- Adrianne Lenker
- Aldous Harding
- Anjimile
- Atlas Sound
- Bartees Strange
- Becky and the Birds
- Big Thief
- Buck Meek
- cumgirl8
- Daughter
- Deerhunter
- Dry Cleaning
- Erika de Casier
- Ex:Re
- Future Islands
- Helado Negro
- Holly Herndon
- Jenny Hval
- Kim Deal
- Lucinda Chua
- Maria Somerville
- Scott Walker
- The Breeders
- The National
- Tkay Maidza
- Tucker Zimmerman
- Tune-Yards
- U.S. Girls
- All Artists
U.S. Girls is Illinois-born, Toronto-based artist Meghan Remy, who releases her new album Half Free on September 25th.
Half Free is Remy’s first album for 4AD and is her most realised yet, focusing on characters in everyday struggles, with narratives inspired by the work of director John Cassavetes and Bruce Springsteen. Throughout, Remy explores themes relating to abuse and gender inequality, whether the broken wife in ‘Sororal Feelings’ (a track loosely based on the character Nora Bass in Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter), or the exasperated war widow in ‘Damn That Valley’, soundtracked by its intoxicating combination of thick dub flavours and Wall of Sound dramatics.
Other tracks include the glam stomp of ‘Sed Knife’, a minimal song poem (which first appeared on a 7” back in 2012) recast here as a Misfits flavoured rocker; and the lush Cocteau Twins-laced 80s soul of ‘Navy & Cream’. Elsewhere, Half Free finds Remy ripping into Gloria Ann Taylor’s 70s deep-cut disco to create the wondrously dramatic heartbreak of ‘Window Shades’ (written after Meg watched the Katy Perry movie, Part of Me), before closing on ‘Woman’s Work’; a nagging, arpeggio-laced ode to Moroder that picks at themes of beauty, anxiety and paralysis in the face of ageing.
Part of a vibrant Toronto scene, both Meg’s husband Slim Twig (DFA) and Onakabazien (who produced three tracks here) have again been summoned for the U.S. Girls roll call. Half Free also features Amanda Crist (Ice Cream), who provides vocals alongside Meg on a number of songs including ‘Damn That Valley’ and ‘Woman’s Work’, and Ben Cook (Fucked Up, Young Guv), who worked with Meg on the track ‘Red Comes In Many Shades’.
Half Free is an enchanting document of life at the point when it feels most on its knife-edge.
U.S. Girls
Half Free - CAD 3520
A1. Sororal Feelings
A2. Damn That Valley
A3. Telephone Play No. 1
A4. Window Shades
A5. New Age Thriller
B1. Sed Knife
B2. Red Comes In Many Shades
B3. Navy & Cream
B4. Woman's Work
Pre-order the CD/LP from the 4AD Store* (North America) here, and Rough Trade* (Rest of the World) here. *Limited edition 12"x12" collage prints, designed by Meg Remy, with initial orders.
Pre-order from iTunes (with instant downloads of 'Damn That Valley' and 'Woman's Work') here.
August
5th - Half Moon, Hudson NY, US
6th - Pier 84, New York NY, US
22nd - Arboretum Festival, Ottawa ON, Canada
September
18th - Tulane University, New Orleans LA, US
24th - Warsaw, Brooklyn NY, US*
25th - Warsaw, Brooklyn NY, US*
October
1st - Belly Up Tavern, San Diego CA, US#
2nd - The Observatory, Santa Ana CA, US#
3rd - Mezzanine, San Francisco CA, US#
5th - Roseland Theater, Portland OR, US#
6th - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver BC, Canada#
9th - Copenhagen Central Library, Copenhagen, Denmark [Tickets]
10th - Babel, Malmo, Sweden [Tickets]
11th - Crossroad, Oslo, Norway [Tickets]
12th - Pusterviksbaren, Gothenberg, Sweden [Tickets]
14th - Palace St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland [Tickets]
15th - Saali, Basel, Switzerland [Tickets]
16th - Covo Club, Bologna, Italy [Tickets]
17th - Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands [Tickets]
18th - Botanique - Rotonde, Brussels, Belgium [Tickets]
25th - Whelan's, Dublin, Ireland [Tickets]
26th - Headrow House, Leeds, UK [Tickets]
27th - Broadcast, Glasgow, UK [Tickets]
28th - Corsica Studios, London, UK [Tickets]
29th - Monarch, Berlin, Germany [Tickets]
30th - King Georg, Cologne, Germany [Tickets]
November
12th - La Vitrola, Montreal QC, Canada
13th - Alphaville, Brooklyn NY, US+
14th - Mercury Lounge, New York NY, US+
15th - O'Briens Pub, Boston MA, US+
16th - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia PA, US+
17th - Comet Ping Pong, Washington DC, US+
18th - Neptune's Parlour, Raleigh NC, US+
19th - 529, Atlanta GA, US
20th - The End, Nashville TN, US
21st - Empty Bottle, Chicago Il, US
* w/ The Kills
# w/ Peaches
+ w/ Escape-Ism (Ian Svenonius)