It's now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, as we once again look at the current release whereabouts of upcoming albums from local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists, in order to see where they are and if they're close to a release! One new entry and three updated ones this month, which is a reasonably good sign, and anything with updated info has the album's title in italics. 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: Multiple
Background: Ever
the prolific artist and songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal
musician Chase Wigmore posted
on his eponymous Facebook page in August 2020 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 2021, one of those acoustic albums (the black metal-infused "Ruins Of Life") was posted for free on YouTube, with Chase belatedly posting that and most of his back catalog albums for sale on his Bandcamp page
by March 2022. In April, Chase released a brand new album for sale on Bandcamp named "Sonic Apocalypse",
and teased on Facebook in May that he started a new
album in January that he was taking his time with so
he could "make music actually worth listening to." From that album
(since titled "Is This The End Of.."),
Chase has posted four songs planned for it in mid-2022. Chase also
posted a lengthy elaboration of his rock opera, now titled "The Chaotic
Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release
timeline, and clips of songs from both have surfaced on Facebook & Bandcamp.
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 any event, 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 posted a handful of solo songs on Tidal Records' YouTube channel in 2020, 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
only posted sparingly on Facebook since the end of 2020. This may be
partially due to
fiddler Sheldon Jaaskelainen's recent out of town commitments, with
Dustin focusing on side projects Jonesy Land and The Cover-Up since.
Still,
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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Fort Creek's debut EP
Rumoured Songs: "Hammer Down"
Background: Local
southern/hard rock quintet Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, and while the pandemic lockdowns may
have gave them more time to record, they wouldn't release a sample from
the sessions until almost two years later when they shared this snippet of their single "Hammer Down" their Facebook page. The guys debuted it at their headlining concert at Soo Blaster in June, and have played it live regularly since, but they have yet to release any full tracks online.
Current Release Status:
Fort Creek originally planned to release the EP in "late summer", but their Rotaryfest Stage 1 write-up says that it will come out in "late 2022", and the band has been taking a break from live concerts since mid-August, slated to end in "late fall". There are a lot of unknowns either way,
especially given the 2 years of production time and that this is a band
primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit (though some
members do have experience in name original bands, especially Matt and
Tony). It will be interesting to see how things develop, so follow Fort
Creek on Facebook for continuing details!
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Handsome Sandwich - "Lettuce"
Rumoured Songs: "All or Nothing", "Bitter", "No Entry"
Background: After taking a year+
long hiatus during the pandemic, local "no genre" band Handsome Sandwich reunited last summer with a new
lineup, with Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger now
joined by singer Taylor Emlaw and bassist Mitch Sirie. Via their new Facebook page and YouTube channel,
the band almost instantly began teasing a debut album (after previously
being covers-only from 2017-2020), posting two YouTube videos
of them jamming new original songs for it. In June 2021,
Handsome Sandwich revealed that the album will be titled "Lettuce", and it began pre-production then, with recording at Unsalted Audio
with producer Dustin Goodall. As of April 13th, drums,
rhythm guitar, and bass tracks had been recorded, and Taylor was
pictured in studio at the end of May. The band also confirmed in July
that guest saxophonist Josh Norling will appear on their new song "No
Entry".
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 year! Recent teasers on Facebook have hinted that "sandwich #1 is almost ready for consumption", and that they were undertaking "late night demo edits" yesterday, so things sound like they're nearing the end. Stay tuned for updates from Handsome Sandwich's camp when they have them!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mike Haggith - "All The Best In All You Do"
Rumoured Songs: "I've Seen It Before", "Twist of Fate", "If Only You Could Hear Me"
Background: During his live-streamed Facebook concert
in February, local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike
Haggith revealed that he was working on his newest studio album,
entitled "All The Best In All You Do". Like his other Thompson-era
albums, this will have an overarching concept, this time about the
transition out of depression and being manipulated by others, into a
happier personal life. At the time, Mike was 35% done with the album,
and he has played two new originals planned for it in live-streams and
in his 2022 concerts in both Thompson and the Soo, as well as "If Only
You Could Hear Me", a still-unreleased song from early in his time in Thompson. A single version of "Twist of Fate" was unveiled in July, and live videos of all three songs can be
found on Mike's Facebook page and/or YouTube channel.
Current Release Status:
Given Mike's day job and personal commitments, he hasn't been as active
on social media in mid-2022, but he is playing live dates and
presumably working on recording the new album where time allows.
Hopefully things are progressing naturally in studio, and we'll let you
know when Mike gives some progress updates!
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Mike McCleary's instrumental album
Rumoured Songs: Unknown
Background: After taking a couple of years off from public updates on his solo music (and taking down much of his prior back catalog from streaming services), local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary announced on his Facebook page in January that he was working on new original music. In April, Mike clarified that this would be an instrumental album (his de-listed albums all had vocals) inspired by his own curiosity and creative thinking. Mike has since posted a sampler video, and revealed the album's planned track structure (seven songs, three being 7+ minutes long), but has kept most specifics close to his vest.
Current Release Status: Mike was very optimistic about the album's progress, but was intentionally not putting a public timetable on when it will be completed, and things were complicated when his hard drive containing his new music crashed on Saturday. Hopefully he can recover everything and that this isn't a huge bump in the road towards his new album, but we'll keep you posted when we hear more!
The Uncanny Valley's debut album
Rumoured Songs: "The Uncanny
Valley", "Glowin'", "Middle Man", “This Love is Psychedelic”, "Stuck In
Rotation", “Sweet Like Sugar”, "Fumbling Through"
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 2020, they posted the full studio version of "Middle Man"last October, finally confirming there that they are working on their
first album. The guys did
record a studio version of "Stuck In Rotation" at Unsalted Audio for the Clusterfolk Music Festival
and a related compilation album in April, but whether that
exact recording will be included on the band's own album is unclear.
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, but they have played a number of local concerts in the past 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 in some form or another 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 November 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next week. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
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