Toronto-based singer-songwriter John Southworth has announced a new concept album exploring the dynamics between Canada and the U.S. vis-à-vis the towns of Niagara Falls. Fittingly dubbed Niagara, the double LP arrives September 30 through UK imprint Tin Angel.
A press release explains that Southworth's folky experiment splits the album up into nine "Canadian" tracks and 11 "American" numbers, as if separating the two records by a border. Southworth reportedly had a loose concept ahead of entering a studio with producer Jean Martin and backup band the South Seas, but as the sessions progressed the artist's plan to explore the sounds and psyches of both sides of Niagara became more defined.
"There is Canadian music and there is American music. This record is the first of its kind that I know of to be divided by a border. Each side a simultaneous interpretation of the same crisis," he explained in a statement, adding that the Canadiana-leaning tracks are "spacious, numinous, Scorpion and evergreen," while the U.S.-inspired back half is "unhinged, noir, mythical and metallic."
Down below, you'll find the full tracklisting for Niagara, as well as the dark pop bounce of first single "Hey I Got News for You," which is presented in a scenic video full of snow-strewn grounds and casino lights.
Niagara:
Canadian Side:
1. Niagara Falls is not Niagara Falls
2. Fiddler crossed the border
3. The horse that swam across the sea
4. Ode to the morning sky
5. Folk art cathedral
6. Butterfly shadow
7. Women are disappearing
8. Irish tree alphabet
9. Where the mountain makes the clouds
American Side:
1. Hey I got news for you
2. Weird woman
3. If it doesn't please the gods
4. Pretty angel girl
5. Poor boy from Buffalo
6. Womb of time
7. Halloween election
8. A day in the forest
9. She is my Niagara Falls
10. Help yourself to diamonds
11. Loving you
A press release explains that Southworth's folky experiment splits the album up into nine "Canadian" tracks and 11 "American" numbers, as if separating the two records by a border. Southworth reportedly had a loose concept ahead of entering a studio with producer Jean Martin and backup band the South Seas, but as the sessions progressed the artist's plan to explore the sounds and psyches of both sides of Niagara became more defined.
"There is Canadian music and there is American music. This record is the first of its kind that I know of to be divided by a border. Each side a simultaneous interpretation of the same crisis," he explained in a statement, adding that the Canadiana-leaning tracks are "spacious, numinous, Scorpion and evergreen," while the U.S.-inspired back half is "unhinged, noir, mythical and metallic."
Down below, you'll find the full tracklisting for Niagara, as well as the dark pop bounce of first single "Hey I Got News for You," which is presented in a scenic video full of snow-strewn grounds and casino lights.
Niagara:
Canadian Side:
1. Niagara Falls is not Niagara Falls
2. Fiddler crossed the border
3. The horse that swam across the sea
4. Ode to the morning sky
5. Folk art cathedral
6. Butterfly shadow
7. Women are disappearing
8. Irish tree alphabet
9. Where the mountain makes the clouds
American Side:
1. Hey I got news for you
2. Weird woman
3. If it doesn't please the gods
4. Pretty angel girl
5. Poor boy from Buffalo
6. Womb of time
7. Halloween election
8. A day in the forest
9. She is my Niagara Falls
10. Help yourself to diamonds
11. Loving you