Where Are The New Albums? August 2021 Update

It's now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, continuing our monthly looks at the current release whereabouts of announced/upcoming albums, CDs, and EPs from local metal, hard rock, and punk artists! This month's installment is largely in a holding pattern, with the same six entries as last month, but two have updates, as noted with their title in italics. Given the kinda-but-not-really release of Kraken Mara's debut EP "Press Start", I opted not to restore it here, as it's publically on sale on Wix, but the actual ability to pay for it still doesn't appear to work, despite appearances. We'll of course let you know when/if that is rectified. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!

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Chase James Wigmore's new albums

Rumoured Songs: Unknown

Background: Ever the prolific artist and songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore posted on his eponymous Facebook page on August 31st to announce two more distinct acoustic albums and the long-gestating completion of his 33 part rock opera "A Story About A Kid Named Todd". In February & March, Chase released three more free albums to YouTube, including one of those acoustic albums (the black metal-infused "Ruins Of Life"), Awokest's new album "Beyonder", and his classical piano release "The Symphonic Organism". Most recently, Chase hyped up a progressive metal double album entitled "Living Divisions", and while he promised a paid digital release for it, the album was also exclusively posted to YouTube, at least initially.

Current Release Status: Your guess is as good as mine, but remember that Chase is very prolific and varied in his musical interests, and not every album of his has seen a formal paid release, either by finishing it's lifespan as a demo, or by being released online for free. In fact, he hasn't released one of his brand new albums for sale since "One Last Act Of Defiance" on Bandcamp in December 2019, though note that he recently posted a dozen back catalog albums from various projects of his onto his Bandcamp page, so some of his more recent free albums could follow there. Stay tuned for updates from his camp when they roll in!
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Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's fourth album

Rumoured Songs: "Lost & Found", "All Broke Down", "No Control"

Background: Local Celtic punk veterans Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide began recording sessions by October 2018 at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, as per their Facebook page. In January 2019, the band confirmed that they were indeed recording a fourth studio album (and first since 2012), which will presumably be released through Tidal Records, and will also be their first album with second guitarist Liam Seymour & drummer Chris Johns. While "All Broke Down" was initially cited as the first single in December 2018 (source here), the first two released singles were "Lost & Found" in March 2019 & "No Control" in December 2020. Credits on the above songs' music videos note that Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios in St. Catharine's is mixing the album, as he has done for multiple Tidal/Mission Control releases. Dustin has posted a handful of solo songs on Tidal Records' YouTube channel in recent months, but it's not publically known whether or not they'll also be used as new Tide originals.

Current Release Status: When The Tide shared a teaser clip for "Lost & Found", they mentioned that the album was "coming soon", which doesn't tell us much, especially as the band has not posted anything publically yet in 2021. With recording sessions well along the way, and two music videos now public, it's likely that Dustin and company aren't early in the process, but we'll let you know when more comes out on the album!
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Handsome Sandwich - "Lettuce"

Rumoured Songs: "All or Nothing", "Bitter"

Background: After taking a year+ long hiatus during the pandemic, local "no genre" (but functionally alternative/hard rock) band Handsome Sandwich reunited with a new lineup, with returning members Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger now joined by singer Taylor Emlaw and bassist Mitch Sirie. Via their brand new Facebook page and YouTube channel, the band almost instantly began teasing a debut album (after previously being covers-only in their 2017-2020 run), posting two YouTube videos of them jamming new original songs planned for it. On June 25th, Handsome Sandwich revealed that the album will be titled "Lettuce", it will be recorded at Unsalted Audio with producer Dustin Goodall (pictured with the band and Bill Priddle), and that pre-production started on June 27th.

Current Release Status: No clue, especially given that we have no prior Handsome Sandwich albums to go off of, but the new look band has definitely hit the ground running since resuming activity last month! Staying busy and creative when proper non-socially distanced concerts can't happen isn't a bad idea either, so stay tuned for updates from Handsome Sandwich's camp!
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Mike Haggith - Bridges

Rumoured Songs: "From The 55th Parallel", "Over Indecision", "The Nature of The Times","An Act of Strength","The Catalyst", "Dangerous Town", "Come On Home", "Blue Highway", "Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost", "Bridges"

Background: After moving to Thompson, Manitoba in November 2017, prolific local/Windsor hard/alternative rock musician Mike Haggith relaunched his dormant solo project, and soon commenced work on a new CD named "Bridges", which finished recording sessions in early 2019. His Facebook page has documented songwriting sessions, acoustic videos of new original songs, plus solo concerts in Thompson largely featuring new tracks. Despite the unveiling of the cover artwork, three singles, and even a music video for "The Nature of The Times", Mike indefinitely postponed the release of "Bridges" in late 2019 due to mixing delays, personal life concerns, and the quick development of a new album named "If Ever Comes The Day", which was released in June 2020. Note that Mike has released a new studio single named "To Be With You" that has exclusively been aired on The Borderline Radio, but he has not confirmed whether that will be part of a new album of it's own.

Current Release Status: Mike has largely kept his next music plans close to the vest aside from some promising teasers, though he did perform "Come On Home" in Thompson's virtual Winterfest concert in February, and said there that "Bridges" will be released this year. Though this album has been surprisingly delayed since before the pandemic, Mike's typical candor & honesty bodes well if anything sudden occurs. Keep tabs for updates, and watch #LockdownLive IV to hear the whole album unplugged and hear his side of the album's progress and delays as of April 2020!

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Molten Imp's second & future singles

Rumoured Songs: "Winter XX/XXI", "Winter XX/XXI II"

Background: Two years after his local doom metal band AlgomA's final concert, guitarist Boyd Rendell resumed public musical activity in the spring of 2021 via Molten Imp, which has been described as both an industrial metal project and "computer generated noise rock". After posting a couple of standalone songs on their Bandcamp page that may or may not be packaged on further releases, Molten Imp released "Double Dose (Me)" on May 28th for $4, and it is described as the "first in a series of virtual 7" singles". Featuring two songs, plus two brief bonus tracks for buyers only, "Double Dose (Me)" was mastered by Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, though whether the teased future singles will be recorded, released, and priced similarly is unclear.

Current Release Status: No idea, but given the quiet recording methods and quick release of "Double Dose (Me)", the planned second 7'' could come at any time. Molten Imp definitely stand alone in the local scene right now, and hopefully we hear more released material from them soon, but follow them above to see where they're progressing!

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The Uncanny Valley's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "The Uncanny Valley", "Glowin'", "Middle Man", “This Love is Psychedelic”, "Stuck In Rotation", “Sweet Like Sugar”

Background: The new classic hard rock band from 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, fans will have seen original material of theirs right from the start, as The Uncanny Valley debuted their own songs in their first live concert at The Canadian on New Year's Eve 2019. Live concert & jam session videos have followed on their Facebook page featuring their own material as well. After posting a teaser audio clip of "Sweet Like Sugar" in September, they posted the full studio version of "Middle Man" in October, finally confirming there that they are working on their first album, though no other details have followed suit. The album will presumably feature new bassist Brendan Bertrand, who replaced Adam Fahrer in the band earlier this year.

Current Release Status: No clue, which isn't helped by The Uncanny Valley's age and relatively unfamiliar profile for many readers, not to mention the complications of the pandemic and their public hiatus since releasing "Middle Man", though their new lineup did make their live debut at the drive-in Rotaryfest last month. That said, they are a talented group who seemed to be taking the right steps for the future, and hopefully more updates on The Uncanny Valley's debut album follow when ready!
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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return on or around September 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles next week. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!