Wintersleep keyboardist, Jon Samuel, has announced his forthcoming solo record, ‘Dead Melodies’ – slated for release on February 1, 2019 via Hidden Pony Records/Believe Digital.
The album’s title track premiered through Substream Magazine, and is now available to stream on digital platforms across the globe. Samuel charges through Dead Melodies’ title track with carefree vigour, riding the song’s adrenalized motorik rhythm toward a joyous, anthemic chorus that wields its title as a badge of stubborn defiance rather than defeat.
“When I wrote the song, it was a couple of years after I had finished making a record that nobody listened to,” Jon explains. “I just wanted to write a song about how art and music are undervalued – it’s literally worth nothing in a lot of cases. You make a record, spend a lot of time and money on it…and then it’s basically just free. And disposable, too, because there’s just so much of it. So that was the basic idea of ‘Dead Melodies’ – I’m going to put this out there, and maybe nobody hears it, and it might be worth nothing!”
Dead Melodies is a much more collaborative effort than his 2012 debut, ‘First Transmissions’, with Samuel and his producer – Wintersleep drummer Loel Campbell – corralling a guest list that includes fellow Wintersleeper Tim D’Eon and Halifax roots-rock hero Matt Mays on guitars, Chris Seligman of Stars on French horn, and Keith Doiron of Walrus on bass.
Whether through its adventurous musical eclecticism, emboldened songwriting process, or its willingness to wade into difficult subject matter, this album is Jon’s pledge to do better—both as an artist and as a human being. And by inspiring you to do the same, Dead Melodies takes on a life of its own.
