Today, in the midst of another tireless year filled with endlessly enthralling live shows and an incessantly impressive slate of touring, The Heavy Heavy have released an expanded edition of their debut Life and Life Only EP. Featuring runaway hits like the Top 5 AAA radio-charting “Miles and Miles,” current Top 15 breakout “Go Down River,” and rapturous opener “All My Dreams” – which listeners may know from Netflix’s latest season of Outer Banks – the six-song collection has brought Brighton, UK’s fastest-rising rock n roll band to performances for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS Saturday Morning and more since it first came out on ATO Records this past summer. Now spanning 11 tracks, the newly extended set also includes The Heavy Heavy’s hypnotic, harmony-laden takes on Father John Misty’s “Real Love Baby,” Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Guinnevere”and a previously unheard rendition of Jonathan Wilson’s “Desert Raven,” plus a roaring live recording of “Man of The Hills” and an acoustic arrangement of “Go Down River.”

Listen to Life and Life Only (Expanded Edition) via ATO Records, and pre-order the vinyl edition out May 19:https://atorecords-ffm.com/lifeandlifeonlyexpanded 

In naming The Heavy Heavy one of the most essential emerging artists of 2023, NME praises both the band’s “richly entertaining take on folk-rock and Americana” and their “commitment to pushing their sound forward.” Led by the freewheeling vision of Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, they “write and play music with that lick of madness that makes early Fleetwood Mac and peak Stones so thrilling” (The Guardian), blending Turner’s roots as a studio musician with Fuller’s operatic, irresistibly raspy vocal range and background in the London theater. Through a psychedelic collision of sun-soaked sounds and unfettered energy, the duo warps time and space, and on their version of “Desert Raven,” they say:

“We’ve loved Desert Raven since the moment Jonathan Wilson released it in 2011. We wanted to bring it into our sonic world, adding big vocal harmonies over the choruses and expanding on the instrumentation. It evokes the feeling of a fever dream…road tripping the American desert. The guitar-monies are stunning, and something you don’t hear so much in modern music. We had a lot of fun recording this cover.”

After a run of US shows in 2022 established them as “one of the brightest new UK acts” (FLOOD), The Heavy Heavy have returned for a headline tour stretching from coast to coast this spring. On the heels of a packed week at SXSW, upcoming dates include a sold-out Lincoln Hall in Chicago, Nashville’s Basement East, NYC’s Brooklyn Made and dozens of other stops, in addition to festival appearances and performances at LA’s Greek Theatre, Red Rocks and more with Revivalists and Band of Horses later this year. Find the full list below, and tickets at theheavyheavy.com/tour.

Life and Life Only (Expanded Edition) Tracklist

1. All My Dreams
2. Go Down River
3. Man of the Hills
4. Miles and Miles
5. Sleeping On Grassy Ground
6. Why Don’t You Call
7. Desert Raven
8. Man of the Hills (Live)
9. Real Love Baby
10. Guinnevere
11. Go Down River (Acoustic)

The Heavy Heavy 2023 Tour Dates

3/23 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Fest
3/25 – Aspen, CO – Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert Series at Aspen Snowmass
3/27 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
3/28 – Manitou Springs, CO – Lulu’s Downstairs
3/30 – Oklahoma City, OK – Pony Boy
3/31 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
4/1 – New Orleans, LA – Hogs For The Cause
4/3 – Oxford, MS – Proud Larry’s
4/6 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
4/7 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
4/8 – Iowa City, IA – Mission Creek Festival
4/11 – Portland, ME – Portland House of Music and Events
4/12 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
4/13 – Manchester, VT – Billsville House Concerts
4/14 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
4/16 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall
4/18 – Nashville, TN – Basement East
4/19 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
4/20 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
4/21 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
4/22 – Waverly, AL – Standard Deluxe Old 280 Boogie
4/26 – Baltimore, MD – The 8×10
4/27 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Made
4/29 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl
4/30 – Freehold, NJ – Concerts in the Studio
5/4 – London, UK – BBC Introducing Live at the Lexington
5/10-5/13 – Brighton, UK – The Great Escape Festival
5/17 – Manchester, UK – The Blues Kitchen
5/18 – London, UK – Omeara
5/19 – Bristol, UK – Rough Trade Bristol
5/20 – Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall
5/21 – Glasgow, UK – King Tut’s
5/28 – Pittsburgh, PA – WonderWorks Music & Arts Festival
6/3 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Festival
6/9 – Vail, CO – GoPro Mountain Games
6/12 – Wisconsin Dells, WI – Showboat Saloon
6/16 – Saint Louis, MO – Open Highway Music Festival
6/17 – Indianapolis, IN – WonderRoad
6/22-6/23 – Amagansett, NY – The Stephen Talkhouse
6/24 – Greenfield, MA – The Green River Festival
6/29-7/2 – Quincy, CA – High Sierra Music Festival
7/8-7/9 – Marshfield, MA – Levitate Music and Arts Festival
7/26 – Toronto, ON – History^
8/1 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater*
8/3 – Oshkosh, WI – Waterfest Concert Series Leach Amphitheater*
8/6 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion*
8/25 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
8/26 – Columbus, OH – WonderBus Music and Arts Festival
8/31 – Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre*
9/2 – Troutdale, OR – Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn*
9/6 – Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas*
9/9 – San Diego, CA – Gallagher Square at Petco Park*
9/10 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre*
9/14 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
9/16 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Blues & Brews Festival

*w/ The Revivalists & Band of Horses
^w/ The Revivalists

New York native Emily King is set to release her latest studio album Special Occasion on May 5 via ATO Records. The new body of work is King’s first album in 4 years, following her multi-Grammy-nominated Scenery. Across eleven dynamic tracks, including “This Year,” “False Start,” and “Bad Memory” (featuring special guest Lukas Nelson),  King shares a real-time exploration of the endless dimensions of heartbreak. Using music as a means of meditation, King works through the most overwhelming emotions with ineffable grace and resilience. Today King releases the project’s second single “Medal,” a joyfully upbeat song punctuated by driving-low end bass, rhythmic hand claps, and a soaring chorus. 

“I’d had this melody in my head for a very long time,” Emily King explains. “It was a slow song until I got in the studio with my producer (multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-nominated Jeremy Most) and we picked up the tempo. He started playing this funky bassline on the chorus and it was like instant joy! The lyric was ‘I wanna be the girl with the medal’ like, I want that shiny feeling you get when the person you have a crush on gives you their attention. These days though, I’ve been singing the song to myself which gives it a slightly different meaning. Like, ‘Hey you are the prize girl!’ ‘You are the medal and you already won yourself!’ Ha. Makes me feel good and then I get to dancing.”

In December, Emily gave fans an early taste of the project through her riveting single “This Year.”  The beat-driven airy track expresses both profound regret and passionate resolve, detailing the emotional complexity of waiting for unrequited love, instead of spending passing time living her best life. 

Special Occasion sees King bring ever-evolving levels of depth and nuance to her songwriting, rooting each revelation into a mesmerizing blend of soul, R&B, and forward-thinking pop. “It’s about trying to find some kind of light in the middle of your hardest times: those moments when you don’t really have anything to celebrate, you’re just alone and sitting in those feelings and trying to make sense of it all,” King explains.  

The new album is the follow-up to King’s critically-acclaimed Scenery LP. Heralded by Pitchfork as “sleek, vibrant R&B,” Scenery earned King two 2020 Grammy nominations — Best R&B Song for her single “Look at Me Now” and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The album’s opening track “Remind Me” can currently be heard in the new Netflix film Your Place Or Mine starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher. King also earned a 2020 Grammy nomination in the Best R&B Performance category for her standalone single “See Me,” released in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The New York Times called the single “fragile but tenacious.” 

Coinciding with Special Occasion’s release, Emily will embark on a month-long North American headlining tour. Kicking off on May 5 in South Orange, NJ, the tour takes Emily to some of the most esteemed venues of her career including Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Los Angeles’ Wiltern, Atlanta’s Buckhead Theater, and many more. The tour closes on May 31st with an extra special hometown show at New York’s Terminal 5. 

Fans will have access to General Admission and VIP presale tickets on Thursday, March 2, between 3:00 PM and 10:00 PM local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 3 at 10:00 AM local time. For the complete itinerary and full ticketing information visit https://www.emilykingmusic.com.

Special Occasion Tracklist
1. This Year
2. Special Occasion
3. Medal
4. False Start
5. The Way That You Love Me
6. Home Now
7. Bad Memory (Feat. Lukas Nelson)
8. Waterfalls
9. Who Wants My Love
10. Easy
11. Closer To The Morning

2023 North American Tour Dates
Fri, May 5 – South Orange, NJ – South Orange Performing Arts Center
Sat, May 6 – Boston, MA – The Shubert
Mon, May 8 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
Tue, May 9 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
Thu, May 11- Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Fri, May 12 – Madison, WI – Barrymore
Sat, May 13 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
Tue, May 16 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile
Wed, May 17 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
Fri, May 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Sat, May 20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
Tue, May 23 – Austin, TX – The Paramount
Wed, May 24 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Fri, May 26 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
Sat, May 27 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
Sun, May 28 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Tue, May 30 – Washington, DC – The Howard
Wed, May 31 – New York, NY – Terminal 5

Temples have today shared a new track, ‘Cicada’, the latest to be taken from their forthcoming fourth album, Exotico. The Sean Ono Lennon produced album will be released on ATO Records on Friday 14^th April 2023.

One of Exotico’s most explosive moments, ‘Cicada’ unfolds as a frenetic meditation on rebirth and renewal.  Talking about the track, the band’s Thomas Walmsley said:

That song came from being inspired by the sound of cicadas, and the idea of emerging from the underground after a long time of being suppressed. We were attempting to turn that sound into a sort of dance rhythm, and once we started working with Sean we really built up the production by digging into his cupboard of keyboards and synths.

Made with the help of a Marvin—a copper instrument lead singer James Bagshaw describes as “something out of a steampunk museum”, ‘Cicada’ soon takes on a delirious intensity thanks in part to its furious drumming and dizzying strings. James adds:

You never really see cicadas but you can imagine them having a frantic life, and to me that song feels like a huge army of them whipped into a frenzy.

Having previously worked with Lennon on their 2020 single ‘Paraphernalia’, the album was recorded at his upstate New York studio and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Beach House, Spoon, The Flaming Lips) and will be available on LP, CD, DL & cassette via the band’s shop and can be pre-ordered HERE.

The band also recently completed a SOLD OUT short run of small club shows to road-test the new album. A full U.K. & European tour will be announced shortly.

……………………………………… 

During the making of Exotico, Temples learned of the early-modern phenomenon of phantom islands: bodies of land included on maps for a period of time but later found to be nonexistent, often the consequence of oceanic mirage or deliberate mythmaking and the Kettering band’s fourth long-player takes place in a similarly mystical setting, an impossibly utopic island dreamed up by singer/guitarist James Bagshaw, bassist Tom Walmsley, keyboardist/guitarist Adam Smith, and drummer Rens Ottink.

With its resplendent collage of psychedelia and krautrock and time-bending dream-pop, Exotico brings that world to life in crystalline detail, all while exploring an entire spectrum of existential themes: impermanence, mortality, our connection with nature and the wild immensity of the mind. Equal parts cerebral and celestial, the result is a truly immersive body of work, fully affirming Temples as one of today’s most forward-thinking and endlessly inventive rock bands.

Having first crossed paths with Lennon at the Desert Daze festival in Southern California in 2019 they instantly felt a profound creative connection with the songwriter / musician/producer and their 12 days of Exotico sessions marked a significant departure from the self-contained approach they’d adhered to since their debut album Sun Structures (a 2014 release The Quietus likened to a series of “woozy daydreams that will embed themselves further in with each listen”). To that end, the band broadened their musical palette to include a vast expanse of instrumentation—a fitting choice for a body of work inspired by everything from classical symphonies to Italian horror soundtracks to Brill Building-era girl groups.

For Temples, the act of creating Exotico fulfilled both their hyper-imaginative impulses and an understandable need for escape from the real world. “This record is essentially something we made for ourselves to find joy in at the time we were making it,” says lead singer James Bagshaw. “There are songs to dance to, songs to reflect with, and through that we ended up delving into every aspect of our musical vocabulary.” Bassist Thomas Walmsley adds: “There are so many different influences across the songs, which goes back to having free rein in the studio and being as spontaneous as we could be.”

Because of that unmitigated freedom, Temples ultimately shook off any lingering inhibitions in the creative process. “We learned to see the magic in the mistakes, and in the unpredictability of an instrument or your own voice,” says Bagshaw. “It taught us to be less concerned about what genre something might sit in, or even stop worrying about genre altogether. The genre should always just be Temples.”

Angels in Science Fiction, the new album from St. Paul & The Broken Bones, is set for release April 21 via ATO Records—pre-save/pre-order here. The record’s first single, “Sea Star,” is out today with an accompanying video, an homage to the band’s home state of Alabama that introduces the album’s themes—life and death, beauty and truth—directed by Gus Black. Watch/share the video here and listen to the new track here.

Of the song, bandleader Paul Janeway says: “‘Sea Star’ comes from a story told to me when I was young. The story goes that there was a man on the seashore, picking up starfish that had washed up and throwing them back into the sea.

A person walked by and said, ‘Sir, you’re not going to make a dent in this. It’s not possible.’ The man chucked a starfish into the ocean and said, ‘I made a difference for that one.’ Then picked up another one, threw it into the ocean and again said, ‘I made a difference for that one.’

I think about that story a lot in my own life, and I hope that the moral is one that I teach my child: ‘Try your best to make a difference, starting with the people that are around you.’ My daughter is a strong tide that has pulled me back in. Having a child can give people a feeling of redemption, and a renewed sense of purpose—especially when they’re feeling lost and empty. That theme found its way into ‘Sea Star.’”

Angels in Science Fiction was written in the span of a few weeks after Paul Janeway learned that his wife was pregnant with their daughter, Marigold. Following the examples set by greats like Aristotle, William James and John Steinbeck, Janeway penned the album as a series of letters to his then-unborn daughter.

“A few people told me it would be a good idea to write letters to my yet to be born daughter before she arrived into the world,” says Janeway. “That is what Angels in Science Fiction is. Themes throughout the album are faith, nature vs nurture, anxiety and beauty. This is a record I would have written whether I did this for a living or not. I don’t know if those records come along all the time.”

The album was recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee and was produced by Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, John Prine, Elvis Presley). It follows the band’s critically acclaimed 2022 album, The Alien Coast.

In celebration of the new music, St. Paul & The Broken Bones have embarked on a run of U.S., European and Australian shows that continues throughout the year—visit stpaulandthebrokenbones.com/shows for a complete list of dates with more to be announced soon.

Founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 2011, St. Paul & The Broken Bones consists of Paul Janeway (vocals), Jesse Phillips (bass), Browan Lollar (guitar), Kevin Leon (drums), Al Gamble (keyboards), Allen Branstetter (trumpet), Chad Fisher (trombone), and Amari Ansari (saxophone). The eight-piece ensemble burst into the world with their 2014 debut, Half the City, establishing a sound that quickly became a calling card and landing the band a slew of major festivals including Lollapalooza, Coachella and Glastonbury. Critical praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, SPIN and NPR followed, leading to shared stages with some of the world’s biggest artists—Elton John and The Rolling Stones among them—and launching an impressive run of headlining tours behind what Esquire touted as a “potent live show that knocks audiences on their ass.”

The group has continued to expand their sound with every record, branching out well beyond old-school soul into sleek summertime funk and classic disco on albums like 2018’s Young Sick Camellia. Their forthcoming LP, Angels in Science Fiction, stretches their limbs further afield, building on the shadowy psychedelia and intricate, experimental R&B of 2022’s The Alien Coast. The new record finds Janeway at his very best. With Angels in Science Fiction, St. Paul & The Broken Bones have crafted their most moving, comprehensive work—spanning their entire sonic and emotional scope.

PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES—ANGELS IN SCIENCE FICTION

1. Chelsea
2. City Federal Building
3. Magnolia Trees
4. Sea Star
5. Heat Lightning
6. Angels in Science Fiction
7. Wolf in Rabbit Clothes
8. South Dakota
9. Oporto-Madrid Blvd
10. Lonely Love Song
11. Easter Bunny
12. Marigold
13. TOUR DATES

February 8—Fort Lauderdale, FL—Culture Room*
February 10—Mobile, AL—Soul Kitchen Music Hall*
March 30—Savannah, GA—Savannah Music Festival
March 31—Macon, GA—Hargray Capitol Theatre
March 31-April 1—New Orleans, LA—Hogs For The Cause
April 6-10—Tyagarah, Australia—Byron Bay BluesFest
April 10—Melbourne, Australia—Forum Theatre†
April 11— Melbourne, Australia—Northcote Theatre†
April 13—Sydney, Australia—Enmore Theatre†
April 29 – Decatur, GA – Amplify Decatur Festival
May 20-21—Knoxville, TN—Southern Skies Festival
May 21—Greenville, SC—Peace Pavilion
May 23—Augusta, GA—Miller Theatre
May 25—Wilmington, NC—Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
May 25-28—Cumberland, MD—DelFest
May 25-28—Martinsville, VA—Rooster Walk 13
June 17-18—Los Angeles, CA—Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival
June 23—Greenfield, MA—Green River Festival
July 23—Stuttgart, Germany—Jazz Open Stuttgart
August 25—Tisbury, MA—Beach Road Weekend

*with Rett Madison
†with Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats

Temples have announced details of their fourth album, Exotico. The Sean Ono Lennon produced album will be released on ATO Records on Friday 14th April 2023.

Having previously worked with Lennon on their 2020 single ‘Paraphernalia’, the album was recorded at his upstate New York studio and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Beach House, Spoon, The Flaming Lips). The track listing of the 16-track album is as follows:

1. Liquid Air
2. Gamma Rays
3. Exotico
4. Sultry Air
5. Cicada
6. Oval Stones
7. Slow Days
8. Crystal Hall
9. Head In The Clouds
10. Giallo
11. Inner Space
12. Meet You Maker
13. Time Is A Light
14. Fading Actor
15. Afterlife
16. Movements Of Time

 The album will be available on LP, CD, DL & cassette via the band’s shop and can be pre-ordered HERE.

The band have today also shared ‘Gamma Rays’, the first track to be taken from the album. Talking about the track, James Bagshaw of Temples said:

In the verse lyrics we’re talking about the grandness of nature, and then the chorus flips that on its head, it sounds like a rejoiceful summer tune about soaking up the rays, but the truth is that soaking up gamma rays will kill you. So it’s about that juxtaposition of beauty and danger that we often find in nature.

The track is also accompanied by a video shot in Benidorm. Talking about the video, director Molly Daniel said:

Filming in Benidorm was inspiring. It’s a very surreal and futuristic space – like Margate meets Vegas meets the end of the world!  I wanted a video that felt fast paced and took you on a journey through some great locations.

Having last played a sold-out U.K. tour in 2019, including a show at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, the band make a live return next month with a short run of small club shows to road-test the new album. A full U.K. & European tour will be announced shortly. The full list of dates is as follows:

01.02.23 – Castle & Falcon – BIRMINGHAM

02.02.23 – YES – MANCHESTER

03.02.23 – Belgrave Music Hall – LEEDS

04.02.23 – Stereo – GLASGOW

05.02.23 – Lafyette – LONDON

06.02.23 – Clwb Ifor Bach – CARDIFF

 Tickets for the shows are on sale now HERE

………………………………………

During the making of Exotico, Temples learned of the early-modern phenomenon of phantom islands: bodies of land included on maps for a period of time but later found to be nonexistent, often the consequence of oceanic mirage or deliberate mythmaking and the Kettering band’s fourth long-player takes place in a similarly mystical setting, an impossibly utopic island dreamed up by singer/guitarist James Bagshaw, bassist Tom Walmsley, keyboardist/guitarist Adam Smith, and drummer Rens Ottink. 

With its resplendent collage of psychedelia and krautrock and time-bending dream-pop, Exotico brings that world to life in crystalline detail, all while exploring an entire spectrum of existential themes: impermanence, mortality, our connection with nature and the wild immensity of the mind. Equal parts cerebral and celestial, the result is a truly immersive body of work, fully affirming Temples as one of today’s most forward-thinking and endlessly inventive rock bands.

Having first crossed paths with Lennon at the Desert Daze festival in Southern California in 2019 they instantly felt a profound creative connection with the songwriter / musician/producer and their 12 days of Exotico sessions marked a significant departure from the self-contained approach they’d adhered to since their debut album Sun Structures (a 2014 release The Quietus likened to a series of “woozy daydreams that will embed themselves further in with each listen”). To that end, the band broadened their musical palette to include a vast expanse of instrumentation—a fitting choice for a body of work inspired by everything from classical symphonies to Italian horror soundtracks to Brill Building-era girl groups.

For Temples, the act of creating Exotico fulfilled both their hyper-imaginative impulses and an understandable need for escape from the real world. “This record is essentially something we made for ourselves to find joy in at the time we were making it,” says lead singer James Bagshaw. “There are songs to dance to, songs to reflect with, and through that we ended up delving into every aspect of our musical vocabulary.” Bassist Thomas Walmsley adds: “There are so many different influences across the songs, which goes back to having free rein in the studio and being as spontaneous as we could be.” 

Because of that unmitigated freedom, Temples ultimately shook off any lingering inhibitions in the creative process. “We learned to see the magic in the mistakes, and in the unpredictability of an instrument or your own voice,” says Bagshaw. “It taught us to be less concerned about what genre something might sit in, or even stop worrying about genre altogether. The genre should always just be Temples.”