WATCH AND SHARE “CRUSHED HAT” HERE
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SILVER POOLS NEW LP, CHROMA, OUT FRIDAY, AUGUST 20 VIA MODERN LAUNDRY RECORDING CLUB
PRE-ORDER CHROMA HERE VIA BANDCAMP
Photo Credit : Calm Elliott-Armstrong // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Silver Pools new LP, Chroma, is out in a few short days. To celebrate, the band is releasing a new video for “Crushed Hat”. With Adrienne McLaren's bassline and an Elektron Analog RYTM drum beat as a starting point for the track, "I began playing around with the lyrics to Jesus Christ by Woody Guthrie as a creative exercise; viewing the theme through the eyes of an algorithm feeding us digital nostalgia,” says songwriter Todd Macdonald. For the verses, he continues, "I imagined two performance artists acting out their interpretation in the middle of a busy downtown street."
On the video, director Cashew Soda notes, "I had a couple of books that fit with the theme of the song so I turned my reading nook and some public art and advertising in my neighbourhood (Parkdale/High Park in Toronto) into a music video. I see Christianity and Capitalism as large-scale pranks pulled by the powerful and this video aims to celebrate some shining slivers of artful resistance."
WATCH AND SHARE “CRUSHED HAT” HERE
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“Crushed Hat” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Out on August 20 via Modern Laundry Recording Club, Chroma is the first album since Silver Pools’ debut in 2016, Memoirs Of An Oblong Sphere. Silver Pools began as the solo project of musician and producer Todd Macdonald (The Winks, Norvaiza) and has grown during the making of the album to include visual artist Miranda Crabtree on vocals and keyboards and video director Adrienne McLaren on vocals and bass.
WATCH AND SHARE “IN THE NIGHT”
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MORE ABOUT CHROMA
The songs are based on universal themes: relationships, dreams, mental health, politics, and mortality but are woven in the surreal and symbolist style Macdonald has been developing since his days in the 2000s dadaist baroque punk band, The Winks. Chroma features a wide spectrum of sounds, colours and textures; a delicate mixture of acoustic instruments, analogue synths, drum machines, live percussion, samples, electronics and intimate vocals. The lush production was influenced by countless recordings but the main stand outs are the album Faith by The Cure and the work of John Collins and David Carswell, most notably on Destroyer’s album Kaputt. The latter duo (also known as JC/DC) were a more direct influence on Macdonald. In the mid 2000s, JC/DC produced The Winks’ Birthday Party (2006) album and Macdonald played mandolin on two songs on the The New Pornographers’ Twin Cinema (2005) album which they also produced.
WATCH AND SHARE “BLEACH CLOUD (LAY DOWN IN THE ROAD)” HERE
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Chroma is also greatly enriched by the talented guest musicians that appear on the album. Macdonald met many of them while working at the downtown Toronto music store and electronic music hub, Moog Audio, which has recently had to close its doors due to the pandemic. Prolific electronic music producer Matt Thibideau (Altitude, Graham Van Pelt, Regina Gently, Repair) co-produced the song “Farmhouse” and also added synths to “Crushed Hat”. Dustin Good played and programmed synths on “Farmhouse” and “Bleach Cloud (Lay Down in the Road)” and Tim Adams and Mario Anzola (Anzola) added live drums to “A Kiss For The Swimmer” and “Digital Race” respectively. Artist and designer Andy Vella (The Cure, The Rolling Stones, St. Vincent) created the stunning artwork for Chroma; mirroring the music by blending organic textures and paint brush flourishes with bright digital colours and fonts.
LISTEN / SHARE “FARMHOUSE” HERE
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PRE-ORDER CHROMA HERE VIA BANDCAMP
CHROMA TRACKLIST
01 A Kiss For The Swimmer
02 Digital Race
03 In The Night
04 Crushed Hat
05 Bleach Cloud (Lay Down In The Road)
06 Farmhouse
07 Penumbra
08 With Waiting
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Modern Laundry is a Canadian, artist-run collective record label that focuses on Bandcamp for digital distribution and only uses streaming services such as Spotify and iTunes for singles. Artists currently include: Debra-Jean Creelman (Mother Mother), Desert Bloom, Gay Hollywood (DIANA, Army Girls and Austra), Silver Pools (The Winks), and Ten Moon.