GoGo Penguin return with the announcement of their forthcoming album, Everything Is Going to Be OK &#8211; set for release on April 14.
With the optimism of new beginnings &#8211; a new drummer, a new record label, and a subtly updated and developed sound, the trio from Manchester is entering their more sonically liberated journey. The first glimpse of the upcoming era is the new single, Glimmerings.
&#8220;Glimmerings was one of the first tunes that we began to work on when preparing ideas for a new album. The word glimmerings stood out when I was reading a book by Anil Seth called &#8216;Being You.&#8217; The book is about the science of consciousness and in the Prologue, he talks about how &#8216;glimmerings of ideas began to emerge.&#8217; It felt like the perfect way to describe the process of thought and creativity. Glimmerings started from a small kernel on the synth and over time we added more and more layers until it became something a lot more complex. The idea behind the title is the very beginning, where there is only an idea and an intent to start with, but you have an aim and an idea for where it&#8217;s going to take you and you have to trust in the process and yourself to see where that process will lead you,&#8221; explains Nick Blacka.
Everything Is Going to Be OK was created during a time of turbulence and loss. Recorded in a personally difficult period for the band, which included loss and mourning, the album studio time offered the band a sanctuary from real life. The resulting project draws its strength from a shared understanding and empathy, with a vibrant and hopeful sonic.
Stream Glimmerings  <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://gogopenguin.lnk.to/EIGTBOKLW">here</a>.

GoGo Penguin kick off their new album era

French-Canadian pianist and composer Alexandra Stréliski announced her new record Néo-Romance, which will be released on the 31st of March 2023, and new single Élégie, released today, which is accompanied by a music video directed by Laurence Baz Morais. 
Intrigued by the Romanticism, the romantics, and their &#8220;super dark&#8221; relationship to nature, Stréliski – long considering herself a neo-romantical composer rather than a neo-classical one &#8211; wondered what &#8220;the ancient past, and all these big romantic themes&#8221; meant in this modern world we&#8217;ve created. &#8220;How do you stay in that imaginary world in these disillusioned, intimidating times we&#8217;re living through? That was the premise and setting for the album.&#8221;
Élégie comes as the second single to introduce the album and is the most emotional piece of Néo-Romance. &#8220;It&#8217;s a sad song filled with pure love. An ode to facing your vulnerability when things are shaking in your life. A homage to the vastness of the world.&#8221; 
Pre-order Néo-Romance &amp; stream Élégie <a class="editor-rtfLink" style="color: #000000;" href="https://alexandrastreliski.lnk.to/neo-romanceLW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Alexandra Stréliski announces new album Néo-Romance

Italian pianist &amp; composer shares her new project, Sonus Noctis, in which she explores &#8220;the sound of the night.&#8221;
&#8220;A natural sound that changes in the transition phase between evening and night: before sunset, there is almost a moment of frenzy, a meeting of nature that for me sounds like a greeting to the sun &#8230; you hear a very strong thrill, a last burst of life before sinking into sleep. After that, we can contemplate a few minutes of almost total silence in an ecstatic phase that follows the trend of light with shades of orange. And finally, almost as if it came from underground, the nocturnal sounds appear,&#8221; Belli describes.
As for her last EP, Somnio Novo, where she explores the light of the night, a direct inspiration is the music of Chopin: &#8220;For me, studying what he has done, imagined and created is a path of enrichment and deepening; this process encourages me to try to express with my style all that he had already seen in the night, feelings that are unchanged but which now present themselves with a new appearance.&#8221;
Two music videos accompany the EP &#8211; <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://youtu.be/CEnJ4PpH9Cw">Berceuse</a>, shot during sunset, and <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://youtu.be/IhUCIcrdQNs">Nocturne IV</a> in the dark. 
Stream Sonus Noctis <a class="editor-rtfLink" style="color: #000000;" href="https://OliviaBelli.lnk.to/SonusNoctisLW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Olivia Belli releases new EP Sonus Noctis

The project will be released later this winter and will include some familiar ABBOTT tracks in a new arrangement and unreleased songs written for and performed by the Canea Quartett.
The first single, Interlude, is is an intimate piece originally written for a short movie about heartbreak. The track is accompanied by a performance video recorded on an MS Bleichen ship in the middle of the Elbe river, Hamburg.
Stream &amp; watch <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://Abbott.lnk.to/elvLW">now</a>.

ABBOTT and Canea Quartett announce EP Elv

After the release of her debut album Loom, the Franco-American artist takes on another project and today shares the new EP Multiply. Not shying from playing with genres, this time is no exception, as different influences are on the record &#8211; from new wave to rock.
The project comes with two &#8216;relaxed&#8217; music videos for <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfxY7nqNaoo">Something about us</a> and <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDeR6kDCa2w">Two equals three</a>. Both show Lamore in an honest and raw way, revealing her playfulness and personality.
Read Uèle Lamore&#8217;s notes on Multiply below, and stream it <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://uelelamore.lnk.to/multiplyLW">here</a>.
—
&#8220;Multiply was a record I started envisioning as soon as I started touring with my band following the release of Loom. I reconnected with many things: playing live music with people, interacting with an audience and speaking to so many people after shows, meeting and listening to amazing artists and bands we shared the stage with.
It is important to remember that I had finished Loom more than a year before its release, so I wanted to get a chance to express where I really was now artistically and musically.
I think that following this album I felt that I had gained more confidence to write music that reflected more reality and my perception of things, not needing to hide deep in imaginary worlds, as well as expressing feelings that I&#8217;m intimately connected &#8211; mainly being a constant oscillation between being extremely joyful and energetic about the smallest thing versus extremely anxious and melancholic for completely irrational things. I did not shy away from bringing back things I love: more alternative elements to the music, having live drums brought so much, and going further but in a more precise and personal way about mixing influences and genres I love.&#8221;

Uèle Lamore’s EP Multiply out now

Franco-Canadian pianist &amp; composer Alexandra Stréliski released her debut single on XXIM Records.
It is her first new music after four years, and the track is accompanied by a cinematic video created in collaboration with Montreal-based director Laurence Baz Morais.
&#8220;The hills is a piece about the ups and downs of our human condition. It&#8217;s about our drive to evolve, to come out of our shells and to feel at peace with the world, in all its contradictions. I wrote it with a very strong impulse following the death of someone I loved. As though I was trying to reconcile the magnitude of the grief with the beauty of the life that had been there,&#8221; explains Stréliski.
Stream &amp; watch <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://alexandrastreliski.lnk.to/thehillsLW">here</a>.

Alexandra Stréliski’s new single The hills out now

<h6 style="text-align: justify;">Montreal based pianist and composer Alexandra Stréliski announces the signing to XXIM Records</h6>
From an early age, Alexandra Stréliski was moved by romantic composers such as Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Schumann as much as by film composers like Hans Zimmer, Philip Glass and John Williams. A trailblazing woman in the modern classical scene, her minimalist, emotionally striking music has enthralled listeners the world over.
Her debut album, 2010s Pianoscope, went on to reach Gold status in Canada and was featured in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Demolition (2016), and during the Oscars (2014). The follow-up, 2018’s INSCAPE, was another stunning success, reaching Platinum status in Canada and winning multiple awards, including Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2020 JUNO Awards, alongside global streaming success. Now a household name in Canada’s vibrant music scene, and with over 300 million audio streams and 140k album sales to her name, signing to XXIM represents the next stage of Stréliski&#8217;s artistic development.
That begins with new song &#8220;The hills,&#8221; set for release on the 18th of November and her first new music in four years. The track will also be accompanied by a video, created in collaboration with Montreal based director Laurence Baz Morais offering both a view back and a glimpse into Stréliski&#8217;s visual world for the future. This will be followed by a much-anticipated new album – her third – in spring 2023, alongside extensive touring in Canada, the US, and Europe throughout next year, news of which will be shared in due course. All upcoming music will be released worldwide, excluding Canada, by XXIM Records/Sony Masterworks, in partnership with Montreal-based Secret City Records – her label home since the release of 2018’s hit album INSCAPE – which will continue to release Stréliski in her home market.

Of singing with XXIM Records, Alexandra Stréliski says: &#8220;This is a very exciting new chapter of my musical career and I feel grateful to be adding such passionate and dedicated people to my team. It&#8217;s great as an artist to work with such an international bunch of people that love music and are interested in propelling it further. I’m also happy to have a European label too, as I now live part time in Rotterdam and my new music is heavily influenced by my European roots and ancestors.&#8221;
Per Hauber, President Sony Classical and Co-Head of Sony Music Masterworks, comments: &#8220;I&#8217;m really looking forward to working with Alexandra Stréliski on XXIM Records. The new album will surely be another important milestone in Alexandra’s career. The entire Sony Music Masterworks team is honoured and excited about the opportunity to bring her music to a wide audience across all boarders.&#8221;
Alexander Buhr, SVP International A&amp;R at Sony Masterworks adds: &#8220;Alex is a unique voice in modern classical music. With her emotional depth, artistic integrity and her ability to connect with people, she has already formed a bond with many music fans in Canada and beyond. We are very excited to work with her on new music and on bringing it to ever more people around the world.&#8221;

Alexandra Stréliski joins XXIM Records

XXIM:EXPO is our exploratory series for outstanding young talents from across the whole spectrum of progressive instrumental music. Each instalment is given to one artist to curate his or her own ideal EP, sharing their own unique musical vision. With XXIM:EXPO we want to give young artists a platform, while mapping out all areas and developments of our wide area of music. 

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