Corridor has returned with “Et Hop,” a new single out today on all DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop and in Canada through Bonsound. The song is the band’s first new recorded material since the release of Junior, their acclaimed album from 2019.
Written during the sessions for Corridor’s second LP, Supermercado, “Et Hop” was a gem gathering dust in the band’s musical vault. But when CISM, the student-run radio station at the University of Montreal, asked the band if they wanted to release a song to mark the radio station’s 30th-anniversary, they knew exactly what to offer.
Corridor is a guitar-slinging, anthem-singing band from Montreal. They are DIY enthusiasts of the earnest variety: the kind who like to design their own merch and create mind-bending animated music videos for their catchy, captivating tunes. They also happen to be the first Francophone act ever signed to Sub Pop.
Junior, the band’s third full-length and first for Sub Pop, has a special kind of “je ne sais quoi?” that comes from self-imposed restraints. With a deadline to submit a finished record looming, the members of Corridor - Jonathan Robert (guitar & vocals), Dominic Berthiaume (bass), Julian Perreault (guitar), and Julien Bakvis (drums) - hunkered down and wrote furiously, never stopping to second guess themselves. The end result is a record defined by intimacy and immediacy. Is it kosmische Musik? Is it indie rock? Is it post-punk? It’s all those things and more. It’s Corridor.
The impact of Junior was immediate and enduring. It earned Corridor rave reviews from Brooklyn Vegan, CLASH, PASTE, Stereogum, Exclaim!, and more. Their live performance also impressed, as evidenced by the band’s KEXP session and their dynamic shows. The band toured Europe and North America, a string of shows that established Corridor as one of the brightest and best of the genre. The shows went so well, in fact, that they decided to make Samuel Gougoux - a live collaborator for the Junior tour - a full-time member.
Corridor has also added headlining performances to its 2022 touring schedule, which includes new dates in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Grand Rapids. Meanwhile, the band’s previously announced shows in Montreal and Toronto will precede these dates in November 2021. Please find Corridor’s current schedule below.
Fall 2021 Fri. Nov. 19 - Montreal, QC - Fairmount Theatre Fri. Nov. 26 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison
Spring 2022 Thu. Mar. 31 - Brooklyn, NY - Sultan Room Fri. Apr. 01 - Philadelphia, PA - Milk Boy Sun. Apr. 03 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern Fri. Apr. 08 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme
What people are saying about Corridor: “The French-Canadian foursome may write and perform in French, but rock music this good is something we can all understand.” [Junior] - PASTE
“Junior is a nice progression from Supermercado, building steam as it goes, climaxing with the literal one-two punch of “Pow” (maybe their best pop song yet) and the “Bang” (spiraling, magisterial). It’s an infectious, unique sound that needs no translation.” - Brooklyn Vegan
“Strong melodies and propulsive rock structures, which reference everything from shoegaze and post-punk to Krautrock and psych…” [Junior] - Bandcamp Daily
“This Montreal band’s third album is a potent set of twitchy, psych-tinged post-punk with intertwining angular guitars, driving, sometimes motorik rhythms, soaring harmonies and impressionistic French lyrics.” [Junior] - KEXP
“Junior blends a cocktail of urgency and euphoria, delivering a woozy, rosy-cheeked buzz that warms from the inside out.” [Junior] - Glide Magazine
“The album sounds wonderful. The guitars interplay is so immersive. The production casts a glorious sheen on the whole affair and the dreamy vocals add an another dimension to the proceedings.” [Junior, 8/10] - Northern Transmissions
UPDATE: WE DID IT! 10,000 new and re-engaged blood donors!
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Join Sub Pop, KEXP and Bloodworks NW for the Music’s In Our Blood campaign. With blood supply levels at a critical all-time low, we are using our collective voices this fall to share the need for volunteer blood donors.
We, as the music community, are committing to getting 10,000 new blood donors by the end of the year. Get involved to save lives by making an appointment today to give blood. Find your nearest donation location and make an appointment at bloodworksnw.org/music.
Bria’sCuntry Covers Vol. 1, the debut six-song EP of classic country covers, is available on all DSPs today, and on CD/LP/CS on December 10th worldwide through Sub Pop.
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
Tracklisting 1. Green Rocky Road (Karen Dalton) 2. Dreaming My Dreams With You (Waylon Jennings) 3. Buffalo Ballet (John Cale) 4. Fruits of My Labour (Lucinda Williams) 5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (The Walker Brothers) 6. I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now (Mistress Mary)
On the heels of Bria’s previously released covers of Karen Dalton’s “Green Rocky Road” and Waylon Jennings’s hit, “Dreaming My Dreams With You,” comes a new video for their interpretation of The Walker Brothers’ song “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” Directed by Andrew Matthews, the video was shot at a friend’s farmland in the country. “We were all struck by the dilapidated beauty of the property and decided to create a series of tableaus, hoping to capture the spirit of the place and our time there,” shares Matthew’s. “The decaying, sun-baked farm seemed a good companion to the song.”
Frontwoman Bria Salmena shares about the cover: “Deciding to record “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” happened on a kind of whim. Duncan and I are both big Scott Walker fans and knew we wanted to cover something from his catalog. “Sun…” was the first one of his we tried. Drawn to the melancholic nuances of The Walker Brothers’ vocal delivery, I really wanted to see if I could try and emulate that from my own experiences. The root of this cover for us is the drum machine pattern. Once we stumbled upon that, the guts of it came together surprisingly quick and we ran with it.” Cuntry Covers Vol. 1, the debut six-song EP of classic country covers, is available on all DSPs on September 24th, and on CD/LP/CS on December 10th worldwide through Sub Pop.
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
Tracklisting 1. Green Rocky Road (Karen Dalton) 2. Dreaming My Dreams With You (Waylon Jennings) 3. Buffalo Ballet (John Cale) 4. Fruits of My Labour (Lucinda Williams) 5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (The Walker Brothers) 6. I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now (Mistress Mary)
Sub Pop has signed Aeon Station, the new project from Kevin Whelan of The Wrens to release Observatory, the group’s debut record, worldwide on December 10th, 2021. The 10-track album came together carefully for Whelan, over the course of 14 years, specifically, as clusters of demos and sketches. These were eventually assembled and recorded largely by Whelan himself, with assistance from Wrens’ bandmates Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan, as well as Tom Beaujour in his Union City recording space. Additionally, his wife Mary Ann provided backup vocals.
On the group’s debut single, “Queens” you can hear the pounding build to a truly thrilling climax of huge guitars and frantic drumming. Whelan shares, “This song was inspired by one of my all-time favorite songs, “The Winner Takes it All” by ABBA. It’s about betting on the real you. Like a game of high-stakes poker, you push all your chips to the center of the table and aren’t afraid to go “all in.” It starts with a solo vocal, framing the story to come, the drums then propel the song forward, with a force working its way to a climax of a repeating line - “You said it was all in.” You can listen to “Queens” by clicking here
About Observatory: Aeon Station’s Observatory is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan’s first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you’re familiar with Whelan’s past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity—but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan’s musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before.
Observatory came together carefully for Whelan—over the course of 14 years, specifically, as clusters of demos and sketches were eventually assembled and recorded largely by Whelan himself, with assistance from Wrens’ bandmate Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan as well as Tom Beaujour in his Union City recording space. Additionally, his wife Mary Ann provided backup vocals. “It’s the best I’ve done and may ever do frankly,” Whelan states. “It’s written over such a long period of my life. Music I did in the past was tinged with expectations or presumptions, but this time, it was just for me.”
The long gestation of Observatory means that a lot of lived experience went into making this album. As time passed, Whelan got married, started a family, and moved to the Asia Pacific region for a period of time; at 15 months old, his son (now eight) was also diagnosed with autism, and the title of Observatory itself is inspired by Whelan’s own relationship with his son. “The moment you’re told your child is not ‘neurotypical,’ your whole world expands in ways you never imagined,” he explains. “Even though he doesn’t speak much at all, or look at anyone directly, you can see him observing everything around him. The album title reflects upon the stories within the songs — each one observing a certain situation or feeling.”
Whelan’s scope of musical vision on Observatory is wide open and free with possibilities—at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene’s huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens’ own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. Above all, this is music not only for dreamers but for those who realize and appreciate the enormity of every moment. “It’s about never letting go about those dreams and your passion,” he states. “The album starts from a place of realizing that everything is temporary, what we love eventually changes or leaves us, and regardless we continue to search and find our way back home.”
The pounding “Queens” builds to a truly thrilling climax of huge guitars and frantic drumming, while the steady build of “Leaves” is accompanied by Whelan’s reflections on “Being lost and then found”: “It musically captures the album as it starts small and intimate, crescendos into a peak both musically and lyrically, and then settles down into a repeating mode of a hopeful but uncertain mantra about the future,” he explains while discussing the song’s themes and creation.
Then there are the gleaming harmonies of “Fade,” a song about breaking past your own insecurities to discover what’s on the other side. “Whether you limit yourself because of your own fears and insecurities, or because what others think and say,” Whelan says, “The song is about when you stop waiting and start believing deeper in your own path.” Observatory ends with the hushed and lush “Alpine Drive,” with Whelan’s voice lit by pinwheel plucked piano strings—a tender moment that packs as much power as the nine songs that come before it.
“I hope people feel a sense of strength when they hear this album,” he states while discussing his artistic aims as a whole. “Most importantly, I hope that it connects to them in some personal way.” And if you’ve ever caught air in your lungs or felt your heart beating in your chest, there’s no doubt that you’ll find some level of connection with Observatory’s open-hearted, instantly classic-sounding rock.
Aeon Station
Observatory
Tracklisting:
1. Hold On 2. Leaves 3. Fade 4. Everything at Once 5. Move 6. Queens 7. Empty Rooms 8. Air 9. Better Love 10. Alpine Drive
