By Will McGuirk
Vibrations, waves, across the universe, billions of years, then you appear, vibrating, making more vibrations, disrupting the flow, pushing out, pushing back at the noise of the Big Bang with your own voice. So keep going, keep voicing, keep being here, and going there.
(from PR)
In 2020, Donovan Woods released Without People via his own Meant Well label. It’s an album that ranks as Woods’ most successful release with more than 10 million streams and climbing. Due March 26, a new deluxe edition of Without People adds four bonus tracks (two new originals and two alternate mixes) and is available for pre-order now.
A new piano rendition of “Grew Apart” cuts right to the bone, and an acoustic interpretation of “Whatever Keeps You Going” pairs Woods with the pure voices of the J.P. Robarts Public School Music Project in London, Canada.
The school’s choir (consisting of grades 3-8) formerly sang with Woods in 2019 at one of his concerts in London. Woods always knew he wanted to feature the choir on a project, but during the pandemic, Woods learned that while the schools had reopened, the children were only allowed to hum during choir practice due to the nature of health and safety protocols. He then, with the help of their parents and choir director, Jane Kennedy, enlisted the children’s choir to individually submit homemade cell phone videos of themselves singing the song. All 19 students were able to share the “stage” again with Woods through this video.
Middle Kids, photo by Ellen Virgona
“I want to make music that loves its listener. Music that makes people feel seen, seen in the tiny little places that hide away in their hearts. I want people to hear our music, and feel a sense of love. And when I say love, it can be challenging, intense and tough. But it’s in the guts.” – Hannah Joy, Middle Kids
“Ciel is someone who we have watched grow and develop into a global talent at the same time embodying a local Toronto spirit. Her remix for us speaks to a Toronto that had no musical genres in clubs. It bends and weaves into an expression that is well known to the darkest clubs and most cavernous warehouses. We employ you to join in the vision of this remix in solidarity with the community and all that came to take part.” - LAL’s Nicholas Murray
“‘The Art Of Loneliness’ is a dance-pop song which sounds triumphant, but upon closer listen feels tragic.The lyrics here are the closest I get to a private monologue with me trying to convince myself that loneliness isn’t such a painful situation. I’m trying to trick myself into thinking being alone isn’t so bad and the artful way I do it." - David Johnston, Gift of Tongues
