Evening Hymns – the ever-evolving project of musician, composer and producer, Jonas Bonnetta – is today sharing his new single, ‘Pyrenees’ which comes with an official video directed by Monika Kraska – watch here. ‘Pyrenees’ is the third song to be released after ‘I Can Only Be Good’ and ‘My Drugs My Dreams’ – tipped so far at NPR, Gorilla vs Bear, American Songwriter, The Line Of Best Fit, Exclaim and more – from the long-awaited new album, Heavy Nights, out via Shuffling Feet Records on June 26, 2020.
Recorded and self-produced at Port William Sound, Bonnetta’s rural studio in Eastern Ontario, the new record features an array of guests including Joseph Shabason (Destroyer), José Contreras (By Divine Right), Bonnetta’s partner, Caylie Runciman (Boyhood) and Edwin Huizinga (The Wooden Sky). ‘Pyrenees’, a glistening standout from the album featuring Shabason’s brooding saxophone work was written between France and Spain whilst on tour. Thematically it captures the moments when Jonas began to move past heartbreak and transition in life, there are elements of catharsis and personal development in the essence that are emulated in the sonics of the track too, the pent up energy and tension before the incendiary ending.
“I woke up before the band on the last date of tour in one of my favourite places in the world,” says Jonas. “Sitting way up in a mountain villa on the border of France and Spain above the village of Sare. I played guitar to a beat I had programmed on my phone. I was feeling new life. Falling in love while on the road and thinking about all the what-ifs. It [the track] wasn’t something that I could take to anyone to help process, so it just lived inside my head for that tour. It felt like catharsis to have an outlet for this pent-up energy. All of the conflict just being obliterated by this new excitement for a big change.”
Speaking about the challenges of producing the video during a pandemic, director Monika Kraska adds: “In making this video I wanted to visually express the duality of being enthusiastic about a new relationship, with the opposing force of feeling guarded in its newness. I wanted the focus to be a dance performance, but having been met with restrictions due to the pandemic, my options were limited. Having only the resources I could create for myself, I was really fortunate in that I have friends nearby with black belts in karate.
Although it initially felt like a compromise, I grew to feel that the seriousness, and physicality in watching these sisters performing katas from memory was absolutely in keeping with my initial concepts of what the video should represent.”
The new album marks Bonnetta’s first release under the Evening Hymns moniker since his 2015-record, Quiet Energies, an album that would find Jonas opening for the likes of Agnes Obel, Mount Eerie, Lou Doillon and Chris Cohen. In the time between records, Bonnetta has recorded a collaborative album with violinist, Edwin Huizinga (The Wooden Sky), released the ambient LP, All This Here under his own name and starred in the Canadian festival-featured film, ‘Drifting Snow’.
Heavy Nights
Out June 26, 2020
1. I Can Only Be Good
2. Heavy Nights
3. Pyrenees
4. The Days Disintegrating
5. You In Dreams
6. My Drugs, My Dreams
7. Kiss My Dreams
8. Halfway To The Moon