“So Far Gone,” the latest track from Weird Nightmare, the electrifying new project from METZ guitarist and singer Alex Edkins is now available for your listening pleasure on all digital service providers. The single is an exuberant blast of fun-as-hell, melodic indie rock that mixes equal parts Replacements, Teenage Fanclub, and Edkins’ own METZ-ian snarl. This stand-alone track follows the double A-Side split, “I Think You Know” w/ “Bird With an Iron Head” with friends Ancient Shapes, and the self-titled debut full-length released earlier this year, which was aptly described by The Quietus as “…an irresistibly euphoric blast of feedback spattered garage-pop that is just what the doctor ordered to chase away any lingering post-lockdown blues.”
Weird Nightmare will play a few Canadian shows later this week with Ancient Shapes, as well as a batch of US dates w Archers of Loaf, both before and then after Edkins heads out on a special 10 Years Anniversary Tour on the US west coast w METZ in December. See below for a full list of dates.
Weird Nightmare Tour Dates w/ Ancient Shapes: Thu. Nov. 17 - Hamilton, ON - Casbah Fri. Nov. 18 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace Sat. Nov 19 - St Catharines, ON - Warehouse
Weird Nightmare Tour Dates w/ Archers of Loaf: Tue. Nov. 29 - Baltimore, MD -Ottobar Wed. Nov. 30 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts Thu. Dec. 01 - Cambridge, MA - SInclair Fri. Dec. 02 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw Wed. Jan. 11 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace Thu. Jan. 12 - Detroit, MI - El Club Fri. Jan 13 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge Sat. Jan 14 - St. Louis, MO - Delmar Hall Sun. Jan 15 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
METZ 10 Years Anniversary Tour Dates: Wed. Dec. 07 - Phoenix AZ - Valley Bar # Thu. Dec. 08 - Los Angeles, CA- Teragram Ballroom # Fri. Dec. 09 - Oakland, CA - New Parish # Sun. Dec. 11 - Seattle, WA - Neumos # Mon. Dec. 12 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge # Thu. Dec. 15 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club * Fri. Dec 16 - Chicago, IL - Metro *
# w/ Kowloon Walled City * w/ Spiritual Cramp
What people have been saying about Weird Nightmare: “The debut Weird Nightmare album from METZ guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins is a hook-filled set of blown-out power-pop with distorted guitars, punchy rhythms and bright pop melodies.” - KEXP
“The tension between chaos and order sparks gripping theater on songs like “Searching for You,” a descendant of “Anarchy in the UK,” the grunge-inclined “Lusitania” and the atypical, eight-minute ballad “Holding Out,” which suggests an angsty sleepwalker. Whatever the groove, Edkins sounds like a man on the verge of spontaneous combustion.” - The Big Takeover
“Weird Nightmare is all about hooks and melody. Still delivered with levels in the red, but these are ultracatchy powerpop songs first and foremost, and really good ones at that.” - Brooklyn Vegan
“‘Weird Nightmare’ is Alex Edkins giving us an access all areas pass to his creative process. It’s an invite no-one should decline.” - Northern Transmissions
“Weird Nightmare isn’t something that will have listeners running away or falling asleep. Edkins’s 10-song tracklist is a fun, energetic and zany concoction of sounds and textures that recall his main band while simultaneously taking things in fresh directions.” - Exclaim!
“If having fun and being free was what Edkins most wanted to come through on the recording of Weird Nightmare, he undoubtedly achieved it on his delightfully distorted and warped debut solo album.” - Exclaim!
“On the 10 tracks that comprise the project’s self-titled Sub Pop debut, Edkins revels in magnetic hooks and brighter, sunny melodies, exploring explicitly an aspect of his songwriting that had previously been mostly implicit.” - Treble
“…Weird Nightmare will bring a little noisy sunshine to your day.” - Narc
On February 24th, 2023 Bria will release her follow up EP Cuntry Covers Vol. 2 on LP/CD/DSPs. This six-song EP features the standout covers “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” (Paula Cole), Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind) (Loretta Lynn), “When You Know Why You’re Happy” (Mary Margaret O’Hara) and “I Dream A Highway” (Gillian Welch).
“Physical space and environment have greatly informed each iteration of Cuntry Covers” shares Bria Salmena. “With Vol. 1 we had acres of beautiful farmland in summer to explore. With Vol. 2 we had a small apartment in Toronto during the dark winter months that created a kind of claustrophobic creative energy.”
Bria originally heard the lead cover song, “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” (Paula Cole) when she was seven on the Women & Songs compilation that was released in 1997. She shares “the song stuck with me – I found Cole’s delivery to be both brooding and chilling. The lyrics all together are confused; discovery, disillusionment, despair. I wanted to make it even more dystopian by turning it into a dreamy dance track. This track became the first song to inspire the “Homage” approach to these covers, embracing the spirit of experimentation. We wanted to stretch this song as far as it would go while honoring the elements of it that make it memorable.” You can watch the official video which was directed by Lunakhods. You can watch the video here.
Cuntry Covers Vol. 2 is now available for pre-order on CD/LP/CS/DSPs from Sub Pop. The LP’s limited Loser edition pressing on Opaque Red vinyl, can be purchased from megamart.sub pop.com, select independent retailers in North America, and at Bria’s live shows. while supplies last).
Bio: As its name suggested, the intimate and sultry Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 was always going to have a follow-up. Led by the brooding vocals of Bria Salmena, Cuntry Covers Vol. 2 is every bit as potent as its predecessor whose noir-inflected alternative country-rock stood in sharp contrast to the singer’s commanding delivery as leader of post-punk revivalists FRIGS. Debuting the project in 2021, the languid, reverb-drenched Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 saw her artfully collaborating with multi-instrumentalist Duncan Hay Jennings and reimagining a carefully picked collection of Americana anthems.
Vol. 2 pushes the envelope further and harder. Encompassing feverish takes on tracks by Gillian Welch, Paula Cole, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Robert Lester Folsom, Glenn Campbell – by way of Nick Cave – and the late, great Loretta Lynn, Bria’s deliciously dark approach shimmers through these six startling songs.
Created during a break from Salmena and Jennings’ work in Orville Peck’s world-conquering backing band, Vol. 2 was recorded directly after Peck’s second album and Bria’s US tour supporting Wolf Alice. Embracing contrast, the sunny circumstances in which Vol. 1 was made were flipped on their head. Instead of a bucolic barn in the Canadian countryside, they recorded the new tracks in chilly Toronto, huddled together in their tiny makeshift home studio, with Jennings at the controls. “There’s a lot of chaotic energy to it, because it’s us cramped in a space where we’re all also working and living during the dead of winter,” explains Salmena, who also enlisted the help of local Toronto musicians Lucas Savatti (FRIGS), Simone Baril (US Girls, The Highest Order, Darlene Shrugg, Partner), Andrew Manktelow, and frequent collaborator Jaime Rae McCuaig.
The intention behind the songs was different this time around too. While Vol. 1 was Bria’s attempt at subverting country music’s conservative roots and primarily white and heterosexual agenda, here the emphasis was on experimentation. The duo purposely split the two sides of the EP, with the A-side acting as more of an homage to the tracks covered, and the B-sides interpretations taking on a more traditional route with the source material. “We wanted to mess with things,” she says. And while Vol. 2 might be less personal, it’s just as idiosyncratic, with half of the reversions staying truthful to the originals and others taken to a different universe entirely.
The opening trio of tracks triumphs at the latter. A double dose of nostalgia can be found in a pumping, synth-led 1990s dance version of “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” originally by US songwriter Paula Cole. Bria’s hypnotic vocals then lead a woozy version of Canadian icon Mary Margaret O’Hara’s jazz ballad “When You Know Why You’re Happy”. “It’s uplifting but there’s also a darkness and somberness to it that really resonated with me,” she says. “I wanted to explore that.” Most innovative of all is their take on Loretta Lynn’s groundbreaking “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”. Recorded before the iconic artist’s recent death, Bria’s punky version drills into the fiery confidence of the song, which topped the country charts in 1967. About marital rape, it was chosen by Bria because of Lynn’s unapologetic approach to such a highly charged subject matter.
Co-producers Salmena and Jennings are more faithful on the flipside. Nick Cave’s doomy version of “By The Time I Get to Phoenix” – which featured on The Bad Seeds’ 1986 covers album Kicking Against The Pricks – is rendered in fittingly apocalyptic style. “We liked the history of the song and we were attracted to Cave’s dark and brooding version. We felt we could honor that well,” she explains. Gillian Welch’s meditative “I Dream A Highway” is similarly mournful, and “See You Later, I’m Gone”, originally by 1970s folk singer Robert Lester Folsom, sees a moment of hopefulness spring from the gothic gloom that precedes it.
Building on the tried-and-true/bold-and-new duality of Cuntry Covers’ first offering, Vol. 2 delivers a deeper dive into the duo’s brilliant alchemy of traditional and contemporary reinterpretations. But it’s the added experimental flourishes, from dizzying electronica and pulsing bass to sax-driven soul, that takes Bria’s new EP into previously uncharted territory, signalling a thrilling new step in this adventurous artist’s evolution.
What people are saying about Bria: “It’s an other-worldly take on the Karen Dalton standard…” [“Green Rocky Road”] - Clash
“Where Dalton’s original is quite lo-fi and scratchy, Bria have added some fidelity and warmth to it through golden-strummed guitars and a lackadaisical but precise beat.” [“Green Rocky Road”] - Beats Per Minute
“Salmena’s raspy tinged voice provides a depth of longing and fractured tenderness on her cover of Karen Dalton’s track, “Green Rocky Road.’” [“Green Rocky Road”] - Ears to Feed
“The band’s version should will win over any Jennings fans, or fans of old country.” [“Dreaming My Dreams Of You”] - Northern Transmissions
“Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 seamlessly drifts between classic country references and a new perspective of reimagining what country could sound like” - Tonitruale
Bria Cuntry Covers Vol. 2
Track Listing: 1. Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? 2. When You Know Why You’re Happy 3. Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind) 4. By The Time I Get to Phoenix 5. I Dream A Highway 6. See You Later, I’m Gone
Released in conjunction with the start of National Native American Heritage Month, you can listen to Ya Tseen ft Samantha Crain’s cover of the Little Wings song “Look At What The Light Did Now.” This cover was originally recorded for season 2 episode 4 of the critically acclaimed FX/Hulu television show, Reservation Dog and follows the group’s 2021 debut record, Indian Yard.
Frontman, Nicholas Galanin shares, “My friend Sterlin Harjo, the creator of the acclaimed FX series Reservation Dogs, invited Samantha and I to cover Little Wings classic song ‘Look at What The Light Did Now’ for an episode in season 2. This was a high honor to contribute to one of what I would consider the best episodes of streaming television being made today. It’s tough to capture love and Indigenous mourning, though I feel as if this episode did so in an elegant and powerful way.”
Starting today, Oct. 28th you can now listen to The Eleventh Hour: Songs for Climate Justice. This digital-only charity compilation features previously unreleased music from Moby, Fake Fruit, Frankie Cosmos, Sonny & The Sunsets, Cloud Nothings, Ya Tseen, and more (See below for a full track listing.) Funds collected from this compilation will directly benefit Climate Emergency Fund, a (501c:3) that supports nonviolent, disruptive climate activism.
The Eleventh Hour: Songs for Climate Justice was curated by filmmaker Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up, The Big Short, Vice) and podcaster/producer Matt Dwyer (Conversations with Dwyer & Painting With John ) Adam McKay shares about the project: “This is a frightening moment we’re living through. The climate is warming at an increasingly dangerous pace and Governments and Businesses seem hell-bent on ignoring the problem. And it’s at exactly moments like this when we need inspired artists to interpret, express and F.S.U. Add in the fact that all of the proceeds go to the Climate Emergency Fund and support international civil disobedience and this is one hell of a good trouble-making album.
Play it loud. Play it soft. Play it while occupying an oil CEO’s office. They won’t like this album and would rather you play Rod Stewart’s Christmas album. (God bless Rod Stewart) The climate activists thank you for lending your ears and any and all possible support.
1. Fake Fruit - Over Ice
2. Death Valley Girls - Black Is Red and Blue 3. Cloud Nothings - Friend Array 4. Kathleen - Going In Reverse 5. Ya Tseen - Gliding Through The Atmosphere 6. Deerhoof - Cigars All Around 7. Frankie Cosmos - Table 8. White Denim - Magic 9. Sonny & The Sunsets - Another Thing That Makes No Sense 10. Guerilla Toss - Heathen Money 11. Shannon Lay - Song of Morning 12. Little Wings - New Autumn Pillow 13. Mamalarky - Green Earth 14. Mudhoney - Black Wire 15. Moby - Luckiest
Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering stars in a horrific love story in the official video for “Grapevine,” her epic new road ballad from And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow. Beauty meets the beast in this visual tale which features a car crash, a humanoid with glowing red eyes, and a haunted grapevine graveyard. Who is this ominous figure, and what does it want with Natalie? Watch and find out in the “Grapevine” video, directed by Actual Objects.
Upon its release earlier this month, “Grapevine” earned praise from the likes of Stereogum, who called it, ‘“A lush, swirling folk-rock song — a slow build that sounds pretty majestic even as it begins its climb.” Brooklyn Vegan adds that “Grapevine” is “a gorgeous song cut from the same ’70s-meets-now cloth that Weyes Blood does so well.” Beats Per Minute offers this, “While listening to Mering sing in her unbelievably rich and dulcet voice over simple acoustic strums and subtly gorgeous synth and string augmentations, you can imagine her speeding away in a convertible, her hair billowing in the wind, a look of determination on her face.”
Weyes Blood’s “In Holy Flux Tour,” a headlining international touring run for late winter and Spring of 2023 in support of And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, begins on Saturday, January 28th in Berlin at Festsaal Kreuzberg and currently runs through Saturday, April 2nd in Tulsa at Cain’s Ballroom. Due to popular demand, Weyes Blood’s Tuesday, March 7th performance in Montreal has moved from the Corona Theatre to MTELUS. All previously purchased tickets will be honored at the new venue. For up-to-date information on tickets, please visit WeyesBlood.com/tour.
December 2022 Thu. Dec. 08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Theatre at Ace Hotel [SOLD OUT] Fri. Dec. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Theatre at Ace Hotel [SOLD OUT]
In Holy Flux Tour 2023 UK/Europe Sat.Jan. 28 - Berlin, DE - Festsaal Kreuzberg Mon. Jan. 30 - Stockholm, SE - Berns Tue. Jan. 31 - Oslo, NO - Rockefeller Wed. Feb. 01 - Copenhagen, DK - VEGA Fri. Feb. 03 - Cologne, DE - Kulturkirche Sat. Feb. 04 - Paris, FR - Le Trianon Sun. Feb. 05 - Brussels, BE - Botanique - Orangerie Mon. Feb. 06 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Wed. Feb.08 - London, UK - Roundhouse Thu. Feb. 09 - Bristol, UK - SWX Fri. Feb. 10 - Glasgow, UK - QMU Sun. Feb. 12- Dublin, IE - Vicar Street Mon. Feb. 13 - Manchester, UK - O2 Ritz Tue. Feb. 14 - Brighton, UK - CHALK
North America Wed. Feb. 22 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl Thu. Feb. 23 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse Fri. Feb. 24 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel Sat. Feb. 25 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle [SOLD OUT] Mon. Feb. 27 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club [SOLD OUT] Tue. Feb. 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer Fri. Mar. 03 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel [SOLD OUT] Sat. Mar. 04 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel [SOLD OUT] Sun. Mar. 05 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner Tue. Mar. 07 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS Wed. Mar. 08 - Toronto, ON - The Danforth Music Hall Thu. Mar. 09 - Toronto, ON - The Danforth Music Hall Fri. Mar. 10 - Detroit, MI - El Club [SOLD OUT] Sat. Mar. 11 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre Mon. Mar. 13 - Milwaukee, WI - The Pabst Theater Tue. Mar. 14 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue Wed. Mar. 15 - Des Moines, IA - Wooly’s Fri. Mar. 17 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre Sat. Mar. 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot Sun. Mar. 19 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Concert House Tue. Mar. 21 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom Wed. Mar. 22 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox at The Market [SOLD OUT] Thu. Mar. 23 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Crystal Ballroom Sat. Mar. 25 - San Francisco, CA - The Regency Ballroom [SOLD OUT] Sun. Mar. 26 - San Francisco, CA - The Regency Ballroom Tue. Mar. 28 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren Wed. Mar. 29 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf Fri. Mar. 31 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater Sat. Apr. 01 - Dallas, TX - Studio at The Factory Sun. Apr. 02 - Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ballroom
Weyes Blood’s And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, her astonishing new album, will be available on CD/LP/CS/DSPs Friday, November 18th, 2022. and can be preordered now from Sub Pop. The album’s ten tracks were written by Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering, with album production from Mering along with Jonathan Rado on all songs except for “A Given Thing,” produced by Mering and Rodaidh McDonald. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow was mixed by Kenny Gilmore at 101 Studio, mastered by Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood at The Lodge, and features guest appearances from Meg Duffy, Daniel Lopatin, and Mary Lattimore.
Weyes Blood’s And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, her astonishing new album, will be available on CD/LP/CS/DSPs Friday, November 18th, 2022. and can be preordered now from Sub Pop. The album’s ten tracks were written by Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering, with album production from Mering along with Jonathan Rado on all songs except for “A Given Thing,” produced by Mering and Rodaidh McDonald. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow was mixed by Kenny Gilmore at 101 Studio, and mastered by Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood at The Lodge, and features guest appearances from Meg Duffy, Daniel Lopatin, and Mary Lattimore.
The album is her follow-up to the acclaimed Titanic Rising, the first album of three in a special trilogy. Where Titanic was an observation of doom to come, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is about being in the thick of it: a search for an escape hatch to liberate us from algorithms and ideological chaos (spoiler alert: the next one will be about “hope”).
Weyes Blood And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
Tracklist 1. It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody 2. Children of the Empire 3. Grapevine 4. God Turn Me Into a Flower 5. Hearts Aglow 6. And in the Darkness 7. Twin Flame 8. In Holy Flux 9. The Worst Is Done 10. A Given Thing
