Ché Aimee Dorval's New Album THE CROWNED Out Today

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FOR TITLE TRACK HERE

"The beauty of Ché Aimee Dorval’s 'Loveless' is the way the song is nothing less than transportive, the Vancouver-raised singer’s blend of glitter-jacked soul and hyper-lush pop a dream-weaver ticket to getting lost in one’s own thoughts." - The Georgia Straight

“New album ‘The Crowned’, fusing pop, soul, and indie elements to produce something potent and original. Just take new single ‘Falling Under’, and the way it pivots between classic soul impulses and fresh energy.” - CLASH

The Crowned, the new album from Vancouver musician Ché Aimee Dorval, is out today on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here. 

To celebrate its release, Ché is also releasing the title track as a 4th single, along with a live music video filmed at The Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver.

Speaking ahead of its release, Ché said of the title track, “I think sometimes people forget that the fight for equality means just that. Having the same as, rather than more than. That truth always gets lost in the fear and emotions of it all. It doesn’t help that we’re taught that there’s not enough of anything to go around, so you better fight to hold on to your piece. 'The Crowned' is about fighting to share the same space. It’s about climbing up to sit next to the person who has occupied the throne for so long, not to dethrone them."

Last year, Ché released three tracks from The Crowned ahead of its release. The first, 'Blood Red Son',arrived in August, a “fever dream of indecision, regret and resolve.” Then came 'Falling Under', a song “about the pain and heartbreak of watching someone you love lose themselves to addiction.” Most recently, she shared 'Loveless', which is “about giving your love over quickly and readily. Loving without the expectation of having it returned. This song explores the feeling of being compelled to love a person who has nothing to give in return.”

The Crowned shows a side to Ché seldom seen on record before. A more confident and determined thread runs through these songs, signalling the birth of a new era for Ché. Inspired by her love of Trip Hop, Folktronica and Soul, The Crowned has Ché's signature all over it whilst reaching out into new sonic environments.

Pre-pandemic, Ché was working with Bob Rock, who produced half of the album. When we emerged from lockdown, Ché had self-produced the rest. The Crowned tells a story of an artist’s evolution and growth. 

The Crowned is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide via Icons Creating Evil Art, except for Canada, where it is released independently. For more information, please visit cheaimeedorval.com.

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Alt-Pop Duo EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS Release New Single BLUE HOUSE

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Today, global collaboration EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS release their new single ‘Blue House’ into the world. The hauntingly beautiful track is available now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here. 

Founded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS is an alt-pop duo that has never met IRL. Formed in 2021, when Vancouver-based musician Alejandro Zarazua met Johannesburg-based vocalist Hayley Chewins on an online music forum, the two were soon collaborating and creating music virtually.

The result, their debut EP Turn Again and Come Back, is now set for release on February 14th. ‘Blue House’ is the first single to be released from the EP with the track showcasing what EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS does best, blending personal lyrics and lush eerie melodies.

“I’m a novelist, and this song started out as a story idea,” says HayIey. “I wanted to write about a woman who was trying to drive away from a house and couldn’t; no matter how far she drove, she always ended up back in the driveway. When I realized it was a song, it poured out of me in one go. It’s about our relationship with the past and how sometimes something happens to you that you just can’t close the door on.”

Since EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS is 100% a long distance music project, the duo admits that there are some challenges that come with creating music with a partner that is on a completely different continent. But despite the obstacles, they decided to forge ahead and create an EP together. 

Hayley explains: “At the beginning of 2022, I asked Alejandro if he wanted to make an EP with me. I sent him voice notes of each of the songs–recorded on my phone–and we started from there. We work in drafts, going back and forth until a song feels right. In that sense, we work separately, but it also comes together in this really cool way. It feels like we’re performing a kind of long-distance magic spell.”

'Blue House' is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide. For more information, please visit eight-thousand-birds.com.

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Vancouver Musician Dana Schindel Releases Debut Single KEEP MOVING FORWARD

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Vancouver country pop musician Dana Schindel is pleased to announce the release of her debut single‘Keep Moving Forward’ out now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here.

‘Keep Moving Forward’ is an inspiring track that tells the story of some great advice Dana received from her beloved dad. Personal and deeply fitting for these times, this storytelling country song starts simply and builds to an uplifting anthem fitting for anyone who’s found themselves in need of some heartfelt encouragement.   

“I wrote this song about a real conversation I had with my dad at a time when I was feeling really stuck in my life,” says Dana. “I was on the road presenting at college nights across British Columbia and I was tired. I knew I wanted to be doing something else and was sad I wasn’t. I just wanted to go home. Some of the best lessons my dad ever taught me were on that phone call: Even if I’m not feeling my best, I can still help another person. That the lessons I am learning now will become the building blocks of my life, even if I can’t see it yet. And the power of hope—knowing that things won’t always be like this and you can keep moving forward.” 

Already a working actor in theatre and television, Dana is now ready to share her own original music with the world. Her influences range from the first triple threats she saw writing and performing their own work – Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, and Cher – and she has continued adding to this group of powerful female artists carving their own paths with artists like Shania Twain, Kelsea Ballerini, and Alanis Morissette.

As a live performer, Dana sings national anthems and halftime entertainment for the Burnaby Lakers, SFU Hockey, and Whitecaps FC2. Dana is well known for her ability to perform live and has acted in many shows, working alongside Canadian legends, Jeff Hyslop, Max Reimer, and Jim Hibbard. In the play ‘Emilia’, directed by 7x Jessie award-winning director Lois Anderson for United Players, Dana sang, acted, and played music on stage. Review Vancouver wrote of ‘Emilia’: “This is a true ensemble piece and therefore hard to single out individual performances. Perhaps the exceptions are...Dana Schindel is hilarious as Susan Bertie.”

“One of my favourite feelings is being on stage connecting with an audience,” says Dana. “It’s vulnerable and so exciting for that connection to be based on my own authentic work, and I’m excited to share the songs I have been singing quietly to myself for years. I want to contribute to the music landscape that has been with me through the good times and the bad.” 

'Keep Moving Forward' is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide. For more information, please visit danaschindel.ca.

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Ché Aimee Dorval Shares New Single + Video LOVELESS

3rd SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM
THE CROWNED // OUT ON JANUARY 19th

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Vancouver musician Ché Aimee Dorval shares 'Loveless', the third single to be taken from her forthcoming album The Crowned, which is set for release on January 19th, 2023.

“Loveless is about giving your love over quickly and readily,” says Ché. “Loving without the expectation of having it returned. I think it’s honourable to give over love easily to anyone, even with the dangers that can come from that. Maybe it’s not even a choice. Maybe you either acknowledge your love or you don’t, but it’s there either way. This song explores the feeling of being compelled to love a person who has nothing to give in return.”

Previous single 'Falling Under', which CLASH Magazine says, “pivots between classic soul impulses and fresh energy,“ is, according to Ché, “about the pain and heartbreak of watching someone you love lose themselves to addiction. No matter how much love, support and energy you put into trying to help them out of it,” she says. “It’s about coming to terms with the fact that your efforts are only enabling their descent, and in turn, they’re dragging you down with them.” 

 Ché launched her campaign in August with 'Blood Red Son', a “fever dream of indecision, regret and resolve.”

Raised in Vancouver by her mother, a plethora of hippie aunts, punk rock uncles and a colourful extended family–think Little House on the Prairie meets The Lost Boys–Ché’s childhood was one of constant creativity and adventure, instilling in her a strong sense of individualism that she took out into the world and onto the stages of local clubs in Vancouver. She lived the troubadour life and became embroiled in the Toronto indie music scene. As she grew and spread her wings, music took her around the world, both as a solo artist and with her critically acclaimed band Casualties of Cool, a joint venture with Prog-Rock behemoth Devin Townsend, who she recently collaborated with again by featuring on his latest album Lightwork.

The nomadic lifestyle led to her working in LA with hitmakers Greg Wells, David Foster and Kara Dioguardi; performing with Michael Bublé, Kim Churchill and Dan Mangan and releasing music with industry heavyweights Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones) and Tom Sarig (Lou Reed). 

 As Ché gears up to release The Crowned, we find her at her most ambitious and gregarious. It shows a side to her seldom seen before. Confidence and determination pulses through the songs, signalling the birth of a new era for Ché. Inspired by her love of Trip Hop, Folktronica and Soul, The Crowned has Ché’s signature all over it whilst reaching out into new sonic environments. 

 Pre-pandemic, Ché was working with Bob Rock, who produced half of the album. When we emerged from lockdown, Ché had self-produced the rest. The Crowned tells a story of an artist’s evolution and growth.

‘Loveless' is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide via Icons Creating Evil Art, except for Canada, where it is released independently. For more information, please visit cheaimeedorval.com.

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CHÉ AIMEE DORVAL - THE CROWNED
RELEASE DATE: January 19th, 2023
01. The Crowned
02. Falling Under
03. Loveless
04. Want That Soul
05. Blood Red Son
06. Sensibilities  
07. Sorta Loves Me
08. Try
09. Sleeping, Stoned
10. Lionize
11. What Is Enough (Desired and Adored)
Download High-Res Album Art

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BC Musician Ben Arsenault Releases New Single TURNING BACK

2nd SINGLE FROM DEBUT SOLO LP
SET FOR RELEASE ON DECEMBER 2nd

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BC musician Ben Arsenault premieres his new single and lyric video ‘Turning Back’ out now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here. 

Following the release of ‘Hold On To You’, ‘Turning Back’ is the 2nd single from Ben’s debut solo album launching on December 2nd. Known for his work in Vancouver alt-country/jam band Real Ponchos (as vocalist and guitarist), Ben is now pursuing a solo career in more traditional, roots based country music which is evident on his wistful and straightforward new single.

“‘Turning Back’ was inspired by a walk in the woods that I took on a sunny fall day with a dog my wife and I were looking after for a friend,” says Ben. “The imagery in the song follows that walk. It was so quiet and beautiful in the woods, I didn’t want to turn back until we got to the edge of a canyon where there was a waterfall, and I was worried the dog was going to fall in, so we turned back towards the road from where we had started out. The line that repeats in the chorus was originally ‘I wouldn’t be strong’, but my wife heard me practicing the song one day and heard it as ‘it wouldn’t be long’. I decided that evoked more of the feelings of commitment and responsibility in the song, so I changed it.”

On his forthcoming self-titled debut album, Ben sings about moving through isolation into connection with the people and places that fill our lives. With the road-worn vulnerability of ‘Hold On To You’ and the tension between longing and patience in ‘We’ll See’, the album is an invitation to listen to the feelings and forces that we habitually tune out. As Ben sings on ‘Crow Rooster Crow’, a timeless duet with Aiden Ayers’ fiddle doubling Ben’s finger picked guitar line: “Howlin’ moon dog howl, you can howl all night, the way that you’re howlin’ makes me feel alright.”

While it travels well-worn paths of folk and country music, at its heart the album is a reaction to the heavy pace of modern times. In addition to Aiden Ayers (fiddle, guitar, piano, bass), the album features stalwarts of Vancouver’s roots music scene: Scott Smith (pedal steel, electric guitar); Darryl Havers (organ, piano); Todd Biffard (drums); and Ben’s band mate in the Real Ponchos, Michael Wagler (bass). The playing leans into simplicity and character and the result is natural, down-to-earth music. The instrumental track, ‘Nowhere Else To Go’, is a sublime example of this style.

The album was produced in close collaboration with Aiden Ayers, who, besides playing on all the songs, handled engineering and mixing duties. They recorded everything in a tiny basement studio on the east side of Vancouver to an old tape machine. Ben and Aiden welcomed these boundaries and worked within them to create heartfelt and timeless interpretations of Ben’s songs. Their preference for full takes, the humble studio, and Ben and Aiden’s friendship creates a warmth felt throughout the album.

‘Turning Back’ is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide. For more information, please visit benarsenault.com.

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