Shout Out Louds release video for "Illusions" & US tour dates

Merge Records press release:


Shout Out Louds premiered the new video for "Illusions" via RollingStone.com. The band will kick off their US tour in support of their new album Optica on May 7 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.

Directed by Hugo Stenson, the video follows a woman on a speed dating adventure ending in a dance party. Frontman Adam Olenius told RollingStone.com, "In Sweden, to get 25 people to dance and act or even show up for a video shoot or anything in that area you have to buy them copious amounts of booze and lure them with money. In L.A., the city of dreams, they show up for nothing and shimmer!"

Watch & share "Illusions" now


Shout Out Louds took their time with these songs, recording for about one-and-a-half years in a small Stockholm studio and producing themselves for the first time with help from Johannes Berglund. A theme emerged and Optica was born, an album celebrating color and light from a band confident in its sound, filled with real strings, trombones, trumpets and flutes.

NPR’s Stephen Thompson writes, “Listening to ["Illusions] in 2013, it’s as if a young band is tapping into our shared nostalgia by rehashing a hit that’s somehow been lodged in our memory banks all along. ‘Illusions’ may be brand-new, but it already feels eternal.”

Shout Out Louds on tour:
May 7 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
May 8 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
May 10 New York, NY Webster Hall
May 11 Boston, MA Paradise
May 13 Montreal, QC La Sala Rosa
May 14 Toronto, ONT The Opera House
May 15 Detroit, MI The Magic Bag
May 16 Chicago, IL Metro
May 17 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
May 20 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
May 21 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
May 22 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
May 23 Los Angeles, CA El Rey
May 24 Los Angeles, CA El Rey
May 25 George, WA Sasquatch Festival

She & Him share "I Could've Been Your Girl" from Volume 3

Merge Records press release:


She & Him have shared a new song from their forthcoming album Volume 3. Written by Zooey with string arrangements by M. Ward, “I Could’ve Been Your Girl” is 60’s pop perfection, and one of the album’s most impressive tracks.

In their premiere, the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog wrote, "Deschanel lets her voice ring over a rich blend of strings and guitars before Ward takes over with a trebly guitar break during the bridge."

Listen & share "I Could've Been Your Girl" now via SoundCloud

Volume 3 is another exciting chapter in singer-songwriter Zooey Deschanel and guitarist/producer M. Ward’s unique collaboration. Of course, She & Him is not just about the time that Deschanel and Ward manage to spend in a studio together; theirs is a remarkable, year-round dialogue that began serendipitously on a film project in 2007 and has flourished ever since. Deschanel and Ward are like 21st century pen pals, emailing music files back and forth from whatever recording studio, sound stage or dressing room they happen to be in. We get to periodically share in this exuberant exchange as they display their passion for, and knowledge of, a wide range of music – from classic country to vintage pop, no frills rock and roll to grandly overdubbed Wall Of Sound drama.

Volume 3 is available for pre-order on CD, LP and now cassette in the Merge store. The first 500 LP preorders will receive Volume 3 on limited edition robin’s egg blue colored vinyl! Photos & bio can be found here, and full album streams are available for review. For more information, contact christina@mergerecords.com or jen@pressherepublicity.com.

She & Him on tour:
June 13 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium +
June 15 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theater at Grand Prairie +
June 16 Austin, TX ACL Live at the Moody Theatre +
June 18 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theater +
June 19 Las Vegas, NV The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas &
June 21 San Diego, CA SDSU Open Air Theatre &
June 22 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre * &
June 23 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl *
June 25 Salt Lake City, UT Red Butte Gardens &
June 27 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Stir Cove &
June 28 Kansas City, MO Kanrocksas Music Festival
June 29 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom #
July 1 Ann Arbor, MI Hill Auditorium #
July 3 Montreal, QUE Montreal Jazz Festival #
July 4 Toronto, ON Toronto Urban Roots Festival #
July 5 Ottawa, ON Ottawa Blues Fest
July 6 New York, NY SummerStage, Central Park #
July 9 Philadelphia, PA Mann Center for Performing Arts #
July 10 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion #
July 11 Vienna, VA Filene Center at Wolf Trap #
+ with Secret Sisters
* with Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
# with Camera Obscura
& with Tilly and the Wall

Eleanor Friedberger Touring Now, watch the video for "Stare at the Sun" from her new album, Personal Record

Merge Records press release:

Eleanor Friedberger premiered her new video for "Stare at the Sun" from Personal Record today at Pitchfork. Directed by Scott Jacobson, the video features sign language, cuddly sheepdogs, and lots of air guitar!

Watch the video for "Stare at the Sun" now at YouTube

Personal Record is Eleanor Friedberger at her finest – recorded in late 2012 in New York and Los Angeles, and written with musician/novelist Wesley Stace, Personal Record is full of love songs – hellos and goodbyes, infatuation, pre-occupation, loss – but not simply about romantic love. Eleanor explains, “They’re also love songs to music: how you feel on stage when you do something spontaneous and it works, how you feel when you hear someone sing a song for the first time, what it’s like to watch a friend perform, how you can feel close to someone you barely know because you both happen to love the same record, or playing the same song forty times in a row, not being able to rest until you own every song recorded by your favorite singer, or every version of your favorite song.”

Watch Eleanor’s album trailer set in beautiful Jamaica, too!


Eleanor Friedberger on tour:
April 10 New York, NY Town Hall w/ Rodriguez
April 12 Northampton, MA Parlor Room w/ John Wesley Harding
Jun 04 Buffalo, NY @ Babeville *
Jun 05 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern *
Jun 06 Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room *
Jun 07 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle *
Jun 08 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock *
Jun 11 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club *
Jun 12 Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
Jun 13 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir *
Jun 15 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent % *
Jun 18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo % *
Jun 19 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
Jun 21 Austin, TX @ The Parish *
Jun 22 Dallas, TX @ The Loft *
Jun 24 St. Louis, MO @ The Demo *
Jun 25 Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio *
Jun 26 Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox *
Jun 27 Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall *
Jun 28 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg + *
*w/ TEEN
% w/ Icewater performing 1st of 3
+ w/ Cassandra Jenkins performing 1st of 3

New ACCENTS Video

Deep Elm Press Release:

Indie-folk outfit ACCENTS have released a stunning HD music video for "Alright With Me" off their Deep Elm Records debut Growth And Squalor.

See the video here.

Filmed on location in Albany, New York on February 16-17, 2013, the cast and crew of 30+ people included Justin Stewart (Writer, Producer, Director), Gary Flugge (Director of Photography) and George Lookshire (Editor, Digital Image Transfer). Accents was formed by duo TJ Foster and Benjamin Hemingway, but has since expanded to a quintet including Lauren Alexander on Vocals / Keyboards, Jordan Stewart on Guitar and Matt Bent on Bass / Vocals.
"I wanted to embrace the theme of the song by showing a relationship that is struggling from financial concerns and how it can corrupt love. It blossomed into a theme that represents society's dependency on technology and the mindlessness that often ensues. With an experienced crew, an idea that encompasses prevalent issues, and a song that has all the right elements, I knew we were creating something special. I can't imagine how many times I spent listening to this song pausing and rewinding trying to figure out the sequencing and timing of each scene. Not once did I get tired of hearing it" says director Justin Stewart.

"The video itself is a narrative about society and its relationship with technology, the overall message being that nowadays we're so 'plugged in' all the time, we forget to experience the beautiful world around us. It focuses around an average young couple just trying to get by while coping with the added stresses that go along with getting older. It's a constant balancing act between one's obligations and the things that provide him / her happiness. It's a strikingly honest, albeit unique, coming-of-age tale" says band member TJ Foster.

Matt Bent adds "I think the video does a great job showing the hardships that we all seem to face every day. It can make us hard and emotionless. We stop caring about what makes us happy and focus more on just getting through our 12-hour shift. Relationships suffer. Dreams become all too impossible to achieve and actually are mocked or devalued by the reality, and pressure of our jobs. But there is a always a bright light. When all seems lost, the girl in the video is the anchor that everyone needs. She is the personification of love, inspiration and hope. She is a constant reminder that there is no substitute for the human heart. We may all be drones, attached to our computers, and as anti-social as ever, but she is the symbol that no matter how much technology exists, our humanity is all that matters."

Video Link / Credits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYn_HDwfetE
Album Link: http://deepelmdigital.com/album/growth-and-squalor

"A gorgeous, atmospheric slice of indie-folk music. One of the best albums of the year [9.5/10]." - Absolute Punk
"Top 5 Albums of 2012. A folk-rock session that is both refreshingly upbeat and reinvigorating." - Muzik Dizkovery
"It's brilliant...an overall indie-folk musical masterpiece..." - Heavy Petal