Toronto singer-songwriter Matthew Barber has revealed he's returning with a new album. Titled Phase of the Moon, the record will arrive via Outside Music on May 4.
The LP will mark the follow-up to 2014's Big Romance and comes in the wake of 2016's The Family Album will sister Jill Barber.
Phase of the Moon was self-produced by Matthew Barber, along with Ken Friesen (the Tragically Hip, Carly Rae Jepsen) handling the engineering.
A press release explains the following of the new album:
The songs on Phase of the Moon were conceived in a tiny studio apartment in the quaint Paris neighbourhood of Montmartre where Matthew and his wife spent a month in early 2017. It came with a small upright piano and had thin walls, which could explain why piano songs sung in deeper, hushed tones feature prominently on the record. The winter sojourn in Europe provided a welcome respite from the all-consuming media madness back home, and coupled with a steady diet of existentialist reading material, served to foster a mood of almost contented melancholy that seeped into the songs and runs throughout the record. This mood is at times manifested in the form of a solitary searcher reflecting on what's come before and wondering what lies ahead, and at other times through words of support addressed to a concerned partner that reveal a commensurate plea for reassurance that everything's going to be ok. The quiet storm is punctuated by necessary and at times exuberant affirmations of love, hope and wonderment, and a spirit of embracing life in all its complexity endures.
For a taste of that, you can hear the new album track "Back to You," which has arrived via a new Christopher Mills-directed video. You'll find it below, along with the album's tracklist and Barber's upcoming tour dates.
Phase of the Moon:
1. Grateful For The Rain
2. Phase Of The Moon
3. Hanging On The Line
4. Maybe It's Love
5. Back To You
6. The Pathway
7. All In A Dream
8. A Living
9. The Painter
10. Take Good Care
Tour dates:
03/02 Victoria, BC - Capital Ballroom
03/03 Vancouver, BC - The Imperial
03/05 Red Deer, AB - Bo's Bar and Grill
03/06 Lethbridge, AB - Geomatic Attic
03/08 Calgary, AB - Marquee
03/09 Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room
03/10 Saskatoon, SK - Capitol Music Club
03/12 Winnipeg, MB - Garrick Centre
03/14 St. Catharines, ON - The Warehouse
03/15 London, ON - Rum Runners Music Hall
03/16 Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
03/17 Montreal, QC - Cafe Campus
