Living Hour shares new single/video “Water” via The Grey Estates, plus extended spring tour dates
“Some of the most heartsick synth-pop since Cocteau Twins.” – Noisey
“Grandiose, all-encompassing shoegaze that stretches to the ends of the earth” – Stereogum
“Hazy, widescreen pop with emotive smoky vocals” – Brooklyn Vegan
“Slowdive just returned, but shoegaze music was already in good hands with Living Hour.” – NPR
Today, Winnipeg’s Living Hour shares “Water,” the second single from their upcoming album, Softer Faces. Head over to Grey Estates for the premiere. The band teamed up with filmmaker Ryan Steel for a short film to accompany the song.
Steel says: “‘Water’ is a video about winter in Winnipeg. The video was shot covertly on the streets and in the homes of friends and grandmothers. Liminal spaces such as buses, shopping malls, and arcades all percolate together. Periods of rest and the textures of winter were captured on the outdated medium of 16mm film.”
Bio
Everything about Winnipeg’s Living Hour has been expanding since their humble basement beginnings in 2015. What started with dreamy love songs inspired by the cinematic sky of their hometown has transformed into even more sprawling and expansive expressions on their latest effort, Softer Faces due March 1, 2019.
What started as a quartet is now a quintet, though still led by the smoky, ethereal lead vocals of Sam Sarty (vocals, trombone, keyboard), who started singing in choirs at a young age. With her strong vocal backbone, musicians Gil Carroll (guitar), Adam Soloway (guitar, vocals), Alex Chochinov (drums, trumpet, organelle), and Brett Ticzon (bass, vocals) are able to shine. Three voices, guitar, trombone, brushed percussion, and boundless effects sees Living Hour pulling from many genres to create their own sonically diverse and unique vibe.
Due out March 1 via Kanine Records, Softer Faces follows up to their highly-praised 2016 S/T debut, featuring haunting, ethereal vocals accompanied by lush, expansive instrumentation.
Softer Faces was produced by Kurt Feldman (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Chairlift, DIIV, Dum Dum Girls) in Living Hour’s hometown and mixed by Jarvis Taveniere (Real Estate, Woods, Blouse, Widowspeak) at Thump Studios in Brooklyn.
Known for their mesmerizing and deeply-moving live show, Living Hour has toured Europe, the UK and North America. Their performance captures the dreamy, emotional power of the band’s recordings, creating a mesmerizing, unforgettable, cathartic, and deeply moving live music experience. Sarty finds that, “Sometimes people are a little turned off and not living in the now or being present. I find that when you perform, it’s one of the most present moments that you can be in. You’re living in the hour.”
Photo by Chelsea Neufeld
TOUR DATES:
01/24 – Saskatoon – Black Cat
01/25 – Calgary – King Eddy
01/26 – Rossland – Eagles
01/29 – Edmonton – Aviary
01/30 – Regina – T & A Vinyl and Fashion
02/16 – Winnipeg – Festival Du Voyageur
03/01 – Minneapolis – The Fallout
03/02 – Chicago – The Hideout
03/03 – Bloomington – The Bishop
03/04 – Cincinnati – MOTR
03/05 – Washington DC – Songbyrd
03/06 – Brooklyn – Rough Trade
03/07 – Manhattan – Pianos – New Colossus Festival
03/08 – Salem – Billy’s Barn
03/09 – Savannah – Savannah Stopover
03/11-15 – Austin – SXSW
03/16 – Salado – Barrow Brewing Co
03/18 – Phoenix – Lunchbox
03/22 – Los Angeles – The Factory
03/23 – Las Vegas – Starboard Tack
03/28 – Winnipeg – The West End Cultural Centre
