MONTREAL SONGWRITER CHRIS VELAN TO RELEASE HOWARD BILERMAN-PRODUCED SIXTH ALBUM ON MARCH 4TH VIA NEWSONG RECORDINGS
CANADIAN TOUR DATES BEGIN MARCH 23
Montreal songwriter and producer Chris Velan is preparing to release his sixth LP, Glow, on March 4 via NewSong Recordings, and getting ready to support it with a string of tour dates across Canada. Full tour dates can be found below with more stops added shortly. In the meantime, audiences are treated to the ethereal new video for the title track “Glow”.
Directed by Velan himself, the video was filmed “at the height of summer over the course of three magical days in an old-growth forest in a provincial park outside of Victoria,” he says. “The two feral-looking brothers in the story are sons of a friend of mine and they did such a wonderful job at just being themselves in their acting debut. The final product has this beautiful hazy and dreamlike quality to it that captures the hymnal feel of the song.”
Though penned quite some time ago, the real potential of the title track wasn’t tapped until Velan was in studio to record it. “Glow was originally an up-tempo, happy-sounding track,” he says. “But when we got to recording it in the studio, we quickly realized that the feel and arrangement didn’t match the solemn and reflective lyrics. The take that made it on the album was our first attempt at re-imagining the song. If you listen closely, you can almost hear us unlocking the tune as we’re playing it.”
Joining Velan in studio to record Glow was Co-producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat, Wolf Parade, Vic Chestnutt) and an all-star band of local musicians; Jamie Thompson (Islands, The Unicorns) sitting at the drums, Morgan Moore (Barr Brothers, Blood and Glass) on bass, Max Henry (Suuns) playing keys, with Ariel Engle (AroarA) and Ngabo Kiroko (Dear Denizen) providing backup vocals.
Glow is the most accomplished, seamless mingling of Velan’s musical predilections - dancing from quiet, intimate passages, growing on pulse smooth rhythms. It’s a DNA that draws from his singer-songwriter craft as much as from West African guitar pop, vintage-era rock steady, and dance-floor eighties rock.
The songs on Glow want to pull back the curtain and let the light in. They’re about taking that long, unflinching look in the mirror, shattering mythologies, both personal and collective, and naming the lies that keep us caged. Whether refusing the clean-up job of a prophet in “Listen, Elijah”, or invoking grace in “Call Me Into Your Heart”, Velan’s latest collection of songs seems intent on finding joy at the end of the world - where no matter how frightening the outcome, the end is never the end, just a great new beginning.
It’s a path of inquiry that began for Velan on his previous album, The Long Goodbye, a raw and confessional reckoning with the break-up of a long-term relationship. While echoes of that ache remain in his latest release, Velan’s writing now looks forward with a faith in the blossoming power of love, connection, and the other intangibles that sustain life and will.
Glow is available for pre-order now on Pledge Music along with other exclusive items.
PRE-ORDER GLOW HERE VIA PLEDGE MUSIC
LISTEN TO “UN-AMERICAN GOTHIC” HERE
CHRIS VELAN TOUR DATES
Mar 23 - Vancouver, BC - Railway Club w/ David Beckingham (Hey, Ocean!)
Apr 6 - Montreal, QC - Divan Orange
Apr 9 - Sutton, QC - Salle Alec et Gérard Pelletier
Apr 12 - Toronto, ON - The Burdock
Apr 15 - Halifax, NS - Company House
May 2-8 - Toronto, ON - CMW
GLOW TRACK LIST
01 As They Are
02 Call Me Into Your Heart
03 un-American Gothic
04 El Zonte
05 Listen, Elijah
06 Steal You Away
07 Ever So Slightly
08 Great New Beginnings
09 Making It Up To You
10 Fortune
11 Glow
CHRIS VELAN ONLINE