WATCH / SHARE “FOR THE LONG RUN” HERE
LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE OUT THIS FRIDAY VIA SLOW WEATHER
PRE-SAVE LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE HERE
TOUR DATES BEGIN TOMORROW, MAY 16 - FULL DATES LISTED BELOW
“Major Love — the collaborative project between Edmonton songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Colleen Brown and Scenic Route to Alaska — are following up their 2018 debut this May, excavating the painful reverberations of pandemic isolation with latest single "Making the Most of It." Produced by Marcus Paquin, the upcoming record promises catharsis and introspection like only Brown and co. can provide.” Exclaim! | Most Anticipated Albums of 2024
Photo Credit : Ryan Parker // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
‘In these times of trouble when I long to feel some comfort, well, I think of you.’ The opening line of Major Love’s fifth single “For The Long Run” - the lead track off their sophomore album Live, Laugh, Major Love - is a confession. At the centre of that confession is a universal longing. It asks the question - ‘if I’m totally honest, if I’m truly myself - will I still be loved and accepted?’
The first time the chorus comes around, it’s clear the question is personal, talking about a romantic connection. But as the song develops, it morphs into a more communal reflection on how uncertainty and insecurity changes people. How some people contract and become defensive in difficult circumstances, and others look for the opportunity inside the difficulty.
Lead singer-songwriter Colleen Brown explains: “During lockdowns, I think we were all experiencing some form of longing. A lot of us felt really isolated - maybe we were single and hadn’t touched another human in a year. Some of us were in bubbles or family units, but felt totally alienated from them. It wasn’t just physical isolation - but also the sense that humanity was splintering, along with a shared sense of reality and belonging. Many of us were losing people to conspiracy theories, seeing people we love suddenly spouting hateful rhetoric. And then some of those people would try to turn it around on us, accusing us of the same thing… it can break your brain, if you don’t have deep moral conviction behind your beliefs.
To me this feels more relevant than ever, right now, at this moment. I truly believe we are at the flashpoint that will determine whether humanity survives in the long term. We have a couple of years to avoid irreversible ecological collapse, which we have been rushing headlong towards, and we also have students and protesters around the world being shut down, attacked, and arrested for protesting war crimes. These things are 100% related. Propping up a colonial empire is the same principle as spraying your garden with Roundup: as long as we insist on control and domination of ourselves and our environment, we are doomed as a species. This moment, right now, is our opportunity to change that, to change our trajectory. That’s what this song is really about, and that’s the feeling we are trying to capture in the music.”
MORE ABOUT LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE
Live, Laugh, Major Love, the long-awaited, Marcus Paquin-produced, semi-eponymous sophomore album from Major Love, comes to us like a cheeky valentine, pairing emotional vulnerability with light-heartedness and the kind of confidence that is synonymous with rock. Earnest without taking themselves too seriously on this record, Major Love’s lead singer-songwriter Colleen Brown playfully scorns romantic love even as she openly longs for it.
WATCH / SHARE “TIME” HERE
BUY / STREAM “TIME” HERE
“When love relationships go bad, there’s always some part of you that recoils at the next opportunity. You’re like the armadillo. You’re always wearing your armour. And then you attract more armadillos, both of you protecting yourselves, both of you only showing a small part of your tender self. All the while, wishing, at least in part, to relieve yourselves of your shells. To be naked in your need,” says Brown. “The older I get, the more plainly obvious it is to me that in order to survive, we need to learn to love each other, forgive each other, be emotionally vulnerable with one another, look for ways we can collaborate and compromise, and become totally and utterly truthful with ourselves and each other.”
The eleven tracks that comprise Live, Laugh, Major Love showcase Brown’s willingness to do just that, in partnership with her Major Love bandmates: Trevor Mann, Shea Connor, and Murray Wood.
WATCH / SHARE “MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME” HERE
BUY / STREAM “MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME” HERE
This latest offering, Live, Laugh, Major Love, began with the creation of these two demos; “The More I Know” and “Mountain Standard Time” and became the starting point for the whole record after a serendipitous meeting with Grammy Award-winning producer Marcus Paquin, who would go on to complete the album with the band. “I met Marcus in early 2020, when the two of us were backing up Hawksley Workman and Sarah Slean on tour. I showed him a bunch of my music. He played me the new Weather Station album he had just completed and I was really blown away, obviously, so I really wanted to work together…and we hatched plans to complete the rest of [Major Love’s] album at the National Music Centre in Calgary.”
There were some worldly delays to getting started on that - during which time Brown released two solo albums - Isolation Songs in 2020 and Winging It in 2022 - the latter of which features Paquin as mixing engineer on the track “I Am Leaving (And It's Okay)”.
WATCH / SHARE “ONE WOMAN” HERE
BUY / STREAM “ONE WOMAN” HERE
The band finally convened in May 2022 to record Live, Laugh, Major Love, titled in homage to the very cheesy home decor of the rental house they stayed at while recording in Calgary, and in a nod to Brown’s self-help journey that colours a lot of the songwriting. “I'm kind of poking fun at myself while also earnestly repeating my daily affirmations… That's the thread that ties all the songs together - it's me wrestling with my shadows, succumbing at times, trying to pull myself back into the light.’
By the time we hear the album’s closing track “Better Excuse” we do feel as though we are once again in the light. Brown brings us back, full circle, to her romantic optimism, but this time holding on to all the lessons gleaned from the preceding tracks, as she sings about living the life she wants without waiting for love, while also putting forth the offering: “I’ll make the time, I’ve always got space for two.”
WATCH / SHARE “MAKING THE MOST OF IT” LYRIC VIDEO HERE
BUY / STREAM “MAKING THE MOST OF IT” HERE
PRE-SAVE LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE HERE
TOUR DATES
May 16 - Edmonton, AB, Varscona Theatre
May 17 - Calgary, AB, King Eddy
May 18 - Lethbridge, AB, The Owl
May 21 - Penticton, BC, Dream Cafe
May 23 - Vancouver, BC, The Lido
May 24 - Victoria, BC, The Hallway
Jun 9 - Ottawa, ON, Live on Elgin
Jun 10 - Toronto, ON, Horseshoe Tavern
Jun 26 - Golden, BC, Kicking Horse Culture
LIVE, LAUGH, MAJOR LOVE TRACKLIST
01 For The Long Run
02 Making The Most Of It
03 Same Girl
04 One Woman
05 The More I Know
06 Mountain Standard Time
07 Keep Your Heart To Yourself
08 Mind Body
09 Mistake Again
10 Time
11 Better Excuse