2022 has been a big year for Ontario’s Alvvays. The indie-pop group released their third studio album, Blue Rev, on October 7th, to critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum, Rolling Stone and the New York Times. “Belinda Says”, a track from the new album, was chosen as Pitchfork’s No. 1 song of 2022, and Blue Rev itself was selected as No. 5 on NPR Music’s list of best albums of the year.
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
