Fresh off her opening songwriters’ circle appearance on Braden Lam’s sold out show for HUFF, Keeper E. returns to The Carleton, along with waants, on Thursday, October 14th. Show time is 7:30 PM and tickets are $15 + HST advanced or $20 at the door. The last time these two played together, the show sold out, so get your tickets early!
Arriving fully formed with her debut EP, the bedroom pop artisan Keeper E. turns her classical music background into something that’s equal parts old-soul wisdom and contemporary performance: It searches. It questions. It laments. It hopes.
Born Adelle Elwood in Nova Scotia, she picked up the violin at three, and sat at the piano for the first time the following year. It was in the middle of her classical piano performance degree, at Mount Allison University in the tiny marsh-side arts haven of Sackville, New Brunswick, that she began composing diary-like folk songs about life and love. In school she practiced Bach, Debussy, and Bartok, and in her leisure time she sketched out her own melodies on acoustic guitar.
Once she began recording the album’s seven songs—which are self-produced with the skill and confidence of a veteran engineer—her sound began to change, layering synths, beats, and effects with her clean and sincere voice at the centre. If you combined the bare honesty of Mitski, the adventurous production of Vampire Weekend, and the vibe of Sylvan Esso, you’d get something close to Keeper E.
waants is the new solo project from Halifax producer and songwriter Adam Warren. Drawing inspiration from Rostam’s shift from indie band songwriter/producer to solo artist and electropop’s current vanguard, waants is both Warren’s most sonically-expansive and most pop effort yet.
From 2006-2016, Adam was the singer, songwriter, producer, and creative driving force of beloved Halifax indie-pop band Glory Glory. A DIY outfit for most of their career, Glory Glory released five EPs (three of which were self-produced) and a critically-acclaimed full-length album (again recorded at home, by Adam). The band played festivals in the UK and Germany, and garnered praise from media outlets like The Telegraph (UK), The Toronto Star, CBC, Exclaim!, Maisonneuve and more.
Following his time with Glory Glory, Adam dove into studio work, traveling between Halifax and NYC to mentor with Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend, The Strokes etc), his studio collaborator on this project. He worked on sessions in New York for groups like Rubblebucket and Cathedrals. Back home in Halifax, he produced music for bands Pretty Normal and Sundae Girl, solo artist Dave Scholten (ex-Acres and Acres), and Guelph, ON songwriter Innes Wilson.
Waants distils all of those experiences into a record that’s both fresh and familiar. Joy and possibility meet existential dread – a celebration of the present amid unshakeable anxiety about our collective future. It feels especially timely: it’s perfect for social-distance dance parties or late-night online rabbit holes. The project had its live debut at the Halifax Pop Explosion in October 2019 and featured members of local groups Designosaur and Hillsburn. The effect on the local scene was immediate. Normally sensible people were transformed into raving partiers. That was just the beginning – Waants’ debut LP Love u Forever is being released by Laughing Heart Music in the winter of 2021.