Zoon Shares New EP 'Big Pharma'

Zoon (Zoongide'ewin), the musical project fronted by Daniel Monkman, shares his brand new EP, Big Pharma, out today, Canadian National Indigenous People's Day, via Paper Bag Records. Zoon's new 5-track EP is notable for its collaborations and features, expressly highlighting the musician's adept ability to experiment and constantly defy musical categorization.

On his new EP, Daniel wrote:
"'Big Pharma' is about me trying to bring awareness about the pharmaceutical industry and their lies. I talk about how they destroyed my community of Selkirk Manitoba and many more small towns and cities. A whole generation completely changed in just a matter of five years, Families torn apart and loved ones lost to addiction and overdoses. Our treaty card ensures that our medical insurance is covered but a lot of the time the only medication that's available for free is the stuff thats most addictive. I found this alarming and made me connect the dots linked to an underlying form on genocide happening right under our noses."

The release of Big Pharma follows Zoon's critically acclaimed debut album, Bleached Wavves (which was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize in 2021). Recently, Zoon shared an Apple Music Home Session, featuring stripped-down versions of songs off Bleached Wavves and a cover of My Morning Jackets' "Sooner."

The new session's description reads: "Recording with Michael Peter Olsen (who's laid down strings for the likes of Drake, Arcade Fire, and k-os), Zoon remakes a pair of Bleached Wavves cuts-"Vibrant Colours" and "Light Prism"-as acoustic dream-pop hymns redolent of a coffeehouse Galaxie 500. But he still infuses them with just enough textural detail (shimmering strings and nature sounds on the former, noctural twang on the latter) to retain their essential otherworldly vibe."

Zoon is also celebrating back-to-back Polaris Music Prize Nominations, noting that Sewn Back Together (Arts & Crafts) by OMBIIGIZI, the widely praised and celebrated project Daniel shares with Adam Sturgeon from Status/NonStatus, has been long-listed.

Listen to the new EP here:

ZOON LIVE TOUR DATES

! with fed Up
* with Low

June 22: Calgary - Sled Island *
July 6 & 7: Toronto - Great Hall !
July 15-17: Yellowknife - Folk on the Rocks
July 12: Sudbury - River & Sky Festival
July 23: Montreal - Entrepôt
Aug 12: Mont Louis - La Pointe Sec
Aug 13: Gaspé - Centre Culturel Le Griffon
Aug 19: Santa Fe - SITE