LISTEN AND SHARE “BENEFICIARY” HERE
“BENEFICIARY” AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON FRIDAY JAN 11
UPCOMING LP, IN THE LAND OF, OUT MARCH 29 VIA DINE ALONE RECORDS
2019 CROSS CANADA TOUR DATES BEGIN MARCH 20, 2019
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
PHOTO CREDIT : Norman Wong // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, Wintersleep are sharing the first single from their highly anticipated new LP, In the Land Of, a song which Brooklyn Vegan calls “an anthemic stomper.” Available on all streaming platforms this Friday, “Beneficiary” is a throbbing disco-noir romp that details the genocide of Indigenous peoples and our modern relationship to it. ‘Drive to work all day, try to sleep at night / Beneficiary of a genocide’ vocalist Paul Murphy sings. The lyrics borrow from Australian writer Peter Carey, who in an interview last year asserted, “You wake up in the morning and you are the beneficiary of a genocide.” “As a Canadian, I feel a real connection to that sentiment,” says Murphy. “It really encapsulates the idea of someone historically removed from these atrocities but who nonetheless benefits, and has to come to terms with and find ways to acknowledge and take on a certain responsibility in making it right.”
LISTEN AND SHARE “BENEFICIARY” HERE
Due March 29 via Dine Alone Records, both Exclaim! and CBC Music marked In the Land Of, Wintersleep’s seventh full-length record, as one of their most anticipated of 2019.
In the Land Of studies geography, both real and imagined. It is understood that our surroundings are not, in fact, essential or concrete elements; they’re constructed in relation to us, the inhabitants. Our identities, too, are constructed in relation to the land. The land, both physical and figurative, changes, and so do we. Familiar land. Foreign land. Inhospitable land. Unceded land. Stolen land. Dead land.
For Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer the so-called ‘Canadian sound’ was a sound defined by space, by the land and our distance from and proximity to it. For Harry Freedman, it was “gaunt” and “lonely.” Elaine Keillor called it “immense, empty, mysterious, harsh, indifferent, producing a response of awe mingled with terror and an intense sense of spiritual loneliness.”
Like all Wintersleep records, In the Land Of encourages thought and introspection. The new record’s title is an incomplete thought, a blank that is filled in across the record with different places, words, and sounds. “A lot of the songs touch on this idea of being a stranger or feeling foreign in all the different landscapes in which the songs took place lyrically,” explains Murphy. “It all relates back to the land,” adds guitarist Tim D’Eon.
LISTEN / STREAM “SURRENDER” HERE
In the Land Of follows 2016’s The Great Detachment, which saw CanCon Rock Single Of The Year “Amerika” spend 11 consecutive weeks atop Canada’s rock radio charts, remaining in the Top 10 for over 7 months as well as winning an Indie Award for Single Of The Year and a JUNO Award nomination for Adult Alternative Album.
On March 20, 2019, Wintersleep will take to the road with tour dates throughout Canada. Full tour dates can be found below with tickets on sale now. The JUNO Award winners have previously toured several continents and shared stages with Pearl Jam, Broken Social Scene and the Hold Steady, a performance on Late Night with David Letterman and even an opening slot for Sir Paul McCartney.
Watch for more news about In the Land Of to be announced soon.
2019 CANADIAN TOUR DATES
03.20.19 // Waterloo, ON // Maxwell's
03.21.19 // London, ON // London Music Hall
03.22.19 // Hamilton, ON // New Vision United Church
03.23.19 // Ottawa, ON // Bronson Centre
03.25.19 // Quebec City // L’Anti
03.27.19 // Moncton, NB // Tide & Boar
03.28.19 // Fredericton, NB // Boyce Farmers Market
03.29.19 // Halifax, NS // The Marquee Ballroom
03.30.19 // Halifax, NS // The Marquee
03.31.19 // St John's, NL // Club One
04.11.19 // Montreal, QC // La Sala Rossa
04.12.19 // Creemore, ON // Avening Community Hall
04.13.19 // Toronto, ON // The Danforth Music Hall ^
04.18.19 // Saskatoon,SK // The Capitol Music Club ^
04.19.19 // Edmonton, AB // The Starlite Room ^
04.20.19 // Calgary, AB // The Palace Theatre ^
04.22.19 // Nelson, BC // Spiritbar ^
04.23.19 // Kelowna, BC // Sapphire Nightclub ^
04.25.19 // Kamloops, BC // Cactus Jacks ^
04.26.19 // Vancouver, BC // Commodore Ballroom
04.27.19 // Victoria, BC // Capital Ballroom
04.30.19 // Red Deer, AB // Bo's Bar & Grill ^
05.02.19 // Regina, SK // The Exchange ^
05.03.19 // Winnipeg, MB // The Garrick ^
^ with special guests Partner