Tag Archive for: Praises

PRAISES, the project helmed by Toronto-based artist Jesse Crowe, has today released its sophomore record In This Year: Hierophant via Hand Drawn Dracula. Alongside sharing the new record, Praises has also released the single “Our Father” with a video directed by Julia Wittmann. Praises will also be performing an album release show in Toronto at The Horseshoe Tavern on August 11th with Roach and Bonnie Trash.

Through instinct, talent, and of course, blind luck, Praises – who now operate as a full band – harnessed their sound through the course of the pandemic, leaning into the creative spirit and a recording process reminiscent of a Bad Seeds project where key players wrote their parts from only a demo track and a feeling. The result pushes beyond their industrial synth-based offerings, incorporating the intensity of their highly regarded live performances with an intimate, collaborative, and distanced songwriting process.

Speaking about the new single, “Our Father”, which is built on brooding synth and solemn percussion before building into a climax, Crowe explains: “In the years following the Me Too movement, it can feel as though every safe feeling male mentor will be exposed as an abuser. Our Father is a letter to Nick Cave, and is meant to playfully invoke his tone as a means to warn him against ever being a pig.”

“instinctively sombre, and gorgeously intimate” – PAN M 360

“a dark, stylized and highly theatrical treat for your senses and sensibilities” – DOMINIONATED

“a slow and meditative listen that gives a desirable amount of time to contemplate its profound messages” – 8/10 EXCLAIM!

ORDER NOW: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / TIDAL / BANDCAMP
PRESS: WRSZW, INDIE MACHINE, DOMINIONATED, PAN M 360, THOUGHTS WORDS ACTION (1), THOUGHTS WORDS ACTION (2), SPILL MAGAZINE, CUPS N CAKES, EXCLAIM!
RADIO: #59 SubModern Albums at NACC, #10 Most Added at NACC, #26 CBC Radio 3 Top 30 (w/o 06.20)
RADIO: debuted #22 on Earshot Canada, #115 NACC Top 200, #11 on NACC Canadian Chart
RADIO: #1 CBC RAdio 3 Top 10 (w/o 08.01)

PRAISES, the project helmed by Toronto-based artist Jesse Crowe, is today sharing their new single and video for “Life is Just a Picture”, which comes as another glimpse of their second album In This Year: Hierophant – out June 17.

When discussing “Life is Just a Picture“, which layers eerie vocals with decayed electronics and haunting synth, Crowe says: “Eventually we all live on in smudged still images on phones or in frames. This song breathes both the sorrow and joy of a lifetime of memories. Written in dedication to the intermingling stories of Grandma Upton and Granny Crowe.” It’s a foggy, gothic addition to the forthcoming album which at times touches on the sounds of Low, Zola Jesus and Chelsea Wolfe.

PRE-ORDER In This Year: HierophantAPPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / TIDAL / BANDCAMP
PRESS: WRSZW, SONOFMARKETING, BIZZARRE, L’INDIEPENENTE, INDIEMACHINE, THOUGHTS WORDS ACTION, INDIE 88, EXCLAIM

PRAISES (aka the project of Jesse Crowe of BELIEFS) is today sharing their new single “Apples For My Love” – the track follows the XLR8R, EXCLAIM, INDIE88, and VANYALAND-tipped “A World On Fire” – from EP4. This new collection of songs positions itself as a hint towards a larger body of work set for release later this year via Hand Drawn Dracula.
PURCHASE / STREAM : smart url / bandcamp

“Heavily reverbed vocals, keys and percussion conjure minimalism and psychedelia in equal measure” – ESSENTIAL NEW RELEASES / EXCLAIM

“a welcome respite from the optimism of North America in 2021” – EARS TO FEED

“Dreamy vocals, pulsing rhythms, and eerie synths come together to create luxe but ominous atmospheres” – NEW & NOTABLE / DAILY BANDCAMP

“Toronto’s Praises Delivers EP of Woozy, Introspective Electronica” – XLR8R

“Every August Album You Need To Know About” – ET CANADA

PRAISES shares their new video for “A World On Fire,” directed by Jordan Allen, and announce details of a new four-track body of work titled EP4 set for release via Hand Drawn Dracula on August 5, 2021. Pre-order EP4 : here.

“Toronto’s Praises Delivers EP of Woozy, Introspective Electronica” – XLR8R

“With ominous, pulsing instrumentals and shoegazey vocal lines, this ambient tune is definitely a must-listen” – INDIE88

Radio premiere via THE STROMBO SHOW // Video via: EXCLAIM, AUTUMN ROSES, VANYALAND, INDIE MACHINE, CIRCUIT SWEET, WRSZW, NICHE MUSIC, PHOTOGMUSIC, THE MOST RADICALIST, ET CANADA, GET IN HER EARS, XLR8R

On EP4, Praises pushes beyond their recent industrial synth-based offerings, incorporating the intensity of their highly regarded live performances with an intimate, collaborative, and distanced songwriting process. EP4 was composed as a combination of two songs that never felt like they had a home until they were met with two new tracks formed in collaboration with producer, DJ, and performer Shortbloom (aka Sachin Mohindra). In this “grueling time of human reckoning,” the songs on EP4 grew slowly and reflective. This first single, “A World On Fire” digs into themes of mortality, identity and love with Crowe fusing these ideas with his brand of dark, introspective electronica.

Additional distanced players of the EP4 project include members of Chandra, Sauna, Blonde Elvis, For Jane, and Beliefs. The new tracks were mixed by long-time musical partner Josh Korody (BELIEFS, BREEZE) at Toronto’s Candle Studio and mastered by Heather Kirby at Dreamlands.

July 02 2021 / NYC NY / The New Colossus Sessions (5pm ET) w/ Bonnie Trash

NEW! Jesse talks candidly with EXCLAIM! and explores cancer battle in their powerful new “Hunter” video by PRAISES.

About The Video: Praises “Hunter” : The whole cancer journey in video.
“This is the scan set from the discovery of cancer to the eradication of cancer. Jesse Crowe had access to all of their CT and MRI scans, and reached out to see if I might be able to animate them together into a full length video. It was such a neat idea, I couldn’t resist seeing what sort of twisted imagery would come out of editing them together. The scans are very alive on their own, but when you put them to music they come to life in a much different way; it becomes like a dance, as if Jesse’s body is naturally reacting to the music without actually hearing it. It’s their core, and the result is hypnotic and jarring, a reminder of how alive we really are.” – Jordan Allen (director)

EP THREE is available now on all streaming platforms and via the HDD STORE.

PRAISES‘ share their new video for “Shadow of a Doubt,” from EP THREE, via BREAKTHRU RADIO (BTR) Today. The Super 8 film was directed by Alex Gray and edited by Jesse Crowe.

“experimental, post-punk/goth orchestral song feels like something straight out of a classic 1970s thriller” – BTR TODAY

EP THREE is available now on all streaming platforms and via the HDD STORE.

Brand New PRAISES EP and VIDEO released today!

EP THREE is co-produced and mixed by Josh Korody (NAILBITER / BELIEFS) and mastered by Jesse F. Keeler (MSTRKRFT).  The new bloody video for “I Don’t Want to Ask” was co-directed by Christopher Mills and streamed first via EXCALIM!

PRAISES perform next at The New Colossus Festival NYC March 11-15, 2020.

Buy / Stream EP THREE via HDD Store or Various Streaming Services: HERE

03.13.20 – NYC – PIANOS w/ New Colossus Festival (7pm)
03.14.20 – NYC – Bowery Electric w/ New Colossus Festival (1:30pm)
03.27.20 – Toronto – Monarch Tavern – EP Release w/ Queen of Swords
04.06.20 – Toronto – Baby G – w/ Algiers

PRAISES release “All Demon’s Reign” (digital single remix) today / STREAM /
1. All Demon’s Reign (Jim Anderson’s ‘Into That Good Night’ Easy Life Remix)
2. Death Piano

“All Demon’s Reign” from full length album In This Year: Ten of Swords available HERE.

04/06/19 Montreal ON – Plant City (La Plante) w/ Dumb Angel, Posterboy
04/11/19 Toronto ON – The Monarch w/ Nyssa, Moon King

PRAISES featured in a fantastic new interview with the UK’s ASBO Magazine alongside the premiere of their latest video for C To C co-directed by Ivy Lovell and Jessica Upton Crowe.

PRAISES new album In This Year: Ten of Swords is OUT NOW via Hand Drawn Dracula — ORDER HERE

ALBUM REVIEWS //

8/10 : “Crowe makes her dark nights of the soul feel hypnotic, carving out territory between Bats for Lashes and Nick Cave’s Skeleton Key. Bleak but vivid, there’s a power to its precision” – EXCLAIM Magazine

4.5/5 – EDITORS PICK : “one of the most gorgeous and sorrowful records to have come out this year” – SPILL Magazine

“For listeners willing to dive deep into Crowe’s world, the album functions well as a forced entry into darkness and unnamable despair” – SLUG Magazine

PRAISES premieres ‘In This Year: Ten of Swords’ LP via EXCLAIM! MAGAZINE. In This Year: Ten of Swords on limited clear w/ black swirl vinyl released by Hand Drawn Dracula December 7th 2018 // PRE-ORDER HERE

“Hear that emotional rawness translated into music by streaming In This Year: Ten of Swords” – EXCLAIM MAGAZINE

PRAISES “Prey” video directed by Christopher Mills (Leonard Cohen, Interpol) premieres via CVLT NATION. In This Year: Ten of Swords on limited clear w/ black swirl vinyl released by Hand Drawn Dracula December 7th 2018 // PRE-ORDER HERE

“the music that they create is pretty freaking magical! Jesse Crowe’s voice is powerful and serene at the same time” ~ CVLT NATION

11/19/18 Manchester UK – The Peer Hat
11/20/18 Nottingham UK – Chameleon Arts
11/22/18 Leeds UK – Northern Guitars
11/23/18 London UK – Caravansérail
11/25/18 Oxford UK – The Library
w/ Dumb Angel