Dutch underground label Tiny Room Records, specializing in lo-fi, indie, slowcore, and bedroom folk, was founded 10 years ago. Label manager Stefan Breuer has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Voordekunst.nl to cover the costs of releasing a double album, Foundlings Vol. 1 & 2, with 25 unreleased tracks.
Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Swann will play songs from this new self-titled album by his Astral Swans project at The Broken City in Calgary on October 28, sharing the bill with Shane Ghostkeeper & Summer Bruises.
HCTF review of Astral Swans.
Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Swann called in a couple of favours from like-minded musicians for the new self-titled album by his Astral Swans project. He has constructed the songs like a short story, using the music as a multi-faceted backdrop for his lyrics. Some of it is pretty bleak - Spiral is about being holed up during lockdown, with dark thoughts for company, and the birds in Amsterdam's Vondelpark are pestering and bothering him in Bird Songs. He can show empathy as well. Sympathy For The Stupid is a tender plea to be patient with the intellectually challenged who can't keep up.
Swann uses lo-fi elements sitting comfortably to the complicated chord progressions, hopping effortlessly from shoegaze to power pop and Tex-Mex. With the help of the 101 of the Canadian indie scene - Julie Doiron (Eric’s Trip, Mt. Eerie) Cassia Hardy (Wares), LT Leif, Scott Munro (Preoccupations, Chad VanGaalen), Shalom Toy (SilverRing), Laura Hickli (36?) Minami Taga (Mako Puri), Carolyn Sweet, Jim Bryson (Kathleen Edwards, Weakerthans) - he has created a carefully balanced set of songs, a tapestry whereupon optimism (Beautiful Things Will Happen) and pessimism (End Of The World) are playing catch.
Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Swann brings his dark psych pop project Astral Swans to Japan. "His sophomore album Strange Prison is about fears, flaws and vulnerabilities, both real and imaginary. Swann can describe the predicaments of the passengers stuck in a plane going down without resorting to screams, depicting the horror in concise words.. Arson gets the same treatment in The Kids Came By And Burned Down The Scene. He is a reporter in the midst of turmoil, who focuses on the story, zooming in on harrowing details."
Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Swann brings his dark psych pop project Astral Swans to The Netherlands. "His sophomore album Strange Prison is about fears, flaws and vulnerabilities, both real and imaginary. Swann can describe the predicaments of the passengers stuck in a plane going down without resorting to screams, depicting the horror in concise words.. Arson gets the same treatment in The Kids Came By And Burned Down The Scene. He is a reporter in the midst of turmoil, who focuses on the story, zooming in on harrowing details."
Astral Swans is the brainchild of Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Swann. His sophomore album Strange Prison is about fears, flaws and vulnerabilities, both real and imaginary. Swann can describe the predicaments of the passengers stuck in a plane going down without resorting to screams, depicting the horror in concise words.. Arson gets the same treatment in The Kids Came By And Burned Down The Scene. He is a reporter in the midst of turmoil, who focuses on the story, zooming in on harrowing details.
By using psychedelic electronics and dissonants Swann builds the walls of his own refuge - the proverbial prison serving as a means to get away from the outside world, creating his own universe with its own fair share of monsters. Backed by Dillon Whitfield (bass, guitar, background vocals), Sarah Beth (keyboards, background vocals) and three drummers (Brock Geiger, Distance Bullock, and Joe Ramirez) Matthew Swann invites the listener to take a trip through his multi-faceted folkie dreamscapes. This album is the missing link between Nick Drake and the mellower music of Beck.
