Myriam Gendron announces new LP, touring with Jim White & Marisa Anderson (hear “Long Way Home”)

Montreal singer, songwriter and guitarist Myriam Gendron has announced a new album, Mayday, which will be out May 10 via Thrill Jockey & Feeding Tube. The album features contributions from guitarists Bill Nace and Marisa Anderson, drummer Jim White, bassist Cédric Dind-Lavoie, and saxophonist Zoh Amba.

The first single from the album is the lovely “Long Way Home,” which features White and Anderson. “This was one of the first songs I wrote for the album,” Myriam Says. “I wanted to write a song with verses and a chorus, which was a bit of a challenge for me, as I’m more used to ballads without a chorus. I also wanted to continue the work I’d started on Ma délire, where I’d begun to experiment with songwriting inspired by tradition. But the aim of such a process is to go beyond a mere exercise in quotations. The result has to be internally coherent and reflect emotion in a way that’s fair and true. And it has to be a pleasant song to listen to, even for those who don’t know my sources of inspiration. I feel I’ve met that challenge with ‘Long Way Home,’ which is in a way my first pop song, thanks to the contributions of Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Jim White and Marisa Anderson. We made jokes while recording it in the studio. Jim isn’t used to playing in this style, and it made him smile a lot. He said he felt like Mick Fleetwood! This song opens the album with the idea of a symbolic shipwreck (‘when my great ship went down,’ a reference to the popular song ‘It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down’ about the sinking of the Titanic) and the retreat that follows. The words of the refrain ‘Mother make my bed’ are also very old, and are a recurring motif in traditional songs about returning home (sometimes to die).”

You can watch the video for “Long Way Home” below.

Myram will be on tour this spring with Jim White & Marisa Anderson (who also have an album coming out via Thrill Jockey) including a NYC show at Le Poisson Rouge on May 16. She’ll also be in Knoxville, TN next week for Big Ears and will open for Kurt Vile & The Violators in Toronto in June. All dates are below.

[embedded content]

Mayday:
1. There Is No East Or West
2. Long Way Home
3. Terres brûlées
4. Dorothy’s Blues
5. La Luz
6. La belle Françoise (pour Sylvie)
7. Lully Lullay
8. Look Down That Lonesome Road
9. Quand j’étais jeune et belle
10. Berceuse

Myriam Gendron – 2024 Tour Dates
Mar. 22 – Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival
Apr. 2 – Minneapolis, MN – The Cedar
Apr. 4 – Rock Island, IL – Rozz Tox
Apr. 5 – Milwaukee, WI – Wilson Center
Apr. 6 – Chicago, IL – Judson & Moore
Apr. 26 – Williamstown, MA – Clark Art Institute
May 16 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge *
May 17 – Keene, NH – Thing in the Spring *
May18 – Montréal, QC – Lion d’Or *
May 20 – Portland, OR – Holocene *
May 22 – Seattle, WA – Rabbit Box *
May 23 – Vancouver, BC – St. James Community Square *
May 24 – San Diego, CA – The Loft *
May 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon *
May 26 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall *
Jun. 28 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall ^

* w/ Jim White & Marisa Anderson (duo)

^ w/ Kurt Vile & the Violators