DAN MANGAN SHARES COVER OF R.E.M.’s “LOSING MY RELIGION”
ACCLAIMED NEW ALBUM MORE OR LESS OUT NOW VIA ARTS & CRAFTS
Dan Mangan is sharing his cover of R.E.M.βs classic βLosing My Religionβ which appears in the trailer for the new CBC TV series Unspeakable, which Mangan also scored. βWhen I was a kid, REM was a staple in my household,β says Mangan. βI remember air guitaring to this song with my brother and sister. It was such a massive hit but also so unlikely a candidate to be so. The chorus isnβt really a chorus. Itβs long. Itβs repetitive. Itβs like a hypnotic cyclical trance of words that stick with you even if you have no idea what theyβre about. I really wanted to try and approach it from a new angle. Thereβs no point in attempting to sing like Michael Stipe – there is only one Michael Stipe. So I tried my best to let it live in a new light while paying homage to the original.β βLosing My Religionβ saw its broadcast premiere earlier today courtesy of CBCβs q.
No stranger to the film-score world, in addition to Unspeakable, the JUNO Award-winning singer-songwriter has also provided scores for Hector And The Search for Happiness starring Simon Pegg and Netflixβs animated series Hilda.
Having completed a successful run of dates last year with Laura Gibson, Mangan is now taking his latest album, More or Less, on the road throughout Canada. Tour dates have already begun on the East Coast and will continue across Canada through February. Full dates can be found below.
Out now via Arts & Crafts, More or Less is an inspired collection of wonderfully relatable songs that manage to eschew the confines of what you might expect from a singer-songwriter. Produced by Drew Brown (Radiohead, Beck) and Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes), the 10 songs feel as timeless as they do progressive.
More or Less is an album that Mangan claims βfeels more like βmeβ than ever. More sparse. Less meticulous. More kids. Less time. More direct. Less metaphor. More discovery. Less youth. More warmth. Less chaos.β
In the years since 20 year old Dan Mangan began boxing his way into the corner of every noisy bar that would let him bring in his guitar heβs released four other albums, toured relentlessly, won a few awards, found a partner who tolerated his schedule, married that partner, then welcomed a baby into their home…which is when things changed.
βIβd been touring non-stop for six consecutive years and the phone just kept ringing, but I felt my mind and body start to fail. When we learned that we were going to have a baby, I told my manager that I wanted to take a year away from touring. I felt Iβd earned it. That βone yearβ away from the grind sort of slowly became six.β
Shortly after, they had another kid and nested. βAs the fog of domestic obligations shifted, I began to regain a sense of myself as an artist. But things were different. I wasnβt a part of the new generation anymore. I knew how to keep racoons from tearing up my lawn, but not so much about youth culture. And the music industry is, uhhhh… all tied up in youth culture.β
So in writing his new album, More or Less, Mangan wrote, like every writer is taught to, about what he knows. Or rather, what he knows now. βI wrote about warmth. I wrote about the feeling of building something when I was young, and the fear of losing it as an adult. I wrote about feeling overwhelmed. I wrote about being in love with someone with whom I spend a lot of time figuring out who is more deserving of a nap. I wrote about the power of what goes unsaid. More or less, I wrote about myself.β
For More or Less, Mangan worked with βsome incredible people who have made many of my favorite albums.β Grammy Award winning producer Drew Brown (Radiohead, Beck, Blonde Redhead, Charlotte Gainsbourg) brought in Joey Waronker, Jason Falkner, and Darrell Thorp. For previous singles, βFool For Waitingβ and βTroubled Mindβ, Mangan enlisted producer Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes) who then introduced Ryan Hewitt and Matt Johnson to the fold to play alongside longtime collaborators Gordon Grdina and John Walsh. βThis team found a vibrant subtlety that helped me rethink my identity as a singer,β says Mangan. βI cannot thank them enough.β
The recording process was piecemeal over several years and full of eye-opening experiences for Mangan. βPaul McCartney even wandered into the studio as we were listening back to a take of βLay Lowββ, says Mangan. βWe ended up scrapping what he heard, but… well… he heard something I wrote. Let that be an omen.β
More or Less follows up 2016βs EP Unmake and 2015βs collaborative art-rock album Club Meds. In 2012 Mangan won two JUNO Awards for his sophomore LP, Oh Fortune, and his 2010 debut album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice, was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.
Tour Dates
Jan 25 – Moncton, NB – Tide & Boar Gastropub
Jan 26 – Fredericton, NB – Boyce Farmersβ Market
Jan 28 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount
Jan 29 – Ottawa, ON – Algonquin College
Jan 31 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
Feb 1 – Hamilton, ON – New Vision United
Feb 2 – Waterloo, ON – Maxwell’s
Feb 4 – Chicago, IL – Schubas
Feb 5 – Minneapolis, MN – Turf Club
Feb 6 – Winnipeg, MB – Garrick Centre
Feb 7 – Saskatoon, SK – Broadway Theatre
Feb 8 – Edmonton, AB – Winspear Centre
Feb 9 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theatre
Feb 10 – Lethbridge, AB – The Palace
Feb 12 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
Feb 13 – Kelowna, BC – Kelowna Community Theatre
Feb 14 – Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden Hall
Mar 11 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brendaβs
Mar 12 – Washington, DC – DC9
Mar 13 – Boston, MA – Cafe 939
Mar 14 – New York, NY – The Mercury Lounge
Mar 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Hotel Cafe
Mar 27 – San Francisco, CA – Hotel Utah
Apr 4 – Leeds, UK – The Brudenell Social Club
Apr 5 – Dublin, IR – The Grand Social
Apr 6 – Manchester, UK – YES (The Basement)
Apr 7 – Brighton, UK – Hope And Ruin
Apr 9 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Apr 10 – Wiesbaden, DE – Schlachthof
Apr 11 – Munich, DE – Hansa 39
Apr 12 – Lorrach, DE – Between The Beats Festival
Apr 13 – Dresden, DE – Beatpol
Apr 14 – Lucerne, CH – Schuur
Apr 16 – Graz, AU – Postgarage
Dan Mangan
More Or Less
(Arts & Crafts)
Release Date: November 2, 2018