Now the band have collaborated with Eric Barone, creator of video games such as Stardew Valley, on a new video for one of the album’s new tracks, the dreamy “Many Mirrors”.  Barone, already a fan of Alvvays, heard “Many Mirrors” and was inspired to create a video based on old-school side-scrolling video games.

Discussing the process of making the video, Eric Barone said, “It’s not every day I get an email from a cool band like Alvvays. When I learned they were fans of Stardew Valley, it felt like a real honor. The whole album is fantastic, but the song “Many Mirrors” had a pure, adventurous energy to it that really resonated with me. I took that feeling, and used it to create a visual world in my mind’s eye… and that’s what ultimately turned into this video. I had a lot of fun making it, and I’m really happy to be able to contribute, in a small way, to the band’s story!”

You can watch the video here.

Originating back in 2011 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the band gained attention with 2014’s debut Alvvays, whilst 2017’s sophomore album Antisocialites further honed their sound.  The release of the second album was followed by an extensive North American tour, on which the group often played slots supporting The National.  The road to the release of their third album, after the tour, was not an easy one – lead singer Molly Rankin’s apartment was burgled shortly after work began on new songs, and a recorder containing several demos was stolen.  This was closely followed by a basement flood, which threatened to destroy all of the band’s gear.  Despite these setbacks, however, Alvvays renewed efforts on a third album in October 2021, and Blue Rev was recorded in a Los Angeles studio with producer Shawn Everett.  The album was released almost a year later.

The group have also added UK and European tour dates to their upcoming 2023 tour.  Check out more, and buy tickets, here.  Full dates and venues for the UK and Europe are listed below:

24/05/2022 – o2 Kentish Town Forum – London, UK
27/05 – Dot to Dot Festival – Bristol, UK
28/05 – Dot to Dot Festival – Nottingham, UK
30/05 – New Century – Manchester, UK
31/05 – Galvanizers – Glasgow, UK
02/06 – Primavera Sound – Barcelona, ES
04/06 – Trabendo – Paris, FR
05/06 – Botanique – Brusselles, BE
06/06 – Astra Kulturhaus – Berlin, DE
09/06 – Primavera Sound – Madrid, ES

In many ways Keaton Henson is an ideal soundtrack for those of us living in London or the South East of England today as the government announced an even stricter ‘tier 4,’ which is placing millions of people under the strictest rules since November’s national lockdown. For many of us here it is going to a very bleak Christmas and the fragile, broken music of Keaton Henson is exactly how many of us are feeling at the moment.

‘Ontario,’ is the third track on Keaton Henson’s latest album, ‘Monument,’ and is unique in eschewing his normal guitar-based style and opting for a keyboard accompaniment more in lieu of someone like Chet Faker who’s similarly emotional vocal style is often matched with chilled keyboards and slowed down, hipsterfied versions of rap tunes such as ‘No Diggity,’ as well as his own well-crafted songs with interesting lyrics and relaxing chords.

Keaton Henson is someone that you might describe as having something of a cult following, with today’s video attracting a modest 2,065 views so far, its certainly not the world-dominating pop force of someone like Dua Lipa, however one thing is for certain, those who follow Keaton Henson do follow him with great loyalty and take his music very seriously indeed. One admiring fan asks ‘Who thought his gorgeous voice could mature any more then it was? It’s mellowed out so beautifully, like a fine wine.’

In many ways the analogy of a fine wine is apt for Keaton Henson, someone who creates music so mature that it is unlikely to ever be misunderstood are fail to strike a resonant feeling within the listener. Since the release of is debut album ‘Dear,’ in 2010, which featured the gripping ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are,’ Keaton Henson has had an incredibly productive ten years, releasing six incredibly original studio albums as well as a complete TV soundtrack to BBC Three’s In The Flesh.

The latest album, ‘Monument,’ is very much the pinnacle of Keaton Henson’s development as an artist, and yet the same closeness of feeling and emotional vulnerability which was present on ‘Dear,’ has not been lost or even spilled a single grain. ‘Ontario,’ feels just as penetratingly fragile as ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are,’ yet it is also audible to hear the entire ten years of experience and creative development that he has gone through, an entire decade well spent.

It is even more gripping to see the song performed live, even though this live performance is unlike any other, conducted remotely, from a great distance for many of his fans, and yet feels like he is right in the room with you.