Toronto Supergroup UWUW Announce Self-Titled LP Debut, Share Lead Single

The band highlights the combined powers of members of Change of Heart, Badge Epoque Ensemble, Dan Mangan and more

Photo: Colin Medley

BY Kayla HigginsPublished Aug 9, 2022

Toronto's latest supergroup UWUW have announced their debut self-titled LP, sharing first single "Scattered Ashes" off of the upcoming project today.

Slated for release on October 21 via We Are Busy Bodies, the LP will feature Jason Haberman of Dan Mangan and Yeahsun, Jay Anderson of Badge Epoque Ensemble, Biblical and Lammping, and Ian Blurton of Change of HeartC'mon and Ian Blurton's Future Now.

The act was formed after Blurton and Anderson backed a run of shows for a mutual friend, by which point Anderson suggested layering in Haberman's low-frequency expertise. Songwriters Chris A. Cummings (a.k.a. Marker Starling) and Drew Smith (of Bunny and the Bicycles) were then scouted to add their lyrical prowess to the debut.

"Scattered Ashes" breeds soul and rock, drawing influence from James Brown's horn section and the Beach Boys' compositional weave.

Of the meaning behind his lyrics to the single, Starling said: "I attempted to shoehorn every stray apocalyptic thought I had circa Summer of 2021 into the song, including readings from the screenplay of Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville. The world is ending, or perhaps, as Sun Ra believed, we're already past the end of the world. You might end up dying for a cause, or even 'just because.'"

"Who knows what tomorrow may bring," he added, "and like the Zombies, being forever 'Hung Up on a Dream' — in this case, a lost vision of a kind of hippie or punk utopia — is the only way to live your life, the only way to maintain a healing state of mind."

Prepare to enter the multiverse. Listen to "Scattered Ashes" below.

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