Deep Sea Diver and Sharon Van Etten carry an "Impossible Weight" on new single & video

DEEP SEA DIVER AND SHARON VAN ETTEN CARRY AN "IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT" ON NEW SINGLE & VIDEO DEEP SEA DIVER'S NEW ALBUM IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT DUE OCTOBER 16, 2020 ON HIGH BEAM RECORDS (VIA ATO RECORDS) SEATTLE GROUP MASTERMINDED BY JESSICA DOBSON (GUITARIST FOR BECK, THE SHINS & MORE)

"Stop Pretending": "Favorite Songs of 2020 (So Far)"

“Dobson is part of a long line of powerful female musicians making rock that shreds, yet is complicated, even intellectualized. Heck, the current Queen of Rock — St. Vincent’s Annie Clark — would likely be proud of the work Dobson does..."

"Jessica Dobson pairs her radically vulnerable lyrics with her chest-beating guitar riffs to make a song the feels perfectly relatable... It’s like we’ve all had an “Impossible Weight” sized hole in our hearts for a while now and it was just filled." - Kevin Cole

Deep Sea Diver has shared new track "Impossible Weight," which features a stunning guest verse from Sharon Van Etten. The driving title track from their third album (due October 16 via High Beam Records / ATO Records) is accompanied by a video -- watch HERE, and pre-save the album HERE. "For this video I thought, well… if we cant play shows right now then I’m going to take my light box (a prop we bring on tour that I stand on top of when I play guitar solos) and I’m going to bring it into a myriad of untraditional places," bandleader Jessica Dobson says. "We wanted to create scenes of absolute beauty, of loneliness, of power—of the human spirit being fully alive, even in a time of sadness and uncertainty." "I chose the Neptune as the final shot because that is the venue in which I saw Sharon Van Etten play at the night before we recorded the song," Dobson continues. "I’ve been a huge fan or hers for quite some time and I was deeply moved and inspired by that show. The next day, I literally said out loud as we were recording, “I wonder if Sharon would ever sing on this?” Having never met her, it was definitely a pipe dream question that somehow ended up working out and I’m eternally grateful for it. She brought so much to this song and brought it alive even more."

WATCH THE "IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT" VIDEO WATCH THE "LIGHTS OUT" VIDEO

The band -- led by Seattle's Jessica Dobson (once the lead guitarist for Beck, The Shins and many more) -- recently shared the video for album highlight "Lights Out," which was created by Dobson herself and displays the guitar tablature for the song as the notes are being played. The video debuted via FLOOD Magazine, who praised the band's "guitar-focused pop music with a glossy sheen." Following a year featuring tours with Wilco and Joseph, Deep Sea Diver has hardly stayed quiet. In April the band released "Stop Pretending," a single born of their weekly live-streamed performances from their home studio during the initial period of social isolation. The single struck a chord with fans and press alike, even earning a slot on NPR Music's "Favorite Songs of 2020 (So Far)" list.

The third full-length from Deep Sea Diver, Impossible Weight is a work of sublime highs and mesmerizing lows, its restless intensity both unsettling and transcendent. For bandleader Jessica Dobson, the album’s sonic and emotional expanse stems from a period of sometimes-brutal self-examination—a process that began not long after the Seattle-based four-piece finished touring for their acclaimed sophomore effort Secrets. “We went into the studio pretty quickly after the tour ended, and I sort of hit a wall where I was feeling very detached from making music, and unable to find joy in it,” says the vocalist/multi-instrumentalist, whose bandmates include her husband Peter Mansen (drums), Garrett Gue (bass), and Elliot Jackson (guitar, synth). “I realized I had to try to rediscover my voice as a songwriter, and figure out the vocabulary for what I needed to say on this album.” As she stepped back from the studio, Dobson focused on dealing with the depression she’d been struggling with, and soon started volunteering for Aurora Commons (a drop-in center for unhoused people, most of whom are drug-dependent and engage in street-survival-based sex work). “I spent a lot of time with the women who frequent the Commons, and it taught me a new depth of empathy,” she says. “They’re people who don’t have the luxury of going back to a home at the end of the day and hiding behind those four walls, so they’re sort of forced to be vulnerable with what their needs are. Talking with them and listening to them really freed me up to start writing about things I’d never written about before in my songs.” Co-produced by Dobson and Andy D. Park (Pedro the Lion, Ruler) and mainly recorded at Seattle’s Studio X and The Hall of Justice, Impossible Weight brings that emotional excavation to a more grandiose sound than Deep Sea Diver has ever attempted. Along with revealing the limitless imagination of Dobson’s guitar work—a prodigious talent she’s previously shown in playing lead guitar for artists like Beck and The Shins—the album’s lush textures and mercurial arrangements more fully illuminate the power of her vocals. “’I’d never produced a record before and I started out with low expectations for myself, but at some point I realized, ‘I can do this,’” Dobson recalls. “I decided to completely trust my voice and make really bold decisions in all my production calls—just push everything to the absolute outer edges.”  The luminous opening track to Impossible Weight, “Shattering the Hourglass” makes for a perfect introduction to the album’s sonic complexity, beginning in intimate reflection before shifting into a wildly sprawling anthem. But despite its kinetic orchestration, the song’s dynamics never overshadow its central lyric: “You don’t have to be strong enough.” “I wrote that one the same week my friend and former bandmate Richard Swift was spending his last days in hospice because of complications from alcoholism,” notes Dobson, referring to the beloved singer/songwriter/producer, also known for his work with The Shins. “I was thinking about how everyone’s facing some kind of battle, and how I wish we could all talk more openly about these things. I wish we could give ourselves that license to fall apart, so that others can help carry us to a better place.” In her commitment to radical vulnerability, Dobson lays her own needs bare on songs like “Lights Out”: a defiant yet strangely delicate track that takes on a thrilling momentum as she cycles through an entire world of moods, her voice careening from growling to tender. “‘Lights Out’ was written around the time I hit that wall when we first started working on the record; it’s about fumbling through the darkness and knowing I damn well need help getting out,” she says. Meanwhile, on “Wishing,” Deep Sea Diver deliver a stormy and psych-leaning number sparked from Dobson’s viewing of a documentary on Nina Simone. “She had a husband who was physically and emotionally abusive to her, and it made me think about the idea of being under the thumb of someone else, and not knowing how to get in control of your life again,” Dobson says. “I have a tendency to try to resolve the narrative by the time I get to the end of the song, but for that one I didn’t—which felt right, because that’s what life is like.” On “Eyes Are Red (Don’t Be Afraid),” Impossible Weight reaches its glorious climax, a seven-minute epic that builds to an instrumental breakdown centered on Dobson’s beautifully unhinged guitar work. Not only a triumphant turning point in her musicianship and production approach, “Eyes Are Red (Don’t Be Afraid)” marks a major leap in Dobson’s songwriting. “Lyrically that’s the most uncomfortable song for me on the album,” she says, noting that the track was partly inspired by Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony against Brett Kavanaugh and the collective trauma endured by women everywhere. “There’s so much anger and frustration in it, and it made sense to express that in plainspoken lyrics. I ended up with these phrases that are almost like mantras: ‘Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed.’ A lot of my musical heroes tend to be very poetic, but sometimes there’s so much more meaning in saying things simply.” For Dobson, redefining the limits of her artistry goes hand-in-hand with certain identity issues she faced during the making of Impossible Weight. “I was adopted and just recently met my birth mother, and found out that I’m half-Mexican and half-Jewish,” she explains. “Discovering my heritage and learning things about myself that I never knew before really fed into that question of ‘Where do I belong?’” At the same time, Dobson restored the sense of possibility she felt in first embarking on her music career, which included landing a deal at Atlantic Records at the age of 19. “I think being signed at such a young age messed me up in terms of the expectations I put on myself,” she says. “Somewhere along the way I lost confidence in my own vision, but after making this record I feel a much larger freedom to go in whatever direction I want with my music.”   With the release of Impossible Weight, Dobson hopes that others might reclaim a similar sense of freedom in their emotional lives. “Especially right now when the world is in disarray and there’s so much fear, I want this record to give people room to feel whatever they need to feel,” she says. “I hope it helps them recognize that it’s okay to fall apart, and that they’re meant to let others in instead of trying to work through everything on their own. Because the point is that the impossible weight isn’t yours to carry alone—that’s why it’s impossible.”

DEEP SEA DIVER IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT (HIGH BEAM RECORDS VIA ATO RECORDS) RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 16, 2020 1. Shattering The Hourglass 2. Lights Out 3. Wishing 4. Impossible Weight (feat. Sharon Van Etten) 5. Switchblade 6. Hurricane 7. Eyes Are Red (Don't Be Afraid) 8. People Come People Go 9. Lightning Bolts 10. Run Away With Me

CONNECT WITH DEEP SEA DIVER: WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | BANDCAMP

Kitty Coen delivers sultry rhinestone cowgirl energy in new "Lost in California" single + video, out now

KITTY COEN DELIVERS SULTRY RHINESTONE COWGIRL ENERGY IN NEW MUSIC VIDEO "LOST IN CALIFORNIA" OUT NOW WATCH HERE | LISTEN HERE Premiered via Wonderland Magazine

Photo credit: Annemarie Halovanic

"Kitty Coen is the rhinestone cowboy after our hearts – and our ears." - Wonderland Magazine

KITTY COEN - "LOST IN CALIFORNIA" SINGLE: WATCH HERE | LISTEN HERE KITTY COEN - "DARK SOUL" SINGLE: WATCH HERE | LISTEN HERE

Photo credit: Annemarie Halovanic

Austin, TX-based psychedelic disco cowgirl, Kitty Coen, shares her second-ever single, "Lost in California," which debuted via Wonderland Magazine, who calls the track a "neon-lit slow-burner." "The rhinestone cowgirl takes us to the strip club in her sultry new track," says Wonderland, "Picking up where Madonna’s Music left off (and starting a glamorous affair with the 70s somewhere else along the way)." Describing the inspiration of the track, Kitty Coen says, "'Lost in California" is close to me because I worked on it for years before feeling it was ready to release. It’s about picking up my life and heading out west to become a successful musician. But I came to find out, as glamorous as California seemed when I was growing up in small-town Texas, its a hustle living in LA and if you aren’t ready to put in work the city will eat you up. I wanted to combine that old Hollywood sound with palm driven grooves and electronic elements to show the complexity of California as a place and experience." The video drips seduction as soon as Kitty hops out of the passenger seat of a baby blue convertible with her long, crimped flaming orange hair and tasseled sleeves blowing in the breeze. We see the reflection of the sign for The Yellow Rose in her aviators, as she steps into a purple haze of the strip club. Glimmering lights, mirrors, and smoke swirl just like the dancers around the poles, as Kitty sings directly into the camera with her piercing stare. As the beat drops, we see a costume change and Kitty serves up some Jessica Rabbit realness -- red sequined dress, old school microphone and all. It's pure allure, and slow like honey.  The sex-positive energy of the song is undeniable. Wonderland says, "Continuing to stake her claim on the psychedelic country realm, “Lost In California” is a tune taking us to that very destination, and the strip club!" "Kitty Coen is the rhinestone cowboy after our hearts – and our ears," they add, as old school Hollywood meets the strip club and the world meets Kitty Coen.

Photo credit: Annemarie Halovanic

Kitty Coen's debut single, "Dark Soul," is also out now. With a vibrant array of color and a personality to match, the alt-pop song comes to life in a very surreal way. A haunting rock 'n roll energy combines with a fierce cowgirl vibe, placing Coen in a genre sways between electro-pop and alt-rock, carving out her own piece of the wild west of musical possibility. Influenced by Tame Impala and STRFKR, the 22-year-old artist has a wavy and moody but strong approach to songwriting -- an ambitious femme presence that lends to a spooky, otherworldly aura. Kitty Coen says, '“The vibe of the video is disco cowgirl realness. I wanted to take the viewer on a psychedelic trip through the mind of Kitty Coen. "Dark Soul" is a song about being in love or Infatuated with something at first glance because of its beauty but then realizing that nothing is as it seems.” Sharing more on the importance of this song, as her debut, Coen adds, "This release of music is a coming-out party for tunes I've had in my soul for a while. As an artist who took some time to perfect her sounds, I feel that the music I’m putting out in the coming months is introducing my voice and style to the world. The stories and themes have been acquired over my life. growing up in a small Texas town I was exposed to a lot of country music and influenced my a western aesthetic, but this isn’t country, its more like Dolly Parton on an acid trip." She adds, "'Dark Soul" is basically a warning label to any potential suitors who might think I’m all smiles and rainbows. Just because I seem sweet at first doesn’t mean I always am. Especially with relationships that don’t let me breathe. I’m an independent woman and if you want to be with an independent woman you have to accept one thing: they don’t need you. "Dark Soul" was originally a song I wrote on acoustic guitar in my friend's garage. But as I performed it live I realized I wanted it bigger and ultimately better. I went to Nashville to work on it with my producer and we re-worked it into a western disco dance track." To capture this energy, the video opens with a sky that burns with orange hues, as Coen drives down an open highway as if starring in the latest Tarantino film, her fiery red hair echoing the colors in the sky above her, as she twists along the bends of the highway (fun fact: she learned to drive that manual muscle car in one day for the shoot). She parks, steps out in leopard-print pumps, and enters a smokey, neon world filled with bubbles, palms and glitter and burst of color. She also takes viewers for a dip in her pool and dancing, as lasers flash across a desert landscape. High fashion glam and attitude make this song and video the perfect balance of sugar and spice. Stay tuned for more Kitty Coen in 2020.

Photo credit: Zach Morrison

Bio: Kitty Coen is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, TX. Kaleidoscopic and hopelessly romantic, Coen's voice pulses through the listener and lingers with a haunting essence thereafter. Paired with booming bass guitar, energetic electric guitar, funky synth, and infectious drum patterns, Kitty Coen brings a fresh and fierce sound to the forefront of indie rock. Stepping out on the scene with her first release of the acoustic cover "Valerie" by the late Amy Winehouse, Coen shows her audience a rooted commitment to the classics, while maintaining a neo-psychedelic western blues sound unlike any other, with a disco fever and a twang to her tone. Kitty Coen's debut single "Dark Soul" is out now, along with follow-up single, "Lost in California."

For more info on Kitty Coen, visit: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Youtube

Daniel Avery Shares New Single And Andrew Weatherall Tribute Benefitting Amnesty International

DANIEL AVERY SHARES NEW SINGLE AND ANDREW WEATHERALL TRIBUTE “DUSTING FOR SMOKE” & “LONE SWORDSMAN” AVAILABLE DIGITALLY NOW “LONE SWORDSMAN” BANDCAMP PROCEEDS DONATED TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEW STUDIO ALBUM LOVE + LIGHT OUT NOW

credit: Vincent Arbele

Daniel Avery shares new single “Dusting For Smoke” – taken from surprise third studio album Love + Light – alongside “Lone Swordsman,” a contemplative, considered cut made in tribute to the legendary Andrew Weatherall. Both tracks are available digitally today, September 1. Watch the video for “Lone Swordsman” – which was created by Australian visual artist Greg Hodgson who recently collaborated with Avery on the Love + Light visual album – here. “I was in my studio the morning I heard about Andrew Weatherall’s passing,” Avery explains. “The track ‘Lone Swordsman’ is what formed that day. Andrew was a hero, a friend and someone who regularly reminded us all how it should be done, not to mention the funniest fucker around. Proceeds from this record will be donated to Amnesty International in his memory. Thank you for everything.” Purchase “Lone Swordsman” on Bandcamp here. Proceeds will be donated to Amnesty International. Love + Light is out now on digital platforms via Mute/Phantasy in the United States and Canada and via Phantasy worldwide. Stream the album and pre-order limited edition vinyl and 2CD formats – the latter featuring the audio from Avery’s “Falling Light" project as disc two – here. Upon release, Exclaim hailed the album as “some of [Avery’s] most beautiful work to date,” while NME called it "a heartfelt eulogy for the hedonism we’re missing this summer,” continuing, “this two-part record perfectly captures the euphoria of club culture.” Love + Light arrived unexpectedly following Avery’s recent collaborations with Alessandro Cortini on the critically acclaimed Illusion of Time LP and alongside Roman Flügel under the alias of Noun. Pitchfork described Illusion of Time as “expansive in scope, charmingly rough around the edges, and brimming with possibility...a beautiful record that takes wonder as its defining characteristic,” while Loud & Quiet hailed it as “a record that suggests Godspeed You! Black Emperor in drone mode, reimagining Music For Airports as if the runways were covered in gravel and air traffic control was on strike.” Avery’s previous solo album Song For Alpha was released in 2018 to similar acclaim.     “Dusting For Smoke” EP tracklisting 1. Dusting For Smoke 2. Dusting For Smoke (Edit) 3. Lone Swordsman   Stream and purchase Love + Light Watch the Love + Light visual album Watch the “Lone Swordsman” video DANIEL AVERY: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC MUTE: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

Nigerian superstar Yemi Alade shares "True Love" music video, featured in in Beyoncé's Black Is King, fifth LP forthcoming

NIGERIAN SUPERSTAR YEMI ALADE UNVEILS “TRUE LOVE” MUSIC VIDEO

FEATURED IN BEYONCÉ’S BLACK IS KING

FIFTH LP FORTHCOMING

September 1, 2020—Award-winning Nigerian superstar Yemi Alade shares the music video for her latest track, “True Love,” today from her forthcoming fifth LP—watch HERE. “Yemi Alade and bangers go together like stew on white rice, and ‘True Love’ is no exception,” writes Refinery29.

Yemi also recently appeared in Beyoncé’s Black Is King, performing her two contributions to The Lion King: The Gift, “DON’T JEALOUS ME” and “MY POWER.”

“True Love” follows “BOYZ,” an uptempo Afropop track, which Okayafrica praised for its “booming production” courtesy of frequent collaborator Vtek. “BOYZ” marked the first new music from her this year.

Poised for a U.S. breakthrough year, Yemi Alade is an artist, actress and entertainer of Yoruba and Igbo descent who has released four albums: King of Queens in 2014—whose hit single “Johnny” launched her to worldwide fame and has reached more than 100 million views on YouTube, Mama Africa (The Diary of an African Woman) in 2016, Black Magic in 2017 and Woman of Steel in 2019. In addition, Yemi has collaborated with a number of global stars including Angelique Kidjo and Rick Ross.

Yemi’s breakout single “Johnny” made her the first African female artist to earn over 100 million views on Youtube and Vevo and is the most viewed video by an African female artist ever. From 2014 to 2016, she won the MTV Africa Music Award for Best Female twice and was a two-time nominee for Best International Act at the BET Awards and the MOBO Awards. With a massive social media following of nearly 15 million, partnerships with global brands like L’Oréal and Coca-Cola and numerous magazine cover shoots, Yemi Alade is one of the most ubiquitous names in African music. Her music has been lauded by Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Essence, The FADER and many more.

Lo Tom (David Bazan, Jason Martin, TW Walsh & Trey Many) shares new single "Outta Here" ahead of LP2

Lo Tom (David Bazan, Jason Martin, TW Walsh & Trey Many) shares new single "Outta Here" ahead of LP2

STREAM: "Outta Here" -
Streaming Services / SoundCloud




Lo Tom's "Outta Here" (out today - second single from LP2) is a fast-moving, ethereal, Unforgettable Fire inspired track. When asked for a description, the band simply replied with "This next one is the third song on our new album... it’s about not being able to hear yourself. Please enjoy."

Bio:
Lo Tom is back at it again... still four old friends, who've known each other for 20+ years, playing in random bands, both together and apart:

David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, solo work)
Trey Many (Velour 100, Starflyer 59, His Name is Alive)
Jason Martin (Starflyer 59, Bon Voyage)
TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, The Soft Drugs, solo work)

They made a self-titled debut and released it on Barsuk in 2017. It got some good coverage, including these highlights:

"Lo Tom's debut is a serious rock 'n' roll record that doesn't take itself too seriously." -NPR

"While the “let’s just get together, press record and see what happens” schtick can be overly romanticized and often guilty of delivering diminishing returns, Lo Tom proves that in the right hands, it can produce pure musical magic." -PASTE

"It’s pretty and powerful and worth hearing" -Stereogum

"“Covered Wagon” is one of Bazan’s most surreal and spirited views of American cultural decline, while “Bad Luck Charm” reduces the complicated narrative of his masterwork Control into a single snapshot." -Pitchfork

They played a tiny handful of shows, a few of them even sold out. They had a bunch of fun. When that was done, they all went back home.

But the ideas kept coming... they traded song snippets, got together to work out arrangements, and then converged in the spring of 2019 to finish tracking in sunny Orange County CA.

The result is bigger and darker. Lo Tom had some self-imposed rules on the first record... just two guitar tracks and minimal overdubs on all songs. They kept it simple and sparse. That all went out the window this time around. LP2 is stacked with multi-tracked guitars, ambient synths, and layered vocals.

A heavier sound, with heavier lyrics to match... all of the songs deal with debt, both financial and personal, and the crushing weight those things bring over time. Yet somehow, Lo Tom's tongue-in-cheek approach still shines through the darkness.

Lo Tom and Barsuk amicably parted ways after the first album, so the band is putting out this record on their own, reaching out to fans to help with production and manufacturing through a Kickstarter campaign.

Lo Tom is:

D Bazan – vocals, bass

T Many – drums

J Martin – guitar

TW Walsh – guitar, synth, bgvs

Press photo courtesy of the artist





Lo Tom
LP2
(Self-Released)
Street Date: Sept. 11, 2020
Formats: digital, vinyl, CD

Track List:

1. Start Payin'
2. Suck It Up
3. Outta Here
4. I Need Relief
5. No Margin of Error
6. The Show
7. Don't Look At Me
8. In A Van


LO TOM LINKS:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
SoundCloud
Official Site