Joyeria Share New Single 'Colour Film'

Speedy Wunderground are excited to announce the FIM (EP), the debut EP from London-via-Canada's Joyeria (pronounced Joy-a-ree-a), due out October 14th, 2022 (preorder here).

Joyeria's FIM (EP) is what happens when a Canadian spends his adult life patiently crafting his own path as a songwriter in London instead of following his heroes and peers in search of an assumed authenticity in Austin or Nashville. It's what happens when a stubbornly solo artist finds a true collaborator in a producer like Speedy Wunderground's Dan Carey. It's what happens after a songwriter has worked hard for a long time in the dark, looking for lightning in a bottle - and finds it.

Today Joyeria also share new EP cut "Colour Film", following previous singles "Here Comes Trouble" and "Wild Joy".

He says of the single: "'Colour Film' is about the mindless daily routine of being alive, what David Foster Wallace called "water". I apparently have the ability to choose how I feel or think as I participate in being alive just as I can choose how I feel and think when I explain songs which is to say at times, very uneasy. But this song is also about worry beads, American G.I.'s running fighter pilot drills over Mediterranean islands, stray cats, ice creams and falling rotten oranges.

"Like I said, I'm in a colour film, in fact we might all be."

So far, Joyeria has charted his career in invisible ink. Always a shape shifter, never a genre chaser. He's quit bands when their buzz was the buzziest, he's released music under names even devotees could never remember how to spell and has insisted on building his backstory entirely with gaps in the narrative. He's a maths-wiz, a crack chess player, a painter and Dad who smokes on the sly. Built like a hockey player, with a frame carved out by late nights and tour life - he is an imposing figure until you step into the presence of his gently voracious enthusiasm.

Joyeria's FIM (EP) is a collection of songs about depression, society and a celebration of songwriting in a world that looks a lot less encouraging to be a songwriter in than it did when Joyeria fell in love with the independent bands of the late 90's. Which might be why it sounds fresh in the way a gem from an older sibling's record collection does.

These recordings are also funny. Darkly and refreshingly funny in an era where self-depreciating comedy - from the mouth of a songwriter who can strut and swagger - too often comes across like a bet hedged against the confidence it takes to write songs with guts and brain cells. It is a breath of fresh air to hear genuine humility in the vocal agility of Joyeria, who has come to terms with the fact that slouching and posturing are equally favorable and forgivable techniques in the pursuit of getting the weight of life off one's chest and into music.

One is reminded of a certain breed of accomplished songwriters in the lyrical wit and natural baritone of Joyeria. But Dan Carey's exuberant production recaptures andreinvigorates the essential weirdness of what united the early phases of fellow off-beat masters - a buoyant taste for the strange. It's the sound of two collaborators working fast, wild and free with years of experience under their belts and exacting standards.

Joyeria has the rare ability to speak lyrics without crossing the line into spoken word, and while his vocal stylings at times enhance the moody humour of a song, they steer clear of voice acting and persona grabbing. The coherent voice at the centre of the FIM (EP) has clearly sung to packed houses at the top of his lungs and then kept singing when alone, through stretches of wondering whether his performing days were done.

It's hard to grow up with grace in a music scene that romanticises the tragic case. It's tempting to grope after the example of the handful of songwriters who matured with dignity, or settle down to write a cozy record. This is where Joyeria's EP takes a hard left.

Instead of conceiving middle-age as a personal apocalypse, instead of contriving a barbed authority and pointing fingers - Joyeria breaks ground in the calm devastation of the present he perceives. This is what makes the FIM (EP) a record of the moment, by a songwriter who has plied his craft for a long time to get here.

"I sit around and wait for cold calls/ at least they are honest about my plan/ and that I over paid." These lyrics say much about a songwriter's patience, who finds truth slipping through the currency of societal lies.

Over the course of six songs, a listener has room to luxuriate in electric confessions of fatigue, "Just let the dog eat from the table/ I lay in its spot catching some sleep." And while the FIM (EP) never pretends to be positive and uplifting, it's hard to shake the ecstatic thrill of Joyeria declaring: "There's a wild joy I remember" - as if his voice is about to break its vessel. It's too necessary a cry to be nostalgic. And if it sounds slightly insane, it is because it's inspired.

Listen to the new single here:

LIVE DATES

8/12/2022 - London, UK - Sebright ARMS - Moreish Idols EP launch

9/24/2022 - Manchester, UK - YES (basement)