Winnipeg's Super Duty Tough Work Incite 'Paradigm Shift' with New Album

Hear the lead single "Guillotine Dreams"

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Jun 14, 2023

Winnipeg art-rap collective Super Duty Tough Work have announced their new album, previewed today by the release of steely single "Guillotine Dreams."

Paradigm Shift is due September 8 via Next Door. It follows the group's Polaris-nominated 2019 offering, Studies in Grey.

Featuring previously released single "First Strike," their label debut is something of a mission statement for SDTW. "I mean, it's hard to summarize what this album is about, because it touches on so many different things," frontman Brendan Grey explained in a statement. "I'd say though, generally, it all falls in line with our themes of 'resistance-based debauchery' and internationalism.

"Opposing the homicidal ruling class the planet is forced to endure, while at the same time having fun, celebrating the wins and each other, and indulging in joy when possible," Grey added. "This record really is meant to be a comfort measure for all victims of capitalism."

Built on cuts from the legendary Skratch Bastid, the repurposing of a Rage Against the Machine lyric and a sample of Grey's grandmother singing (while accompanied by his great-grandmother on the piano), the new single epitomizes civil unrest.

Over a Fort Minor-reminiscent minor melody, the frontman takes aim with laser precision at the settler-colonial project that is so-called Canada, dropping both hyper-specific and broader cultural references in his bristling bars — including a haunting image of "a city where red dresses hang next to Confederate flags."

Watch the "Guillotine Dreams" video below, and keep scrolling for the album tracklist.


Paradigm Shift:

1. Mission Statement
2. First Strike
3. Guillotine Dreams
4. Grey's Lament (Grandmotherland)
5. New Sight
6. Quiet Strength
7. Molotov Cocktails at Brunch (A Love Song)
8. Dirty Hands
9. Mood Swings
10. Far Away (Champagne Steam Rooms)

Pre-order Paradigm Shift.

Latest Coverage