Single Servings, Jan. 17, 2022
This week’s Single Servings finds Destroyer getting mysterious, Comeback Kid making a comeback, Li’l Andy finally living up (or down) to his name, and much more!
By Jason Schneider
This week’s Single Servings finds Destroyer getting mysterious, Comeback Kid making a comeback, Li’l Andy finally living up (or down) to his name, and much more!
Envy Of None – Liar
Release Date: Jan. 12
Label: Kscope
Alex Lifeson has been teasing us with some instrumental music for the past several months, but his full intentions have now been fully revealed. The former Rush guitarist’s new band Envy Of None features his longtime collaborator Andy Curran (Coney Hatch), Toronto producer/beatmaker Alfio Annibalini, and singer/songwriter Maiah Wynne. The self-titled debut album is out April 8, with Liar offering a preview of the band’s industrial-tinged sound. Yes, Lifeson’s guitar is prominent, but it acts more as a complement to Wynne’s atmospheric vocals. An intriguing combination, to say the least.
Mother Mother – Hayloft I
Release Date: Jan. 12
Label: Last Gang Records
TikTok has been rewriting the rules of music promotion for the past couple of years among Gen Z, and veteran Vancouver band Mother Mother has reaped the benefits of that through its 2008 song Hayloft gaining unexpected popularity on the social media platform. In acknowledgement, Mother Mother has made a new video for the track with Juno-winning director Emma Higgins, and will also be releasing a “sequel,” Hayloft II on the deluxe edition of its current album, Inside, available Jan. 28. Forbidden love is indeed timeless.
Destroyer – Tintoretto, It’s For You
Release Date: Jan. 11
Label: Merge Records
Vancouver singer/songwriter Dan Bejar’s musical alter ego Destroyer continues to surprise and confound after 13 albums. The next, Labyrinthitis, is due to arrive March 25, and judging from Tintoretto, It’s For You, it’s going to be chock full of Bejar’s dense poetry, and his trademark air of mystery, which he described in a statement about the single as “the romance of terror.”
Li’l Andy – Out On The Old Highway
Release Date: Jan. 14
Label: Sainte Cecile Records
Although this song is on the Montreal alt-country hero’s 2019 album All The Love Songs Lied To Us, it took until now for Li’l Andy and video director Nasuna Stuart-Ulin to fully complete its stunning video that combines modern technology with early 20th-century Surrealism. It’s setting the stage for Andy’s even more ambitious new project, The Complete Recordings Of Hezekiah Proctor (1925-1930), more about which will be revealed soon.
Geneviève Racette – Someone (feat. Dallas Green)
Release Date: Jan. 14
Label: InTempo Musique
Quebec singer/songwriter Racette releases her third album, Satellite, on March 18, and it marks the first collaboration with Dallas Green, who became a fan after hearing Racette cover one of his City & Colour songs in a 2019 Instagram post. Upon hearing her demos for Satellite, Green offered to duet on Someone, and the results are as heartbreakingly intimate and honest as one might expect from the pair.
Chynna Lewis – Where I Left You
Release Date: Jan. 14
Label: Independent
This slice of vintage pop/soul heralds the impending arrival of Toronto artist Chynna Lewis’s debut EP What Are Friends For. She’s certainly proved her vocal chops, having sung back-ups for Jessie Reyez, Jully Black and many others, but she comes into her own on Where I Left You, with its theme focusing on choosing to live with the pain of a dysfunctional relationship, rather than being alone.
Matt Andersen – Other Side Of Goodbye
Release Date: Jan. 14
Label: Sonic Records Records
The New Brunswick blues shouter is back on March 4 with House To House, a studio album that for the first time places him in a solo acoustic setting. It’s a reminder of his years as a road dog when his solo performances would make legions of new fans in each city he visited. Other Side Of Goodbye likewise shows that Andersen’s voice is still a force of nature.
Apollo Ghosts – Spilling Yr Guts
Release Date: Jan. 11
Label: You’ve Changed Records
These cult-hero Vancouver alt-rockers fronted by singer/songwriter Adrian Teacher announced their split in 2013 but recently found themselves back together for a new album, Pink Tiger, out March 11, which finds Teacher redefining the band’s personality. The “Pink” half of the record will be comprised of home-recorded acoustic tracks, while the “Tiger” half will show off the band’s more familiar indie rock sound, as demonstrated by the Pavement/Sonic Youth-ish Spilling Yr Guts.
Comeback Kid – Crossed
Release Date: Dec. 3
Label: New Damage Records
Influential Winnipeg hardcore veterans Comeback Kid return Jan. 21 with Heavy Steps, their first new music since 2017’s Outsider. Embodying the band’s fun, fast and melodically crafted approach to hardcore, Heavy Steps once again delivers pure anthemic chaos. That’s clearly heard on Crossed, which features a guest appearance by Joe Duplantier, lead vocalist for French metal legends Gojira.
Domanique Grant – Airbrush (Acoustic)
Release Date: Nov. 19
Label: Grant Creative Inc.
Back in August, we were excited to share this rising Toronto R&B artist’s flashy and socially relevant single Airbrush. The song’s power is revealed in an entirely different light on this more serious version, built around a stripped-down, piano-based performance by Grant. On it, her pure, soulful voice is placed front and centre, underscoring her dynamic range. An artist to keep a close eye on in 2022.
