Toronto-based "Balkan-klezmer-gypsy-party-punk super band" Lemon Bucket Orkestra delivered Moorka back in 2015, and they've just announced plans for the follow-up. If I Had the Strength is due out November 3 via Outside Music.
The new record once again hears the group drawing inspiration from Eastern European folk traditions, though it also hears them honing their storytelling skills, weaving a common narrative throughout the 11 songs.
"If I Had the Strength is an album about coming home, about never being the same, about the parts of ourselves we lose, the parts we gain, and about the prisons we inhabit or that inhabit us," frontman Mark Marczyk explained in a press release.
The story arc is based on an old Slavic prison ballad that tells the tale of a rebel returning home, though the band members' own experiences with the Ukraine-Russia conflict are also reflected in the songs — that said, so is their shared "party-punk roots and attitude."
Amongst the guests featured on the new record are opera star Measha Brueggergosman on "Heroes," Montreal-based rapper Boogat on "Palinka" and choral collective Choir! Choir! Choir! on "Peace."
See the full tracklisting for If I Had the Strength below.
The band will be bringing the new tunes across Ontario and Quebec this fall, with plans to tour Canada from coast-to-coast early next year. See the upcoming November shows listed below.
If I Had the Strength:
1. The Game
2. Crooked
3. Fate
4. Goodbye (feat. Zilen Biret)
5. Soldat
6. Freedom (feat. John David Williams)
7. When
8. Palinka (feat. Boogat)
9. Cocoon
10. Heroes (feat. Measha Brueggergossman)
11. Peace (feat. Choir!Choir!Choir!)
Tour dates:
11/01 Ottawa, ON – Ecole Secondaire Publique De La Salle
11/02 Kingston, ON – Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts
11/03 London, ON – Aeolian Hall
11/04 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall *
11/05 Stratford, ON – The HUB
11/07 Meaford, ON – Meaford Hall
11/08 Kitchener, ON – Descendants Bierhalle
11/09 Richmond Hill, ON – Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts
11/10 Guelph, ON – Mitchell Hall
11/11 Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount (with Special Guest, Boogat)
11/12 Quebec City, QC – Venue TBC
* with Boogat
The new record once again hears the group drawing inspiration from Eastern European folk traditions, though it also hears them honing their storytelling skills, weaving a common narrative throughout the 11 songs.
"If I Had the Strength is an album about coming home, about never being the same, about the parts of ourselves we lose, the parts we gain, and about the prisons we inhabit or that inhabit us," frontman Mark Marczyk explained in a press release.
The story arc is based on an old Slavic prison ballad that tells the tale of a rebel returning home, though the band members' own experiences with the Ukraine-Russia conflict are also reflected in the songs — that said, so is their shared "party-punk roots and attitude."
Amongst the guests featured on the new record are opera star Measha Brueggergosman on "Heroes," Montreal-based rapper Boogat on "Palinka" and choral collective Choir! Choir! Choir! on "Peace."
See the full tracklisting for If I Had the Strength below.
The band will be bringing the new tunes across Ontario and Quebec this fall, with plans to tour Canada from coast-to-coast early next year. See the upcoming November shows listed below.
If I Had the Strength:
1. The Game
2. Crooked
3. Fate
4. Goodbye (feat. Zilen Biret)
5. Soldat
6. Freedom (feat. John David Williams)
7. When
8. Palinka (feat. Boogat)
9. Cocoon
10. Heroes (feat. Measha Brueggergossman)
11. Peace (feat. Choir!Choir!Choir!)
Tour dates:
11/01 Ottawa, ON – Ecole Secondaire Publique De La Salle
11/02 Kingston, ON – Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts
11/03 London, ON – Aeolian Hall
11/04 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall *
11/05 Stratford, ON – The HUB
11/07 Meaford, ON – Meaford Hall
11/08 Kitchener, ON – Descendants Bierhalle
11/09 Richmond Hill, ON – Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts
11/10 Guelph, ON – Mitchell Hall
11/11 Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount (with Special Guest, Boogat)
11/12 Quebec City, QC – Venue TBC
* with Boogat
