JUDEE JUSTIN ARTHUR MARY EP (COVERS OF JUDEE SILL, JUSTIN HAYNES, ARTHUR RUSSEL & MARY MARGARET O’HARA ) OUT APRIL 24 VIA NEXT DOOR RECORDS
LISTEN / SHARE MARY MARGARET O’HARA COVER “ANEW DAY” FEAT. FELICITY WILLIAMS (BAHAMAS/BERNICE)
PRE-ORDER JUDEE JUSTIN ARTHUR MARY HERE
Photo Credit: Melissa Richards // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Toronto’s Luka Kuplowsky is announcing his signing to Next Door Records (Mama Bird Recordings outside of Canada). Known as a pillar of the Toronto music community, NDR are excited to introduce this artist to the rest of the world with an impeccable EP of covers from some of Kuplowsky’s deepest influences titled Judee Justin Arthur Mary.
Taking Arthur Russell’s funky deconstructed pop song “Me For Real” and rendering it into a skipping, syncopated folk song; Judee Sill’s country-gospel anthem “There’s a Rugged Road” is opened up into a grooving, pastoral jam (think Bill Frisell’s “Gone, Just Like the Train”); Justin Haynes’ sincere and sardonic “Child Support” is imagined as ramshackle tropicalia; and Mary Margaret O’Hara’s “Anew Day” is paired down to a minimalist gospel-blues for guitar, bass and hand clap. Kuplowsky is sharing the reimagining of Mary Margaret O’Hara’s “Anew Day” today, backed by Bahamas’ Felicity Williams, Luka speaks to the song saying;
“When I sing Mary Margaret O’Hara’s “Anew Day”, I feel directly channeled to the joy and sorrow embedded in the music and lyrics. The first time I covered the song was the closing night of the Holy Oak Cafe - a space in Toronto that is so deeply important to my songwriting. The song is forever tied to memories of change and rebirth. Singing “Anew Day” is always utterly present and moving for me.”
LISTEN / SHARE MARY MARGARET O’HARA COVER “ANEW DAY” FEAT. FELICITY WILLIAMS (BAHAMAS)
For the new EP, Luka Kuplowsky (voice, guitar, harmonica) brought together a cast of some of his most familiar Toronto players including U.S. Girls and Andy Shauf collaborator Evan Cartwright on drums, Thom Gill (Sam Amidon, Bernice) on electric guitar and organ, the incredible jazz player Josh Cole (Sandro Perri, Martha Wainwright), on bass, and Bahamas’ Felicity Williams for backing vocals. Together, they’ve taken these songs and re-imagined what they could look like in a truly collaborative process to extract something new from each composition. Although it may seem like an EP of covers on first blush, this collection is a reverent take with the distinct fingerprints of each of the collaborators throughout. Luka Kuplowsky will be on tour this spring, including sets at the Treefort Music Festival. Find those below as well as a statement from Kuplowksy on Judee Justin Arthur Mary:
“Judee Justin Arthur Mary is a collection of songs by artists that are deeply meaningful to me. They are songs that my friends and I honed as The Holy Oak Family Singers - a tribute band moniker named after our formative community space Holy Oak Cafe (2009-2017).
It is a true pleasure to briefly live inside the songs of Arthur Russell, Judee Sill, Justin Haynes and Mary Margaret O’Hara. Our tribute to them is to find our own centre and footing through their gifts of words and music.
The record was engineered by Dan Edmonds at Fort Rosie with Thom Gill (guitar), Evan Cartwright (percussion) and Josh Cole (bass) in the early evening of November 3rd 2019. A month later, Felicity Williams lent her voice to lift these tunes higher, Aaron Hutchinson lovingly mixed our session and Fedge settled everything into place with mastering . Together we forged some new pathways through familiar shapes and forms: Arthur Russell’s funky deconstructed pop song Me For Real is rendered a skipping, syncopated folk song; Judee Sill’s country-gospel anthem is opened up into a grooving, pastoral jam (think Bill Frisell’s Gone, Just Like the Train); Justin Hayne’s sincere and sardonic Child Support is imagined as ramshackle tropicalia; and Mary Margret O’Hara’s A New Day is paired down to a minimalist gospel-blues for guitar, bass and hand clap.
Here are some half-remembered takes on some of the deepest songwriters I know.”
Next Door Records is the new record label from the Outside Music Group. NDR was formed in 2019 with the first release being the Polaris Prize nominated The Shape of Your Name from Charlotte Cornfield. The label has gone on to release acclaimed records from Lydia Persaud, Ada Lea, and HUA LI 化力
TOUR DATES
Mar 25 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
Mar 28 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest
Mar 29 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest
April 3 - Hamilton, ON - Jillard's Guitars^
April 4 - Toronto, ON - Drake Underground^
* w/ Nap Eyes
^w/ Charlotte Cornfield
JUDEE JUSTIN ARTHUR MARY TRACKLIST
01 Anew Day (feat. Felicity Williams)
02 Me for Real
03 Child Support
04 There’s a Rugged Road