NEW ALBUM, CERULEAN, DUE OUT JUNE 3, 2022
WATCH / SHARE “THE BIG ONE” FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS
BUY / STREAM “THE BIG ONE FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS
PRE-ORDER CERULEAN HERE
"Ken has earned a strong reputation as a bona-fide composer who combines his emotionally charged storytelling with some incredible and unforgettable melodies.” - Great Dark Wonder
"..offers a refuge of soft-spoken sanity and, amid all the raised voices, Ken Yates’ is one that definitely deserves to be heard." - RGM
Photo Credit : Jen Squires // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, quietly resolute singer-songwriter Ken Yates announces his transcendent new album, Cerulean, due out June 3, 2022. The announcement arrives along with a soothing new single and video for album opener “The Big One” featuring Kathleen Edwards.
"The Big One" is a touching apocalyptic lullaby where Yates softly sings, ‘Don’t worry baby, if we’re caught in the swell / We’ll be there together for better or for well / When the sky is falling I won’t turn and run / I’ll be holding your hand when the big one comes.’
The track acts as a place of refuge, and is a tender reminder to keep your loved ones close as life can change in the blink of an eye. Yates says, "believe it or not, this song was written before the pandemic. I was traveling in the Pacific Northwest with someone who was constantly mentioning the Cascadian Subduction Zone, a fault line predicted to cause a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami, also known as ‘The Big One’. Yates continues, as he reckons with life's fragility, "I couldn’t stop thinking about how entire societies of people live there with the knowledge it’s going to happen at some point, and when it does, they’re totally fucked. There’s something poetic about that acceptance. It was the first song I wrote for this album and it certainly opened the door to digging deeper into inner struggles for me. It was almost a thought of how it’s easier to distract yourself with the end of the world rather than face your own feelings."
The DIY video, shot on Yates' iPhone, finds the musician amidst lockdown accompanied by his dog, as they forge into the rivers and forests of Ontario, Canada. The nature-filled visual evokes the same warmth and comfort that the track so effortlessly provides.
Yates explains, "I would take my dog for a walk by the river early every morning and hardly ever see anyone. There were days when it truly felt we were alone on this earth," Yates adds. "The song is about riding out the last few moments of the apocalypse with someone you love, so I thought it would be funny to make a b-side movie where my dog and I are the last two beings on the planet. I found an old raincoat and started filming myself in ridiculous survival situations in the woods. It turned out my dog Joni was a natural on camera. I also loved the idea that I would bring my capo to the apocalypse."
WATCH / SHARE “THE BIG ONE” FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS
BUY / STREAM “THE BIG ONE FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS
“The Big One” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
MORE ABOUT KEN YATES & CERULEAN
Over the last decade, Ken Yates has solidified himself as a prolific musician, combining heartfelt lyricism, genuine authenticity and hypnotic guitar strums. After studying at the Berklee College of Music, Yates released The Backseat EP in 2011, followed by his full-length debut Twenty-Three in 2013. He won the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award in 2014 for his song "The One That Got Away" and released his second album, Huntsville, in 2016, produced by Jim Bryson. By 2017, Yates was making waves in folk with his poignant songwriting, winning the awards for Canadian Folk Music Award for both Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year.
Now, with a fresh perspective and renewed sense of self, Yates brings honesty, growth and profound peace to his latest work, Cerulean. Nonetheless, Cerulean feels like a hard reset on Yates’ art and artistry. Reuniting with producer Jim Bryson, the album firmly steps into indie folk and alternative territories – he cites Big Thief, Andy Shauf, and The War On Drugs as a few of his inspirations.
Cerulean meets Yates at his darkest and most vulnerable, as he transforms the pain of grief, fear and loss into an 11-track quest towards hope, light and peace. A crucial vehicle out of the depths of darkness and bitterness for Yates, Cerulean serves as a powerful reemergence filled with his signature remarkable vocal intimacy as well as a profound yet candid peak into the universal human experience.
In May 2020, Yates released his third album, Quiet Talkers, which was met with high praise from tastemakers like Atwood Magazine, who wrote the album's track, "Surviving is Easy" is "an earnest, heartfelt rendering of everyday struggle." Praise also has come in the form of a co-sign from fellow musician John Mayer who said, “Want to hear a great song? I mean a REALLY great song? Ken Yates wrote a tune called “I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love” and posted a live video of it on YouTube. This song moved me when I first heard it and it still does today.”
Read Ken Yates’ full biography by Mitch Mosk at : www.killbeatmusic.com/kenyates
PRE-ORDER CERULEAN HERE
CERULEAN TRACKLIST
01. The Big One (feat. Kathleen Edwards)
02. The Future Is Dead
03. Don’t Mean To Wake You (feat. Stephanie Lambring)
04. Consolation Prize (feat. Katie Pruitt)
05. Small Doses
06. Best Of The Broken Things
07. Honest Light (feat. Caroline Marie Brooks)
08. Half Clenched Teeth
09. Good Things (feat. Liz Longley)
10. Grocery Store
11. Cerulean
KEN YATES LIVE
June 19 - Smith's Falls, ON - Bowie’s
June 19 - London, ON - Aeolian Hall
June 25 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware w/ Abigail Lapell
June 27 - Londonderry, ON - Concerts on the Common
All tickets can be found HERE
*** More dates will be announced soon ***