Marian has been off of Apple Music since right after they announced TE went bust, and they were considering their options. It is still on Bandcamp. It’s still a few weeks away from the planned release date, so hoping there will be some news soon.
more the fact that they’re not showing any signs of being active at all as a band. This record is obviously complete so whatever happens I’m sure it will eventually find it’s way out into the world, but you couldn’t blame them if they’re so jaded by what went down with TE and this record getting shelved that they end up taking an indefinite break from music
I need SWIM in my life :/ it’s sad and unfortunate how this has all played out. hopefully the album gets a deserving rollout and we don’t have to wait too long.
There’s no way he shelves a record he’s excited about, it’s probably just being shopped while they resolve the legal shit. Can’t imagine we don’t see this in Q2
My guess is we will see another single in March and album in June. My guesses for which label picks them up is... either Triple Crown, Topshelf, but ultimate pick and best fit would be Polyvinyl. The first three tracks we’ve heard is very promising. Tiny Engines has went from arguably the best indie label the past four years, in ten years they will have at least ten albums that are viewed as legendary, Wild Pink, Restorations, Strange Ranger, The Hotelier, these four bands and a whole slew of others with ground breaking LP’s. The first four will be making great albums for decades.
A lot of those smaller labels would already have their releases for the year planned and budgeted so it’s not as simple as saying someone else of that ilk can just pick it up and release it soon, and I’m guessing there weren’t a ton of pre orders so it’s probably going to be a big upfront undertaking by someone to do a run of say 1000 records in the hopes that word of mouth about this band eventually catches on. TE died because they signed too many bands and released too many albums that, while critically acclaimed, didn’t sell enough copies. Any of the above labels would be super wary about going down that path.
I really can’t keep count but now you bring them up and Yes!!! Would be perfect fit! One of my favorite labels! Would love to see Restorations go on there also!
Agree, it’s like the auto market, the built too many cars and similar models and couldn’t sell and lost money. I see the future for bands as a lot of in house DIY if they can pull it off. Wild Pink and Restorations and only a few of the Tiny Engines could do it. It’s sad to see all of this with so many great up and coming bands
I think for bands with established, loyal fan bases and those who’ve reached the peak in the growth of their popularity the DIY/self/crowd-funded route (with some outside PR help) makes a lot of sense. Newer bands who are trying to establish themselves and get critical and word of mouth attention are the ones who probably benefit most from a label of the style of Tiny Engines or RFC, Topshelf etc where it almost becomes more about curation in the end - people check out a band primarily because that label is releasing their music and has such a strong track record of taste-making. I still see that model as having value, you just need to be better than TE at reigning in your enthusiasm, keeping tight control of your costs and not treating your artists like shit.
damn, good review though!! excited for the diversity of sounds since the singles didn't really hint at some of those other elements (not gonna say which specifically in case anyone wants to hold off on reading it til the record is out)