NEW POSTHUMOUS DOUBLE ALBUM AWAY IS MINE DEBUTS #3 ON THE CANADIAN BILLBOARD CHART
WATCH “THE LEAST IMPOSSIBLE”
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Away Is Mine Album Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
“Downie stares down his mortality like never before, a poignant statement from a man who was so good at seizing the moment.” - CBC Music
“For a man who made his name wailing about Canadian history over roaring rock riffs, this generous peek inward as he bid the nation that loved him adieu will certainly offer closure, along with no shortage of tears." - Under The Radar
The vaults are opening, ‘like an old friend checking in,’ on Downie's extraordinarily productive final years. 'Away Is Mine,' a new solo album, is another gift. - Maclean’s Magazine
Gord Downie released the posthumous double album Away Is Mine on October 16, on the eve of the third anniversary of his passing. The final songs that The Tragically Hip frontman would record, Away Is Mine highlights Gord’s poetic mastery at its most bare and personal, with vibrant, haunting production that casts each song in supernatural light. Unanimously celebrated as “a gift,” the album has arrived at a time when fans have needed his voice most, earning a #3 Billboard Canada chart debut with the #1 spot on the Top Albums, Vinyl, and Digital Albums charts.
BUY / LISTEN TO AWAY IS MINE NOW
Today, Downie shares the animated music video for “The Least Impossible,” which opens the second side of Away Is Mine with the album’s most oblique sonic textures and starkly emotional wreckoning. Grappling with life or livelihood and the fleeting nature of either, Gord sings over rattling synthesizers “I try not to try / I try not to know / Up until thought itself asks / ‘Where do you go?’” Pondering this line, director Sara Basso and illustrator Laura Arango, set out to explore the view from the edge of the abyss.
“‘The Least Impossible’ is about a journey into the unknown. I wanted to visualize this by exploring a psychedelic trip within ourselves, one that pushes the limits of our imagination and tries to make sense of the things that defy our relative understanding,” says Basso, who is Creative Director and Producer of the Away Is Mine music video series. “We transition through realms beyond our world, where space and time are abstract, mimicking the attempt to reach a higher state of consciousness in search of the greater truth.”
The fifth music video released so far from Away Is Mine extrapolates the visual story that Gord’s music has inspired. For an album defined by contemplations – Gord’s own musings, in the care of family, friends, and collaborators alike – each video interprets a corner of Gord’s universal imagination, painting a possible portrait of him during the incredible circumstances of the album’s recording, and now casting forward his legacy with its timely presentation.
WATCH “THE LEAST IMPOSSIBLE” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Curating a diverse and inclusive group of creatives ranging from emerging new talent to pioneers in the industry, Basso and team set out to create unique visualizations of all ten songs on Away Is Mine. The contributions thus far – from Ty Goodwin’s landscape-defining “Hotel Worth” to Alex McLeod’s lucid take on “River Don’t Care” (described by Rolling Stone as “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou meets Schitt’s Creek”) – cast each artists’ idea of Gord singing to us “from the liminal space between life and the great divide.” The transportative cinema of Basso and Genevieve Blais’ “Useless Nights” and the reflexive animation of Zuna Amir’s “About Blank” project the spiritual breadth and captivating ambiance of Gord’s album.
Along with ten “acoustic” lyric videos by Matthew Beaubien that bring Gord’s handwritten lyrics to life, the music video series will continue to unfurl with contemplations by creators like Tim Thompson (of Hockey Night In Canada fame), Akash Sherman (award-winning filmmaker of Clara), and the Secret Path team of Mike Downie, Jeff Lemire, and Justin Stephenson uniting for the “Untitled” sign-off. See the full list of artists below.
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Steered to life by “my oldest Toronto friend,” guitarist and co-writer Josh Finlayson, Downie recorded Away Is Mine in July 2017 at The Tragically Hip’s studio in Bath, Ontario, mere months before he passed on October 17th that year. The two-disc set features Downie’s last ten songs, each presented in electric and acoustic versions. Away Is Mine is out now in deluxe limited edition 2LP, 2CD, and digital formats via Arts & Crafts.
“This won’t be his last release, but these are the final ten songs Gord sang before he passed away. The last time he ever sang into a mic,” brother Patrick Downie wrote.
A characteristically questing and idiosyncratic work that holds fast to its author’s unwavering artistic spirit, Away Is Mine is a reflection on Gord’s life, written with his deft hand and forever inscrutable sense of humour even as he locked eyes with the Great Inevitability. As autobiographical as it is collaborative, Away Is Mine is a document of an artist disappearing into his art, essentially becoming his art through that process.
Like all of the music and the poetry and the memories and the mad genius Gord gave us during his 53 years on our planet, Away Is Mine is immortal. And yet it took a fearless reckoning with his own mortality to get us here.
“We feel so blessed for this opportunity. Simply described as gratitude. Grateful for another gift from Gord. A gift that has been our beautiful companion and an unintended source of solace in the face of life without him,” Josh and Patrick share. “May it lift you up and carry you onwards and upwards always and forever.
Away Is Mine. Away Is Yers.”
Gord Downie – Away Is Mine – Official Music Videos / Directors:
1. Hotel Worth / Ty Goodwin
2. Useless Nights / Sara Basso & Genevieve Blais
3. I Am Lost / Bhabna Banerjee & Amanda Matalanis
4. About Blank / Zuna Amir
5. River Don’t Care / Alex McLeod
6. The Least Impossible / Sara Basso & Laura Arango
7. Traffic Is Magic / Kenny Tran & Sara Basso
8. Away Is Mine / Akash Sherman
9. No Solace / Tim Thompson
10. Untitled / Mike Downie, Jeff Lemire & Justin Stephenson
Acoustic Lyric Videos / Matthew Beaubien
Production Credits:
Creative Director & Producer: Sara Basso
Assoc. Producer & Art Director: Jung EJ Lee
Production Company: New Ritual Studio
Executive Producers: Patrick Downie, Mike Downie, Josh Finlayson, Jake Gold, Sara Basso, Marc Wayne, Carly Stojsic, Trisha Kulathungam
Copyright: Gordieland Inc.