Single Servings, March 21, 2022
In this week’s Single Servings, Arcade Fire’s triumphant return, Li’l Andy travels back in time, Ducks Ltd. tackles an alt-rock classic, Altameda lights up in neon, and much more!
By Jason Schneider
In this week’s Single Servings, Arcade Fire’s triumphant return, Li’l Andy travels back in time, Ducks Ltd. tackles an alt-rock classic, Altameda lights up in neon, and much more!
Arcade Fire – The Lightning I, II
Release Date: March 17
Label: Sony Music Canada
The band’s first new music in five years has immediately put Arcade Fire near the head of the pack for most anticipated album of 2022. Now teetering on the verge of being a “legacy act,” The Lightning I, II finds the Montreal collective returning to the more straightforward, ‘80s inspired anthemic qualities of their earlier work, specifically 2004’s era-defining Funeral.
Joyce Wrice & Kaytranada – Iced Tea
Release Date: March 16
Label: Joyce Wrice Music
Almost a year after the release of the debut album Overgrown, Californian Wrice has reunited with Canadian producer extraordinaire Kaytranada for this refreshing jam. Says Wrice, “Iced Tea is a fun dance record where I’m stepping into my divine feminine with the hopes to empower women to be free and stand their ground.”
Li’l Andy – I See Jesus Comin’ Down The Road
Release Date: March 18
Label: Back On Wax
Montreal’s favourite country singer is returning April 22 with an ambitious project, The Complete Recordings Of Hezekiah Procter (1925-1930) on which he assumes the persona of an Americana singer from a century ago. The double LP set containing 29 original songs recorded on analogue tape, as well as 1920s wire technology, also includes a 150-page novel telling Procter’s story. I See Jesus Comin’ Down The Road offers a compelling preview.
Altameda – Neon (& That’s Why)
Release Date: March 18
Label: Pheromone Recordings
These former Edmontonians now based in Toronto continue to tease their new album Born Losers, out April 15, with this latest single, a breezy slice of alt-pop indicative of how the band has progressed from their previous roots-rock sound.
Julie & Dany – Lying
Release Date: March 15
Label: Simone Records
Hot on the heels of her solo album I Thought Of You, Julie Doiron and her partner, Quebec singer/songwriter Dany Placard, are prepping an 11-song album due out April 29. The video for Lying finds them in an intimate live setting, which may offer some insight to the approach they took in the studio.
Pkew Pkew Pkew – Maybe Someday
Release Date: March 16
Label: Dine Alone
One of the best names in Canadian punk is returning on May 13 with a new album, Open Bar. Maybe Someday shows a lot of promise with its ragged melodicism, clearly influenced by The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, whom the band gives credit as “consultant.”
Tom Savage – Down Here
Release Date: March 18
Label: Rabid Ear Music
The veteran Kingston, Ontario troubadour is poised to release his new album 21st Century Lo-Fi, a self-described pandemic project that found Savage experimenting in his home studio as never before. The pulsing Down Here reveals his thoughts on society’s current ills, specifically the growing income gap that’s pushing so many people into poverty.
Ducks Ltd. – Head On (feat. Illuminati Hotties)
Release Date: March 17
Label: Carpark Records
The rising darlings of Canadian indie rock are launching a new cover song series they’ve dubbed The Sincerest Form Of Flattery with this take on the 1989 Jesus And Mary Chain classic. There’s more jangle here than the JAMC’s familiar scuzz, so to each their own taste.
JayWood – God Is A Reptile
Release Date: March 8
Label: Royal Mountain Records
Winnipeg’s JayWood, aka Jeremy Haywood-Smith, made a splash last year with his debut EP Some Days, a blend of indie pop and classic funk. He’s developing that sound even further on the new single God Is A Reptile, which he describes as feeling “like the angstiest part of myself. I wrote it at a time where I was experiencing a lot of anger all at once and I really just wanted to focus it into something healthy.”
Yesterday’s Ring – Always A Little Bit Sad
Release Date: March 8
Label: Fantasio Too Weird
This rootsy side project of Montreal punk heroes The Sainte Catharines have April 1 set for a new album, Goodbye Nightlife, and one listen to Always A Little Bit Sad should get anyone with fond memories of late 20th Century punk-folk on board. The rousing music contrasts nicely with the melancholic lyrics, to which a lot of aging Gen Xers will surely relate.
