Half Moon Run’s Salt and the Beauty of Everyday Miseries (BMG)

Half Moon Run by Jennifer McCord

Tackling heartbreak, longing, and climate change, Half Moon Run crafts a universe bursting with melancholy and familiar, commonplace despair, navigating through it with an unexpectedly fitting groove. The Canadian indie rock band’s fourth studio album Salt, released on June 2, is gentle and introspective in its lyricism without lacking alluring instrumentation.

Although the pieces on the album have been in the works for many years, they don’t sound out-of-place or irrelevant to a world that changed in such a significant manner. Time treated Salt kindly, and instead of being overcooked, the album seems only uplifted by the efforts taken to craft it. Every element of the album is carefully chosen and revised to be its best version of itself.

The opening track of the LP, “You Can Let Go”, is a definite highlight of the album, combining layered instrumentals with candid lyrics to capture the everyday anxieties that come with personhood, quietly reminding the listeners that “the only way out is through”. The track is a perfect mix of slightly abstract imagery and painfully real and relatable lines, with the rhythmically-enunciated “Self-medicate, self deprecate / Self-help books on the shelf, help meditate” at the beginning of the song mimicking the fast-paced rhythm of contemporary life. “You Can Let Go” instantly captivates the listener with its hypnotizing drum line and bewitching vocals, making it an obvious choice to put on repeat on just about any occasion. This alluring introduction to the world of Salt is immediately followed by “Alco”, a groovy and fun yet musing piece – a perfect track to blast while driving with your windows down on a warm summer evening.

The signature use of string sections throughout the album adds a feeling of nostalgia and an ethereal sense to a work that’s otherwise so grounded in reality by its piercingly honest contemplations. A great example of that is “Everyone’s Moving Out East”, an incredible combination of layered vocals, subtle drums, magnetic strings and illusive lyrics, all of which come together in a wonderful ballad about growing up and dealing with loss.

Salt doesn’t shy away from talking about destruction, both that which is present around us and that of the self. “Gigafire”, an initially soft track with transcendent instrumentals and vocals, quickly reveals itself to be about climate anxiety, with the singer reminiscing of the times “…before the change in the weather”. Similarly, “Goodbye Cali” doesn’t shy away from candid recollections of the singer’s experiences with travelling across America, bringing up the panic attacks and burnout that came with life on the road.

Salt tastes and feels bittersweet, brilliantly capturing the experience of dealing with adulthood, love and loss. Despite its grounded, contemporary subject matter, the LP still manages to have an enchanting, whimsical vibe to it, taking all the good elements from folk and indie rock and turning them into an intimate, rewarding listening experience and an essential summer listen.

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Salt

Out June 2, 2023 via BMG

1. You Can Let Go

2. Alco

3. Hotel in Memphis

4. Everyone Is Moving Out East

5. 9beat

6. Dodge the Rubble

7. Heartbeat

8. Gigafire

9. Goodbye Cali

10. Salt

11. Crawl Back In

All songs written by Half Moon Run

Produced and engineered by Connor Seidel

Mixed by Chris Shaw and Connor Seidel

Mastered by Ryan Morey

Recorded at Treehouse Studio and Hammerjam

Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 feature the Esca String Quartet

Tracks 4 and 11 feature Camille Roy-Paquette on cello

String arrangements by Antoine Gratton and Dylan Phillips

Album photography by Jennifer McCord

Layout by Alex Tomlinson

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Half Moon Run

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Magdalena Styś is a jack of all trades and a master of putting them all into their schedule. You can check out their work here or follow them on Instagram.

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Mitch Davis Ditches Hibernation on Sunny Debut LP "The Haunt" (Arbutus Records)

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Mitch Davis by Richmond Lam

A trip around the sun has passed since we last touched base with Montreal multi-instrumentalist and do-it-yourself aficionado Mitch Davis.  In the meantime, Davis has tied a bow on his debut LP The Haunt and returned to the stage, in both in Montreal and at Austin, Texas’ SXSW music festival. Out April 29th, 2022 via Arbutus Records, The Haunt manifests a spectrum of mediations in both sound and spirit.

Realizing some compositions that predate Davis’ relocation to Montreal, The Haunt celebrates Davis stepping into his own with an entirely solo production: writing all the songs and playing all the instruments on the album, as well as recording much of the work on self-built equipment in his home studio. The result is a soulful and playful blend of jazz, funk and beaming pop; adorned with rhodes, clavinet, synth and drum machines. An album-long ode to themes of isolation and loneliness, as well as looking for love in the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Haunt achieves both breeziness and brevity for a class-act spring listening experience.

Speaking with Davis leading up to his album release, I asked him how the final product came to be, knowing that The Haunt has been years in the making. We started first by chatting about how Davis knows when a song is complete.

“It’s a feeling that comes over me once I’ve obsessed over a song. Eventually, I won’t have anything else to add or take away. When I don’t know what to do next [in production], I try to keep at it. I have a lot of friends who will move on to another song in the meantime, but more often I’m obsessively working on one song for like, a month straight, and never putting it down; never stopping, listening to it day and night. Once it starts to lose its novelty and sound like mush, I’ll take a break for usually one day or so.”

“Do you have any rituals that you do to get back on track when this happens?” I wonder.

“Hmm, I don’t know about rituals,” smiles Davis. “But, once I get sick of a song and I’ve heard it too many times, to the point where it sounds like nothing, I’ll adjust the pitch, up or down. It triggers something in part of my brain —hearing my song in a different key— and that helps me to look at it fresh again.”

With self-reliance being at the core of The Haunt, I wanted to know where Davis finds inspiration when working alone. Unsurprisingly, he is moved by other jacks of all trades.

“I’m inspired by people who, like me, play all the instruments, record themselves, things like that,” he brims. “Though I try to not have influences be a conscious thing and act on creativity in the moment, there are important, multifaceted soloists throughout music history that influence me, like Stevie Wonder, Todd Rudgren and Sly Stone.”

On the note of his debut being entirely self-directed, Davis then told me about the narrative structure of The Haunt.

“It’s funny, years ago I was trying to get myself to create an album and nothing was working. I imagined having a set of literal hats, or characters in my mind, to embody and portray the thoughts and ideas I was trying to put into music. Nowadays, I don’t have to do that as much and I’m able to just be me. That said, I do feel inspired by holding and interacting with different instruments. Even if there are just drums down on a track, or some scratch guitar. Or, I’ll play bass for 12 hours until I get it just perfect… and then I’m done being the ‘bass player’ forever, and can move on to being someone else.”

“Do you have a particular relationship with any of your instruments?”

“I have the closest relationship with the piano, one of my first instruments. I never used to be much of a bass player, but now I feel really connected to it. I do feel the most inspired by piano because it’s where I can most easily express chords and experiment.”

With the unveiling of The Haunt, Davis looks forward to sharing his music in a live context. To conclude our conversation, he told me about rediscovering the energy of playing with a band and the direction he plans on taking with the project.

“Playing with a band opens up the door to a lot of improvisation and extending my songs in a natural way, which is something I can’t do alone. There are really nice surprises that come with a live setting because everyone brings their own tastes to it. I’m looking forward to bringing these experiences into my writing process. I only just started caring about recording… Normally, when I’m writing , half of the inspiration will come from going to shows and connecting with people, like the other bands I play with, like Marci and Sorry Girls. [The Haunt] is a weird record because it was spent in isolation, but I’m grateful that it kept me busy and got me through the tough, curfew-ridden Montreal winter.”  

The Haunt is out on April 29th via Arbutus Records and can be pre-ordered on their website.

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Poster by Amery Sandford

Montreal: Don’t miss Mitch Davis’ album-release show at Brasserie Beaubien on April 29th at 9PM with local supporters Night Lunch and Alicia Clara. Pre-sale tickets are available here.

Mitch Davis

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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Wet Leg's Self-Titled Debut is Satisfyingly Silly (Domino)

Wet Leg. Photo courtesy of Hollie Fernando

As with a vast majority of things in my life, I discovered Wet Leg, a UK post-punk duo, while scrolling through TikTok. It has indisputably been a long winter and a long couple of years, and I was searching for something that could provide a little excitement in my life – a pick me up, if you will.

After just one listen, I was immediately enamoured by the effortlessly-cool sardonicism of their debut single “Chaise Longue”. The track offers their witty perspective on graduating with a degree: “I went to school / and I got the big D”. Having graduated a couple of years ago, I realised I too had gone to school and got the big D. Ha. With the song on repeat, I got out of bed and danced all day long.

Amongst the idleness of the pandemic, the duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have seen an exponential rise to popularity. Having joined the roster at Domino Records in November 2020, the group released “Chaise Longue” in June 2021, and have soared to new heights amongst the Britpop scene ever since. Released on April 8, Wet Leg’s debut self-titled album is available to stream or purchase on CD, LP, or baby-pink cassette.

The 12-song record comes in with punchy post-punk sounds, and sonically fluctuating and repetitive vocals. It all starts with “Being in Love'', a song that compares the whirlwind feeling of loving someone to being punched in the gut, the inability to sleep at night, and self-medicating with another drink. Setting the tone for the album, this song immediately catches your attention. 

The first few songs are upbeat, hard-hitting and extremely catchy. They cause you to sing along on your first listen, with the lyrics remaining rampant in your head for the rest of the day. There is a range from heavier post-punk songs to more mellow indie Britpop songs sprinkled throughout the album. I was reminded of the mid to late 2010s indie era (think Alvvays) with some of the instrumentation and melodies in songs such as “I Don’t Wanna Go Out” and “Loving You”. 

The entire album keeps you engaged with catchy and repetitive choruses, alternating tempos, charmingly-cartoonish vocals and playful lyrics. The lyrics are riddled with raw British cynicism, sexual innuendos, pop culture references, and dry wit. Emanating across this record is the duo’s appetite for French disco and sheer curiosity throughout its production. There is an effortless energy about the songwriting, with a stylistically-silly element throughout the album. And yes, there is even a little bit of screaming. Excuse me, what? 

I must admit that I am a big fan of a guttural feminine scream. It fills a gap in the post-punk and especially the Britpop scenes, while giving permission to female lyricists and their listeners to engage in a feeling that is often only excusable for cis men. Imagine my delight upon the revelation of the duo’s longest and loudest scream on “Ur Mum”, a release both chilling and relieving to hear. Perhaps such a release is one we all secretly need — we can all have a guttural scream, as a treat.

Wet Leg. Photo courtesy of Hollie Fernando

Across this album, I am reminded that there is something so raw about the way that female songwriters narrate their experiences. There’s a poignant honesty to it, with the beautifully-heartbreaking way of storytelling that lyricists like Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski and Snail Mail weave into their music. It makes your heart ache and swell when you listen to their songs, making you feel heard for the seemingly-specific life experiences and thoughts that you’ve had. On Wet Leg, the duo works this magic with a very sarcastic, dry and honest feminine voice: “I just need a bubble bath / to take me on a higher path”.   

The album finishes with “Too Late Now”, a song that has a slow build and switches tempo completely halfway through. Listening to this song felt somewhat similar to a panic attack, and I mean that in the best way possible. It features a slow beginning that abruptly shifts into frantic speaking—not dissimilar to overthinking—before a loud chaotic finish complete with distorted feedback. This track marks the perfect finish to the album, and knowing that Wet Leg began releasing music in a time without live shows, it certainly gives us a taste of how this band will perform. The album feels complete.

Wet Leg has given us a coming-of-age—or, rather, coming into adulthood—album that is deeply engaging to someone in their twenties. The album represents that feeling of being unsure of yourself and navigating the world without the slightest idea of what’s going on. That being said, with this album having been produced during the pandemic, it feels simultaneously personal in a remarkably collective sense — exposing Teasdale and Chambers’ truths, which are not unlike our own, as we all attempt to ease slowly out of this past chapter of history.

Altogether, Wet Leg provides a sense of rebirth, a liberatory thawing alongside the melting snow. It captures the energy of waking up after a raging sickness and the chaos that ensues. It’s frantic with fluctuating energy, layered with silliness, and cathartic in its completion. This album will certainly be at the top of my playlists in the months to come; I highly recommend sitting in the sun, listening to this album and defrosting. It’s chaise longue season, baby.

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Wet Leg

Released April 8th, 2022 via Domino Recording Company

1. Being In Love

2. Chaise Longue

3. Angelica

4. I Don't Wanna Go Out

5. Wet Dream

6. Convincing

7. Loving You

8. Ur Mum

9. Oh No

10. Piece Of Shit

11. Supermarket

12. Too Late Now

Vocals, guitar, and writing by Rhian Teasdale

Guitar, vocals, and writing by Hester Chambers

Bass and writing by Michael Champion

Drums and additional vocals by Henry Holmes

Synths and programming by Dan Carey

Synths and programming by Jon McMullen

Production by Dan Carey

Production and engineering by Jon McMullen

Production, engineering, and writing by Joshua Omead Mobaraki

Engineering by Alexis Smith

Mixing by Alan Moulder

Mastering by Matt Coulton

Photography by Julian Hanson

Graphic design by Matthew Cooper

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Wet Leg

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

YouTube | Apple Music | Twitter | TikTok | Facebook | Website

Maia Allan-Riley is based out of Ottawa and works in social media. Dabbling in various creative endeavours, she spends her spare time doing photography and videography, journaling, drawing, and making jewellery.

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Milk Jennings Shares Debut Single "Head Talk" (Prod. Sam Cohen) via Telefono & ORG Music

Walking the line between dreamy ambiguity and the harsh complexity of untangling a friendship, Milk Jennings shares his debut single "Head Talk." Milk Jennings, who is one half of Chinese American Bear. Accompanied by a surrealistic music video released via Telefono and ORG Music, the single gives us a taste of his upcoming album to be released this spring.

"Head Talk" was created in collaboration with Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Alexandra Savior, Cass McCombs), with the music video produced by Milk Jennings. The mellow tune teeters between love and resentment in a friendship with non-linear, hazy lyrics imitating the complex, often chaotic inner monologue.

The "Head Talk" music video was shot, animated & directed by Milk Jennings. The process consisted of taking 3D photogrammetry scans of himself and importing them into Cinema 4D, where he then manipulated and edited them, adding in lights and cameras. The overall direction takes inspiration from 15th/16th-century renaissance portrait paintings, adapting them to the strange digital world. The literal exploding heads are an ode to the song's lyrics, partly to offset the seriousness of the song's message with a bit of humour. 

Watch the video below

Milk Jennings

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Dutch Indie Quintet The Klittens Tackle Coming of Age on New Track "Herkenbosch"

The Klittens by Megan Bruinen

On their latest offering “Herkenbosch,” Dutch five-piece The Klittens tour a small town just south of Holland. With a population of about 4,200 people, a single church and a skatepark, the modest Herkenbosch is the hometown of guitarist Winne Conradi’s parents, and where she spent her teenage years.

“Herkenbosch” still by Megan Bruinen

Following the release of their single “Canned Air” —premiered on October 15th via So Young Magazine— “Herkenbosch” is the band’s take on a theme as old as time: coming of age. Unlike its lamenting predecessors, such as “Old World” by The Modern Lovers, “Herkenbosch” finds lightness in reminiscing, and outgrowing, a past version of oneself: “You can’t live in a hamster ball/I miss the ruins of my childhood/What else can we do about the modern way of death?” sings The Klittens’ Yaël Dekker.

“Herkenbosch” still by Megan Bruinen

Fittingly, “Herkenbosch” supports The Klittens starting a new chapter as a band. Since the release of their 2020 maxi-single Pigeonhole, the group opened the 2020 Amsterdam Fashion Week in Paradiso, played the Left Of The Dial Festival at Maassilo in Rotterdam, and caught the attention of Beats Per Minute and Matthew Wilkinson of Apple Music’s The Matt Wilkinson Show. 

“Herkenbosch” still by Megan Bruinen

Along with “Canned Air,” “Herkenbosch” is The Klittens’ second hint at what we hope is a full-release to come.

Watch the music video for “Herkenbosch” below! 

The Klittens

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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Beatrice Deer Extends Multidimensional Motivation on Sixth Album "SHIFTING"

Beatrice Deer. Photo courtesy of Alexi Hobbs

With this time of year comes the inevitable flow of introspective reflections. Accomplishments, setbacks, and moments in between shape our stories all the same, informing who we are and granting the strength needed for what’s ahead. Determined to encapsulate this process of forward motion, Montreal-based “Inuindie” artist Beatrice Deer has released her sixth studio album SHIFTING, out now.

Deer has garnered acclaim for her innovative approach to indie rock. Her award-winning catalogue has been recognized for its fusion of traditional Inuit tales and throat singing with contemporary folk and pensive originality. SHIFTING continues in that vein, documenting the singer-songwriter’s road towards self-actualization. “Emotionally, spiritually, and physically, the transition towards our authentic selves continues,” says Deer of her latest project. “As I shift into the position where I’m meant to be, I want to keep using what I’ve learned to help others.”

Beatrice Deer. Photo courtesy of Alexi Hobbs

Across the album, Deer orients her unique experience in the universally-binding challenge that is seeking light through the darkness. As she expresses her captivating story across three languages (Inuktitut, English and French) and numerous sub-genres, her latest release maintains a steady focus on illustrating the path towards continual transformation.

Certain tracks off of SHIFTING explicitly allude to the woman-in-progress. On recent single “THE STORM,” Deer wields post-punk sensibilities to heighten the metaphor of a northern snowstorm representing the flurries of life itself. “SUNAUVVA” grounds Deer in a shoegaze-y smog, with her euphoric voice eventually breaking from the percussive and throat-sung fury, determined to heal. “MOTHER” coddles the listener in its sonic warmth, as Deer pays a touching tribute to the woman whose journey has inspired her own.

Beatrice Deer. Photo courtesy of the artist

Elsewhere in the album, Deer turns that meditative gaze outwards. With “UQAUTINNGA,” Deer passionately implores the children of tomorrow to believe in their own futures. “HISTORY” sees Deer’s airy vocals cut deep with poignant lyricism; she shakes the listener by the shoulders over a determined indie beat. “Get out of your history and into your destiny,” she cries – these adamant reflections aim to stoke change in others and, at once, serve as reminders for the self.

Altogether, the sonic and lyrical elements to SHIFTING traverse the same meandering and enlightening road. Its dips and forks tell stories of versatility and resilience, grounded in Beatrice Deer’s distinctive blend of tradition and experimentation.

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SHIFTING

Released December 10th, 2021

1. FREE

2. UQAUTINNGA

3. AANNGIQ

4. ILINNUT - a prayer

5. THE STORM

6. SUNAUVVA

7. CANNIBAL

8. HISTORY

9. MOTHER (version francaise)

10. CHRISTMAS

Vocals, Inuit throat singing, and ukele by Beatrice Deer

Acoustic/electric guitars, keyboards, and bass by Chris McCarron

Drums and keyboards by Mark Wheaton

Drone synthesizer and bass by Michael Felber

Lap steel and acoustic/electric guitars by Jordey Tucker

French horn, piano, and keyboards by Pietro Amato

Harp by Sarah Pagé

Flute and saxophones by Erik Hove

Accordion by Eva Deer

Backing vocals by Elliott Wheaton


All lyrics written by Beatrice Deer except for AANGIQ (traditional)

All songs written by Beatrice Deer and arranged by Mark Wheaton & Chris McCarron

Recorded, engineered and produced by Mark Wheaton & Chris McCarron at BSE Studios and Skybarn in Montreal

Lyrics for MOTHER (version française) adapted by Kathia Rock

Mixed by Jace Lasek {tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11}

Mixed by Pietro Amato {tracks 3, 4, 9}

Mastered by Philip Gosselin

Album cover art by Niap, design & layout by Heath Cairns

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Beatrice Deer

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YouTube | Apple Music | Twitter | Facebook | Website

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

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NYC's Lily Konigsberg Crafts Relatable Pop Reflections on Debut "Lily We Need to Talk Now" (Wharf Cat Records)

Lily Konigsberg by Chloe Carrasco

NYC’s Lily Konigsberg has announced the arrival of her long-anticipated full-length, Lily We Need to Talk Now, out this Friday, October 29th, on Wharf Cat Records. Since 2016, Lily has been chipping away at her plainspoken pop debut, all while learning to find lightness in life’s most trying moments. Leading up to her release, we had the chance to connect with Lily and chat about her evolution as an artist, writing from her heart, and making a name for herself in New York’s underground music scene.

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: To start, I'd love to know what growing into your first proper full-length LP has been like since its beginnings in 2016? 

Lily Konigsberg: It's funny because I've made so much music throughout my life, but I’ve never released a full-length. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist I guess… This album had around five song orders and many rejected songs. It's actually something I'd like to work on because I admire artists that have frequent releases. This being said, I'm really excited to share this album with people, I am proud of it. 

Also Cool: Branching off of that, how have your past musical endeavours informed this release, Lily We Need to Talk Now? Say, in comparison to writing music with your band, Palberta, or other projects?  

Lily Konigsberg: Palberta taught me how to collaborate and how to perform confidently. I am forever grateful for the friendships I formed with Ani and Nina and the confidence we built together. Working with Matt in Lily and Horn Horse allowed me to hone in and work on my melody writing. My past solo work prepared me for writing a set of bangers with the intent of having them all be as good as each other. This of course didn't happen because there are always favourites. Being in these projects educated me as a writer, performer, and friend. I wouldn't be where I am without them. 

AC: You’ve spoken about how your album commemorates heavy moments in your life, but with an intentional effort to not take yourself too seriously. How do you find humour or lightness in vulnerability and translate it into your music? 

LK: Humour is a big part of sadness and pain for me. I feel a lot all of the time so it's a way I've learned to cope. Some might say it's a tactic of distraction, but I think it's the most human and relatable reaction to pain. Humour and vulnerability come through mostly in my lyrics. In one song, I'll go through moments of relatable sadness, absurd concepts, sass, and back to pain. It's just how my brain processes emotion. I live for dark humour. For instance, in a song with my new band, My Idea with Nate Amos, I wrote, Why so sad bitch, depression's a conspiracy theory? It's an insane line, but I feel it really hard. It's me throwing my hands up in one of those moments of realizing that nothing matters at all. 

AC: Given that the album is such a personal work, has it been strange to see it being dissected by bigger publications like Pitchfork and the FADER? 
LK: I mean, yeah! It's okay because I put it out for people to dissect and interpret. Loss is a completely universal feeling. This album is mainly about a breakup for me, but the songs can apply to many different instances of loss. I am most excited about hearing what my listeners think. 

Lily Konigsberg by Chloe Carrasco

AC: On a different note, I'm curious to know about your coming-of-age —in both real time and as a musician— in NYC. How have you forged your path in the New York scene to be where you are now? What advice would you give to others trying to stay afloat in such a coveted artistic hub? 

LK: Well first of all, I was born in Brooklyn in an upper-middle class neighbourhood. I was encouraged to pursue music when I expressed interest in it, and I had the opportunity to begin performing at the age of 14. Many people do not have most of these privileges growing up. Mix privilege with unique talent and you are going to get a certain amount of attention.

Through music, I met friends I still have today and developed a presence in the music scene. Music was great for me as I was a pretty shy kid, and it enabled me to have a reputation instead of having to prove my worth through my personality. After that, it was all meeting other musicians and relating to them, meeting Palberta, meeting Wharf Cat and on and on. Things organically grew from there. Only now do I have a manager for one of my projects; it was pretty DIY until now. It's hard to give advice considering this but I would say to try not to be discouraged by the music industry. It's inherently racist and sexist like every industry and doesn't recognize talent a lot of the time. Keep making music and meeting like-minded people. 

AC: To end off, how do you plan on celebrating this release and what are your plans for the future? 

Hmm… I'll probably drink a Gingerale and stare at a wall with a smile on my face. Maybe I'll have some Twizzlers. Then I'll play my release show on November 14th at Union Pool. More info for that will appear on social media soon enough. Maybe I'm trying to get sponsored by Gingerale and Twizzlers? I guess that would kind of contradict my previous rant! Next up for me is my debut album with my new band My Idea on Hardly Art. I'm so excited! 

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LILY WE NEED TO TALK NOW

Out October 29, 2021 via Wharf Cat

1. Beauty
2. I Can Make You Sweat Forever
3. That's The Way I Like It
4. Alone
5. Don't Be Lazy With Me
6. Proud Home
7. Hark
8. Bad Boy
9. Roses, Again
10. Goodbye
11. True

All songs written by Lily Konigsberg

“Bad Boy” written by Lily Konigsberg and Nate Amos
Engineered, mixed, produced and mastered by Nate Amos

Tracks 3, 6, 9, and 11 engineered by Sasha Stroud and Nate Amos

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Lily Konigsberg

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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Marilyne Lacombe (Mothland, Taverne Tour, DISTORSION, FME) Talks Music Industry Beginnings and Montreal's Alternative Music Scene

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Image courtesy of Marilyne Lacombe

Live music is back with a vengeance, thanks to hardworking folks like Marilyne Lacombe. If you haven’t met Lacombe at L’Ésco already, you’ve definitely attended one of her brainchild events. For over a decade, Lacombe and her entourage have cultivated pillar projects at the core of Montreal’s alternative music scene, including Taverne Tour and DISTORSION psych-fest, as well as booking agency and indie label Mothland. We had the chance to meet Lacombe IRL at this year’s edition of FME, and catch her in action as a festival programmer and producer. Between sets, Lacombe graciously took the time to chat with us about her career beginnings, starting a label during a pandemic and her must-have essentials for any festival go-er. Check out our conversation with Lacombe below! 

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hi Marilyne! Thanks so much for chatting with Also Cool. To start, you've been around the block when it comes to the music biz. Tell us about your intro to this career path.

Marilyne Lacombe: I started to book shows in Montreal in 2008 when I was in charge of the music programming at Chez Baptiste sur Masson. Back then, the bar presented shows every week!  I had this idea of doing an alternative “St-Jean” that would celebrate the contemporary Montreal indie scene, in opposition to the nostalgia medley traditionally presented at Parc Maisonneuve. Then, “L’Autre St-Jean” was born. It created a whole media and political circus, as we were criticized for adding anglophone bands to the lineup. In the end, it really helped put the event on the map, and during the course of  five editions, we had close to 10,000 visitors coming every year at Parc du Pelican in Rosemont. We sadly had to end it because of the lack of funding; we were honestly taking huge financial risks for a one-day event.

A couple years later, I founded a multi-venue festival called Taverne Tour with my partner from “feu” L’Autre St-Jean, Pierre Thibault. Initially, it was just about creating a fun festival in the middle of winter that doesn’t take itself too seriously and trying to cure that January depression, all the while supporting small local businesses. The response was so great that it quickly became a staple in Montreal’s festival circuit. Over the years, we’ve presented some of my favorite bands, including: Deerhoof, METZ, A Place To Bury Strangers, Föllakzoid and Guerilla Toss, just to name a few.  

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Image via Taverne Tour

Also Cool: When did Mothland come into the mix?

Marilyne Lacombe: Around the time of Tavern Tour, I joined some like-minded people —gravitating around L’Esco— and together we founded DISTORSION. We wanted to present a well-organized, independent, underground psych festival with modern and diversified art direction.  We quickly gathered a community around the festival and eventually, we decided to start Mothland to help further the bands that we were working with, as no other booking agency would work with them.  Back then, I was pretty adamant of not transforming this into a label… But when COVID-19 hit the music industry, we weren’t all that keen on organizing livestream events, as we felt they would not really connect with our audience… So. starting a label was a great way to move forward with our mission.  I’m not sure how we got here so quickly, but we’re currently working on our 17th release!

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Image via Mothland

Also Cool: That’s amazing! Segwaying off of that, let’s talk about this year’s edition of FME, which was a long-awaited return to live music. Seeing as music festivals are certainly you're thing; what makes FME stand-out and what was your involvement with the festival? 

Marilyne Lacombe: I started programming for FME four years ago. At the time, I would book a handful of weirdo and wild card bands on the lineup. As of 2020, I've been directing the programming with the support of my Mothland colleagues. Since the festival is mainly focusing on new acts and music discoveries, we have almost infinite artistic leeway and are able to put forth cutting edge programming. The festival has been running for almost 20 years now and over the time, has built a solid and trustful relationship with the artistic community across Europe and North America. It’s truly an honour to take on curation duties for such a great event!

I think there is something very magical about FME. Doing the annual 8-hour pilgrimage to a remote mining town, up in northern Quebec, for 4 days of music, is always a highlight of the year. If you compare it to similar festivals in Montreal, I feel like there are so many other distractions. During FME, people really have one thing to focus on; going to concerts to discover new music. There is also something exciting about bringing international acts and inviting them to this northern region of Quebec, as they would never end up there otherwise. I also love that the local community is deeply involved in the festival, making it a communal event where everybody chips in! 

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Image via FME

 AC: What was it like programming the festival this year and what acts were your favourite?

ML: There is something really weird and exciting about programming a festival in COVID times. Usually, you’d see pretty much all the bands live before booking them. This year, we programmed many artists that we’d never seen live!  Though it was a bit risky, I was really pleased with taking the leap overall. I loved seeing Toronto’s kulintang ensemble, Pantayo, for the first time; ‘’mockasin-gaze’’ outfit Zoon; Quebec-Atikamekw grungy indie-folk artist Laura Niquay; Jangle-pop duo Ducks Ltd.; and canadian shoegaze veteran No Joy.

AC: What are your music festival essentials that you can't live without during festival season? 

ML: Well, since we’re talking about FME here, I could not survive without my fall clothing essentials: a lot of sweaters, jackets, mittens, hats, and scarves! Fortunately this year wasn’t too bad, but I always come prepared because it has literally snowed during FME weekends in the past.

Other than that, I always have an iconic Taverne Tour flask in my bag, which also helps with the cold weather!

AC: In closing, are there any other current projects that you're working on that you'd like to shout out? 

ML: Definitely check out Mothland’s upcoming releases! I can’t tell you too much about them, but we really have some badass releases coming down the pipeline! Also, we’re preparing for the return of live music events in Montreal… Stay tuned! 

Taverne Tour

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DISTORSION

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Mothland

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FME

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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George Arthur Calendar Shares Paradox, Talks Latinx Indie Rock in Guadalajara, Chicago, & More

via George Arthur Calendar

After growing up in a primarily white, English-speaking indie rock scene, one of my favourite genres of music to break into the mainstream over the last few years has been Latinx indie rock. Primarily emerging out of Latinx-American communities, and different Spanish-speaking countries, the genre seamlessly blends Spanish and English, often carried by breezy melodies with a hint of wavy psychedelia.

It speaks to all of the second-generation Latinx immigrants who grew up longing to hear more of their mother tongue in the media surrounding them, while also proudly taking up space in a primarily white creative industry and environment.

George Arthur Calendar is a fixture of this scene, originally from Guadalajara and currently based out of Chicago. His latest album Paradox (released via Stereochip Records) explores the all-too-familiar sadness of regaining independence after a quarantine breakup via some not-so-sad funky grooves. We caught up to chat about Latinx identity, his experience with different music scenes all over the world, and more.

via George Arthur Calendar

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: You grew up in Guadalajara and have since lived all over the world. As another Mexican far from the homeland, I'm really interested to know what the art and music scene was like growing up in Mexico. What kind of music were people playing, and how do you think this influenced the work you make now?

George Arthuro Calendar: I grew up mainly listening to classic rock, which my dad loved. My mom, aunts, and sister liked bolero, funk/disco and pop in English and Spanish. We listened to everything from Selena to Luis Miguel, Ricky Martin, etc. 

One day my dad put a VHS video of Queen performing in Rio de Janeiro for my sister and me to watch, and at that moment, I was hooked on music. A few years later, I discovered Nirvana and all that early 90s stuff. One of my neighbours had older siblings, and we would listen to their music all the time, which inspired me to learn guitar. I also listened to rock en Espanol; bands like Mana, Soda Stereo, Caifanes, Fobia, etc.

In the summer before getting into high school, my cousin and I started a band with other classmates. We began playing venues, house parties, and events, and even though we were younger than 18, we played bars. Through those shows, we discovered what was going on in the scene in Guadalajara. 

There weren't a lot of bands, but there were a lot of different styles. Everything from grunge to anarchic punk, lots of ska and reggae, funk, soul, blues, and jazz. I remember bands like Plastiko and Pito Perez changed our musical perspectives. Soon enough, we were the opening band at their shows, which was pretty sick. We discovered el "tianguis cultural, "a music/culture farmers market where you could find lots of art, clothing, food, handicrafts,” and all this underground stuff. Lots of people, lots of culture, live shows, every Saturday in a big boulevard in downtown Guadalajara, from 10am to 6/7pm. It was definitely the place to be at the time.

After high school, we started playing with other bands in the underground scene. We really hit it off with one band, ROX or somosrox. We kind of hit the jackpot when we started playing for Jack Daniels. They had just opened a new bar, and we had a crowd every weekend.

We played the most trendy cover songs between 2009 to 2013, but also they sponsored our original music. That went on for about four years. I was 24-28 years old during that time, and it was the first time I was actually making good money playing music. 

This was at a time where Myspace was really blowing up a lot of music. A lot of bands got super mainstream, and music in Spanish got super popular. Bands like ZOE, PORTER, and CAFE TACUBA were the acts running the whole scene, headlining festivals with MGMT, NIN, Flaming Kips, Mars Volta... There were lots of festivals, and the prices weren't too high, so you could see a bunch of bands in a day. It was a good time to be in Mexico. 

I decided to take a break from that scene because I wasn't happy with the music we were making. It got a little too mainstream. I wasn't feeling it anymore even though my other project, The Red Eyed Tiger, was doing well in the underground scene. It was a mix of folk/norteno/Mexican and American country vibes. I decided to go to Tulum for the summer, but I never came back to my hometown.

I also just want to say that being a part of the rock scene in Guadalajara was when shit started for me. Being a part of it and also leaving made me learn how to be true to myself. That's the real lesson I learned, not let go of your dreams, despite the money your making or could make. My personal taste in music is, well, funky music. It's pretty much always been my bible, and it comes from what I learned from my dad and other bands in Guadalajara.

via George Arthur Calendar

Also Cool: You've worked and lived in both New Zealand and Chicago for quite a while. How have the different art scenes and cultures influenced your work?

George: When I left Chicago in 2015 to go to NZ, I was just discovering the DIY scene there. I was so amazed by all the art, music and people I met over that year. My music was influenced by it, and I was so inspired that when I got to NZ, I carried that energy with me. I played a lot of parties, just with my acoustic or electric guitar (which ended up being the songs of my first album). 

There are two different scenes in NZ. There's the kiwi scene, which is artsier and more DIY. Then there was this other scene, of the working people like me. People who came with a working holiday visa to work legally for one year and travel the country. There were a lot of people from Argentina, France, Italy, and Chile, to name a few. 

We were working all the time, and in our free moments, there were massive Latin parties. Lots of dancing, beach circles, DJ nights. This crowd always spoke Spanish, and I blended in perfectly even tho my music isn't Latin. They all saw me as a "gringo” more than a Latino because I speak English so well with slang and played music in English. We worked at least 8-10 hours a day in bars, restaurants, and vineyards. It was hard work, but we always found a way to have fun.

Once I got back to America, I understood the direction I wanted to go with my music. It was also cool to see that my music was liked by both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking people. I was in San Fransisco and Northern California for about eight months working on weed farms until I came back to Chicago to try to "make it."

AC: When it comes to your music-making process, you've mentioned how important it is to collaborate with friends and people you meet along the way. Can you tell us a bit more about this process? What's one of your favourite collaborations/memories from your travels?

George: I like to collaborate when the time is right. I feel like sometimes, as creative, there's always a moment when we can add and connect energies with someone else musically. While travelling, you meet all sorts of interesting people with different talents. It would be silly not to try to make something with the people you meet along the way. I'm usually always working on a new song, so when I meet someone I really want to collaborate with, I basically try to write a song for that person. I try to have leave creative space for them to do their thing as well. 

One of my fave collabs is with an amazing Italian girl I used to work with. She spoke Spanish better than English, and soon we were best friends and roommates for a minute. She could sing like any Motown singer, and she was the original voice for my cosmic wall song. 

But basically, I get inspired by the people I meet, the art they make, how everyone has their own way to work. 

AC: Quite a few of your songs are "Spanglish," and overall, your music has a laid-back, wavy psych vibe, in line with the recent rise of indie Latinx musicians who have entered the mainstream over the past few years. Why have you chosen to sing in both languages, and what do you think of this recent rise in Latinx indie musicians? 

George: I love music in both languages. It's hard to only sing in English if you're in Mexico to sing in English, and vice versa in America. I grew up with Spanglish, and I think and dream and speak in both languages. For me, it's just how I express myself. 

That being said, my two first solo albums were in English. After that, I had a project in 2019 with a Puerto Rican dude, and we did both English and Spanish, which I liked a lot. My friends from my other band, Wavy ID, and friends in the music scene were advising me to play more in Spanish. Now all the new music I've been working on has that Spanglish vibe, using both languages in the song.

AC: Who are some of your favourite Latinx and/or Mexican artists right now?

George: Latinx music nowadays is kind of my favourite music. It's so interesting to me, having grown up in Mexico and seeing all this amazing music that Latinx-American people are making. It's 100% creative and is a whole other world of possibilities. I'm so excited, and hopefully, I'll be more and more a part of this scene in the coming years. 

My favourite latinx artist are Devendra Banhart, Helado Negro, Kali Uchis, Savila Music, Cuco, Gabriel Garzon-Montano, Nicolas Jaar, and Divino Nino.

AC: Tell us about your latest album. You've said that it's influenced by personal experiences, almost like a diary. How does it feel to have it finally out in the world?

George: Having the album out feels good. I'm not feeling sad anymore in the way I was just before COVID started. The album was produced in the first months of quarantine, so now it feels like a relief. My plan was to release this album around September 2020. I ended up getting support from a small indie label in Mexico City and decided to push the release a few more months. I dropped singles in the meantime, which wasn't my cup of tea, but it worked okay.

This album, to me, represents understanding what was going on with my life ever since I turned 30. It was a constant meditation, making the music, thinking a lot, and writing lyrics. It helped me cope for at least the first months of quarantine and with my breakup as well. It really put my feet on the ground and made me a stronger person. Now I listen and just say, "Wooooow I was very sad." I'm usually never sad, and it feels so good to have these groovy songs that still convey that sadness. Not everything that shines is gold, and it's good to dance to sad stuff too…

AC: Closing out here, what do you have planned for 2021?

George: Well, hopefully, I'll begin playing lives shows again ASAP. I haven't played properly on a stage since September 2019, so you can imagine the feeling. I started doing live sessions true à la COVID from my Instagram and Facebook, and that's how many of these songs started. 

I'm also about to finish recording another album I started producing during COVID, but this one is weirder psych-pop bossa nova. I want to drop this music by the end of summer, probably around September. I'm still debating how to do it, but that will sort itself out. My friend adam and I are working on new music for Wavy ID, and I have another surprise, a lo-fi- dream-synth pop album. I've been working on it with one of my best buds in Chicago, Will Wood. He who plays in Popwerpup and Vamos, which are both bands of the Chicago DIY scene. We started working on it in late 2019. It sounds like a video-game soap opera.

George Arthur Calendar

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Toronto's PACKS Share a Slice of Upcoming Debut "Take the Cake"

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Madeline Link of PACKS, photo courtesy of the artist

Toronto’s PACKS are filling an indie-rock void with their sound that is equal parts laid-back and jangly, while also sophisticatedly pensive and bright. Before the pandemic hit, they were stirring a buzz with a collection of charming lo-fi singles, of which caught the attention of hometown label Royal Mountain Records, as well as Brooklyn’s Fire Talk Records.

With the enlisted backup of close friends from the band Lovers Touch, lead songwriter Madeline Link has taken her solo songwriting project to the next level. The now four-piece have announced the release of their debut full-length, Take the Cake, out this coming Friday, May 21st, 2021.

On Take the Cake, Link comments:

“The album is a meeting of old and new. Old songs from a year ago where I'm having really horrifyingly awful days at work, getting doored while biking in Toronto and flying into the middle of the street, or going on dates with guys who I'm either instantly in love with, or who end up creeping me out a bit. Those songs are more packed with that feeling of hurtling-through-time-and-space-at-breakneck-speed, manic energy. The newer songs are infused with a foggier, slower-paced disillusionment, and deal with the strangeness of a reality morphing before my eyes every day. I still try to be optimistic obviously, but these songs are really glorified coping mechanisms.”

Read our interview with Link on how her debut was realized despite a long-distance relationship with her band, as well as her thoughts on unexpected musical comparisons and figuring out label-signing for the first time.

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: So, let’s start with some bigger obvious questions: How have you been doing and what has it been like working on an album throughout the ongoing uncertainty of the last year or so? What are your thoughts on creating during such a time?

Madeline Link: Well, other than working on the album at a distance with my band by sending them demos to build on, my music writing process hasn’t been disturbed by the pandemic much. The creation of [this album] was the least hard part, honestly. It was more so the conceptualizing of it that was tough because the whole process lacked so many physical experiences. I have never released an album of this scale before, so I feel like if it wasn’t a pandemic it would be a completely different experience. I would be having in-person meetings, maybe even going to New York to meet with one of my labels, planning shows and going on tour.

Also Cool: Absolutely, music-making right now is definitely unconventional to say the least. What it was like realizing these songs in a band format instead of working alone? From what I know, some of the tracks on Take the Cake are older than others and come from a more personal project, so I’d love to know more about how you reworked them on this release.

Madeline Link: I’d never bounced these songs off of anyone before, so it was interesting! I felt comfortable sharing them with these guys specifically because I trusted them a lot, as we were friends before we worked together on this album. They make up the band Lovers Touch, so I really trusted their musical ability and knew how talented they were. I really like the symbiosis we have going. With every song that I bring to them, they always send something back that totally surprises me.

AC: What else impacted your ability to be so open-minded with making PACKS into a more collaborative project?

ML: I’ve always used my songs as a way of exploring creatively and have never held them very close. Basically, my creative process is that I’ll record myself playing the song once I’ve figured out the guitar part and vocals and send it off to the band without really thinking twice about it. Since I never hold my songs near and dear, there are a lot of tracks currently in our shared folder that are just sitting there festering… ‘Cause you know, I like to have some shit songs and some good songs (laughs).

AC: I think that’s really cool. I guess there’s something to be said for being purposefully un-purposeful (laughs).

ML: Yeah, that’s exactly it! If I think a song isn’t going to get better, I’ll quit toying around with it. I pretty much spend an hour to two hours recording my parts in my free time and send them off to the band.

AC: I know you said that you’ve never held your work close, but has working with some of these songs in a new light changed the relationship you have with them? Or maybe the way you think about your songwriting at all?

ML: I really liked taking the songs and meshing them together; both old and new. I didn’t have any huge revelations about my songwriting, but I do feel as though I’ve really landed on a sound that lines-up with my identity. At the same time, I do think I’m keeping people guessing with what exactly a PACKS song sounds like. For example, when “Hangman” came out at first, I saw it on a Spotify “Americana” playlist, and I was getting labeled as “indie-folk” (laughs). But then “Silvertongue” came out and it was on all these punk playlists online.

AC: How do you feel about being segmented into these different genres? I’ve seen your stuff coming up on different publications where people have compared you everything from Sonic Youth to Sebadoh. Are there any particular influences that you draw from that people aren’t necessarily picking up on?

ML: Well, I remember thinking that Best Coast was a strange comparison that one writer made because I personally don’t hear it at all. I remember reading that and I thinking to myself, “Are you just saying this because I’m a lady?” (laughs). No offense to Best Coast or anything, but I really don’t hear any similarities.

 ML: In terms of influences… This is going to sound so obvious, but every Radiohead album has probably weaseled its way into a PACKS song. Hmm… do you know Autolux?

AC: No. I’ve never heard of them!

ML: They’re this band from the early 2000s that I’m really into. They have this one particular album, Future Perfect, that really grabbed me. They’ve got this really hard guitar sound contrasting with the singer’s quiet falsetto voice and I love that. What else? I do find I can be influenced by country as well. I grew up in Calgary and we always had so many different genres playing in the house. I find myself always going back to the basic chord structures that make up country and blues songs when I start writing. I want to follow certain tenants of that genre, you know?

AC: Definitely. So, it’s safe to say that these questions of who influences you have come from you signing to two well-known labels and stirring up some excitement around Take the Cake. How are you finding this transition in your career so far?  

ML: Deciding whether or not to sign to a label was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made; not even exaggerating! On one hand, you have a lot of people encouraging you take on a new opportunity, and on the other, people warning you of what might happen if things don’t turn out like you’d expected. That being said, when I did announce that I had signed to these labels, nobody was like, “You freaking sell-out!” (laughs) To be honest, I have really enjoyed having the support from these labels and all of their great ideas. But you know, I don’t give away my power very easily (laughs). This might sound cheesy, but thankfully both the labels I’m working with have the artist as their number one priority. I still have control over everything I post online, music videos… stuff like that.

AC: What kind of advice would you give to young musicians to help them navigate the process of working with a label for the first time? I feel like getting this kind of insider information is really important for people just starting out, and the kind of thing that can be gatekept, you know?

ML: Yeah, definitely. Well, I don’t really like giving advice (laughs) but okay. So, the fist label I ever worked with was, and still is to this day, the number one label in the entire world. They’re called Art of the Uncarved Block. They’re based in Toronto and run by twin brothers Robin and Pete. I didn’t sign a single contract while working with them, we just met up in a coffee shop after they asked [my other band Triples] if we wanted to release a tape with them. I also released a PACKS tape with them, and it was like, the dreamiest label experience you could have.

So, I’d say if you’re just starting out and doing a DIY thing, I would suggest not running into a contract straight away and working with a smaller label. If music is something you’re doing just for fun, don’t submit your stuff to huge labels. If you’re enjoying yourself and just trying to get your music out into your local scene or whatever, [labels] will notice that, and they will approach you. Treating it like a job application and not getting responses after making a bunch of submissions makes you feel like shit! (laughs)

AC: I think that’s good advice, personally. The Canadian music world seems so untouchable on the surface, when at the end of the day it’s like the same 10 people emailing each other back and forth.

ML: Exactly. You really just have to trust the process in a way. I ran into Pete from Uncarved Block when I was trying to decide about label stuff, and he encouraged me to go for it… It was kind of like a sign from the universe.

AC: To end things off, what are your plans to celebrate this release?

ML: When I was going to bed the other night, I had this idea for a wild Instagram video… I’m picturing a gigantic cake in front of me that’s full of candles. Like, 200 candles or something. And yeah… I want to do something that’s kind of unreal. Maybe I’ll post it? Maybe I’ll keep it for my personal archives? You’ll just have to wait and see.

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TAKE THE CAKE

Out May 21, 2021 via Royal Mountain Records and Fire Talk

1. Divine Giggling
2. Clingfilm
3. Two Hands
4. New TV
5. Hangman
6. My Dream
7. Hold My Hand
8. Holy Water
9. Silvertongue
10. Blown By The Wind
11. U Can Wish All U Want

All songs by Madeline Link
Mastered by Sarah Register

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PACKS

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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From the Indie Rock Show to the Afterhours: ALSO COOL Debuts on Frozen Section Radio

Visual by Malaika Astorga

You know the absolutely euphoric feeling of going from a show to an afterhours function? When you've just seen your favourite indie rock band shred it at the local bar, and then you find yourself in a warehouse, several hours later, dancing your heart out in the dark? Welcome to ALSO COOL on FSR, the radio show where we cater to both showgoers, ravers, and the ones who crossover between scenes.

ALSO COOL runs on FSR (Frozen Section Radio) every second Thursday of the month at 7pm EST with an hour-long mix to keep you grooving. Our mix is hosted by a lovely AI-generated female voice, guiding you through our mix that’s a little nostalgic, a little unhinged, but guaranteed to make you smile at least once.

If you're not yet in the loop, FSR is a new community-oriented online radio station, hosting a wide range of unique new shows. In their own words, FSR is, "Radio made with love and intention, for discovering together."

Tune in TONIGHT to our premiere at 7pm EST via https://fsr.live

FSR

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