News & Releases >> Sep 18 2006
NEWS Sep 18 2006
Emm Gryner to open for David Usher at Scotiabank TW Marathon Concert
September 18th. TORONTO. Emm Gryner confirmed to open for David Usher at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Welcome Concert, this Friday, September 22nd, 6pm to 9:30pm, Nathan Phillips Square. FREE and open to the public!
Then, on September 26th, Emm releases her most privy album to date... "The Summer Of High Hopes".
A writer and label owner, versatile musician and producer, Emm Gryner has captured the hearts of wayward souls with songs that are filled with dark and haunting hues behind their subtle shine.
This is true of Emm's newest release, "The Summer Of High Hopes". Released earlier in the year in Ireland, where Emm broke through in 2005 with an unlikely collection of critically-acclaimed Irish covers ("Songs of Love and Death"), the new album of originals has already garnered wide praise.
"**** 'The Summer of High Hopes' is the distilled voice of an original" writes Siobhan Long of The Irish Times.
"'The Summer of High Hopes' is a winning mix of indie-rock, orchestral pop and ballads... stunning..." writes Brian Campbell of The Irish News.
"The Summer Of High Hopes", co-produced by Ex-Shudder To Think guitarist-turned-film composer Nathan Larson (Boys Don't Cry/Dirty Pretty Things/Velvet Goldmine), was recorded in locations as disparate as basements in the Ontario countryside and studios in Malmo, Sweden. Featured on the album are Matt Pond PA cellist Dana Feder, guitarist Michael Ward (Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, The Wallflowers), and Winnipeg native Bryce Kushnier (a.k.a. electronic/indie outfit Vitaminsforyou).
The new 11-song album is a deeply personal, tell-tale soundtrack that could only be made by a young woman left alone to navigate the choppy seas of love, warfare and day-to-day despair.
"The Summer of High Hopes" is the sonic counterpart to her revered album, "Science Fair"; a schizophrenic sister to the 8-track home recording that kick-started the career of one of Canada's most respected indie artists. "Blackwinged Bird" is embroidered with the tones of bruises and impending storms, a melancholic open letter from a young woman to the world that could easily be a follow-up to "Julia", from its predecessor. "Sunshine", a bittersweet farewell to her twenty-something self, echoes out as a heart-on-sleeve sequel to "Good Riddance". And "Merlot" stands out as the more deliciously complex, world-weary sibling to "Serenade".
"Blackwinged Bird [and] Girls Are Murder have so much going for them in the perfect pop category" writes Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times, author of Elvis Costello: A Biography.
Ironically Emm's determined independent ethic and versatile musicianship brought her to the attention of artists such as David Bowie and The Cardigans, both of whom had Emm join them as a band member over the last few years.
Nor does Emm's one-woman business ethos prevent her from reaching wide audiences and new markets. Her vivacious on-line journal is so widely read its contents were quoted by The Washington Post during the 2004 US election. Emm was also invited to perform at the NBA's All-Star Weekend in Denver in 2005, and also moonlights as bass player/vocalist in a new politically-charged rock supergroup, Hot One. Emm's site at the popular music community, MySpace has also ranked in the Top 20 Most Viewed and to top it all off, she took time out to play piano on the latest album by Def Leppard.
'The Summer of High Hopes' is released on her Dead Daisy Records label which she formed in 1996 to release music ignored by the majors. Recently, Emm expanded the label to sign Atlantic Canada indie-rockers In-Flight Safety, acclaimed Toronto songwriter Royal Wood, Manitoba boy-wonder Andrew Spice and the punk/glam/rock Hot One.
Dramatically grim as Gryner's songs are, they always seem to hint at redemption, creative revenge and the last laugh hidden somewhere behind a twinkling eye. When she sings about "walking through the gates of hell", it would seem that she is the only one with a key and an escape plan secreted away.
"The Summer Of High Hopes" is released September 26 nationwide through Dead Daisy/Outside Music.