to the fossil fuel industry, and also that sizeable donations and sponsorships made to the university by former students now at oil and gas companies created a 'grey area' of policy. The term stuck with me.  Sometimes it's good to see the nuance of a situation, and sometimes the calls for nuance are just straight-up cop-outs. I hope this song gets people to their feet, and not only to dance.”

More up-tempo than much of her material, it features virile electric guitar, a lacing of brass, and forceful vocals, making for a rousing call to arms.

Expect a mix of the political and personal on the rest of the record, one the press release terms "a meditation on the idea of presence, and a bookend to the questions posed on You Were Here, Harmer's much-revered 2000 solo debut (TIME called it the best debut album of the year). One very welcome return to action.

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To promote Are You Gone, Harmer will play her first tour in a decade. Following US dates, she starts an extensive Canadian tour in Peterborough on March 24, closing out in Vancouver on May 2. Dates here

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Publicity: Ken Beattie, Killbeat

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William Prince

William Prince

FYI

Music News Digest: William Prince Announces National Tour, Abigail Lapell & Julian Taylor Amongst Folk Music Ontario Award Winners

Also this week: 11 music industry associations from across the country converge for Come Together in Toronto , The Trews launch a new album with an intimate event and more.

Juno-winning Indigenous roots singer/songwriter William Prince has just released a new album, Further From the Country, and announced a cross-Canada tour for early 2026. That trek begins in Saskatoon on Feb. 28, closing out at Toronto's Massey Hall (his third headlining appearance there) on March 21, then followed by an April 25 homecoming show at Winnipeg's Centennial Concert Hall. Support act on the tour is Boy Golden, who produced Prince's new record. Tickets go on sale Friday (Oct. 24) here. On Nov. 18, Prince, Boy Golden and Whitehorse play Canadian label Six Shooter’s Cosmic Country Night at Brooklyn's Union Pool.

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