After impressing critics around the world with their 2021 debut album Go By Feel, The Hello Darlins return today with a new EP, In The Sundust, to coincide with a massive cross-Canada tour with Matt Andersen (see dates below).
In The Sundust is actually a tease of the Canadian alt-country collective’s ambitious sophomore double album due out in Fall 2023, recorded in part at L.A.’s famed United Recording Studios with multiple Grammy-winning engineer Ross Hogarth (R.E.M., Hall & Oates, John Mellencamp, John Fogerty), and mixed by multi-Grammy award winning Engineer, Mike Poole (John Prine, Martina McBride, Robert Plant).
Additionally, the rhythm section for the sessions consisted of A-listers Bob Glaub on bass (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon) and drummer Chad Cromwell (Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt). In all, it was a magical experience for The Hello Darlins’ creative core, vocalist/lyricist Candace Lacina, keyboardist/co-producer Mike Little and guitarist/co-producer Murray Pulver.
First single “Better Days,” written by Lacina and Little, features country-soul artist Dave Fenley, best known for his performances as a finalist on both America’s Got Talent and as part of Blake Shelton’s team on NBC’s Emmy-winning show, The Voice. As a slow- burning soulful ballad, the song fully displays the band’s skills at arrangements, classic instrumentation and unmistakable vocals.
Written during a time of grief, the message of “Better Days” is about finding hope while enduring challenging times. In Candace’s words, “It’s about trusting the sunlight will eventually return after the storm.” She adds, “We haven’t changed as people or artists, but our hearts have grown so much in the past year. Among some of the excitement and joy, we’ve also had quite a few challenges and heartaches to process, such as losing loved ones and overcoming other hurdles that life presented. That’s where music really mattered and carried us through.”
According to Mike, “The new music was written over a month at the start of 2022. Candace wrote about 32 songs in the first 2 weeks of the year and at first I thought she was joking, but since the first tours of the year were on hold due to the pandemic. it was a great window to just buckle in and make another album. We ended up recording two albums worth of material.”
While fans of Go By Feel will appreciate some of the new material’s heartfelt and emotional qualities, other songs contain a bit more of an edge. “There are some up-tempo blues, bluegrass, and southern rock-inspired songs that I think present a more complete picture of the band’s live show.” says Mike.
With well over one million streams and three Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations generated by Go By Feel, it’s safe to say there’s a lot of anticipation for more music from this supergroup.
