On May 7th, 2021, Sub Pop will release Tallahassee; Archive Series Volume no. 5, the lost-in-time debut album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded over a two-year (1998-99) window during which Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam attended Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts. Three years later, Iron & Wine would issue The Creek Drank the Cradle and begin a run of records widely praised as being part of a new blueprint in the singer-songwriter genre. 
 
Tallahassee doesn’t attempt to re-write history but instead aims to document the very first steps in Beam’s journey to becoming one of America’s most original and distinctive artists.  

The eleven-song collection was culled from a number of recordings that had been (mostly) forgotten by Beam himself but had been preserved by former roommate and one-time Iron & Wine member, EJ Holowicki. Holowicki, whom went on to work as a sound designer at Skywalker Sound, was a catalyst in making sure Beam documented these songs while the two were roommates in a house on St. Augustine St. near campus. In addition to serving as both engineer and bassist, Holowicki also worked as an archival producer in preparing the tracks for official release. 
 
Tallahassee, with its sparse instrumental canvas and live-in one-room takes, is very much akin to early Iron & Wine releases, The Creek Drank the Cradle, The Sea & The Rhythm, and In the Reins. From the wandering country-esque tempo of “Calm on the Valley” to the more mid-tempo Harvest-era vibe of “This Solemn Day”, the seeds of the portrait of an artist as a young man are all present. While still in its formative stages, the lyrical imagery and intimate musical nature that has become a trademark of the Iron & Wine “sound” is present and represented throughout Tallahassee.  
 
Early music file-sharers have long claimed ownership of a number of early Iron & Wine recordings, many that still have yet to be officially released. While this record will not quite correct all the wrongs of the early days of the internet, it will fill in many of the blanks for long-time fans.  

Tallahassee is part of the official Iron and Wine Archive Series. It will be released on LP/CD/CS/DSPs and is now available for preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, Iron & Wine’s official website, select independent retailers in North America, the U.K. and EU will receive the limited Loser edition on yellow-splattered vinyl (while supplies last). 

Iron & Wine
Archive Series Volume No.5: Tallahassee
 
Tracklisting:
1. Why Hate the Winter
2. This Solemn Day
3. Loaning Me Secrets
4. John’s Glass Eye
5. Calm on the Valley
6. Ex-Lover Lucy Jones
7. Elizabeth
8. Show Him the Ground
9. Straight and Tall
10. Cold Town
11. Valentine

On April 30th, 2021, Sub Pop will release Indian Yard, the debut record from Sitka, Alaska project Ya Tseen. Indian Yard is an intense illumination of feeling and interconnectedness. Following the group’s debut offerings, “Close the Distance”, and “Knives” (feat. John Baldwin Gourley of Portugal. The Man), comes their latest single “Synthetic Gods.” Hinging on verses from Shabazz Palaces and Stas THEE Boss, “Synthetic Gods” is sonically seductive, a tense reflection on crisis that summons the pressure needed to ensure Indigenous sovereignty and power to the people.

Photo Credit: Desert X 2021 installation view of Nicholas Galanin, Never Forget, photo by Lance Geber, courtesy of Desert X.  https://www.gofundme.com/f/landback.

Ya Tseen’s Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. His work spans sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry, and music; advocating for Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social, and environmental justice, for present, and future generations. For Galanin, memory and land are inevitably entwined. His most recent installation for Desert X 2021, on view through May 16, 2021, entitled Never Forget has garnered international media acclaim including from outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Desert Sun, Galerie Magazine, and Time Out. The 45-foot letters of Never Forget reference the Hollywood sign, which initially spelled out HOLLYWOODLAND and was erected to promote a whites-only development. Its timing coincided with a development in Palm Springs that also connected to the film industry: Studio contracts limited actors’ travel, contributing to the city’s rise as a playground and refuge of the stars. Meanwhile, the white settler mythology of America as the land of the free, home of the brave was promoted in the West, and the landscape was cinematized through the same lens. Never Forget asks settler landowners to participate in the work by transferring land titles and management to local Indigenous communities. The work is a call to action and a reminder that land acknowledgments become only performative when they do not explicitly support the land back movement. Not only does the work transmit a shockwave of historical correction, but also promises to do so globally through social media. In connection with this installation, Galanin has organized a Go Fund Me account to benefit the Native American Land Conservancy (NALC.) You can contribute here. 
 
Indian Yard is now available for preorder on CD/LP through Sub Pop. Preorders through megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America, the U.K., and Europe will receive the standard LP on black vinyl.

The North American deluxe edition on clear vinyl is now available for preorder. The deluxe packaging will include a 24-page hardcover LP-sized book with covers featuring a sci-fi landscape populated by a toddler-wearing artist Merritt Johnson’s sculpture Mindset, a VR headset woven from sweetgrass. The interior art was designed by Galanin. This deluxe edition will be available while supplies last.

Ya Tseen
Indian Yard

Tracklisting:
1. Knives (feat. Portugal. The Man)
2. Light the Torch
3. Born into Rain (feat. rum.gold and tunia)
4. At Tugáni
5. Get Yourself Together
6. Close the Distance
7. We Just Sit and Smile Here in Silence
8. A Feeling Undefined (feat. Nick Hakim and Iska Dhaaf)
9. Synthetic Gods (feat. Shabazz Palaces and Stas THEE Boss)
10. Gently to the Sun (feat. Tay Sean)
11. Back in That Time (feat. Qacung)

On June 11th, 2021, Sub Pop will reissue The Shins Oh, Inverted World (20th Anniversary Remaster), the group’s much-beloved debut, for its 20th birthday.
 
Oh, Inverted World is the earth-shattering, indie-rock-redefining 2001 album from The Shins, and is presented here in its finest form. The classic tunes get new life with mastering by Bob Ludwig, under band leader James Mercer’s watchful eye. The new front cover of this edition of Oh, Inverted World features an ‘inverted’ color scheme, on a die-cut jacket, and includes a booklet filled with vintage photos, handwritten lyrics, liner notes, and more. 
 
20 lucky fans who purchase the LP will receive the “Golden Ticket” edition of the album, which includes a 7”x7” classic photo of the band signed by Mercer, hidden in 10 Loser Edition and 10 standard black vinyl copies.

The music on Oh, Inverted World is obviously essential, and this remastering truly makes this the album Mercer always wanted it to be. Never quite satisfied with the sonics of the original, Mercer took the 20th anniversary of the album as his opportunity to finally set the (literal!) record straight. And the results sound stellar: great for new fans, and well worth the attention for those who fell in love with it in the first place.
 
Mercer says of Oh, Inverted World, “This record gave me the life that I never really dreamed I would have. It opened me up to the whole world and gave me validation. It’s also something that stands as a bit of a pinnacle for our band. You release that first record and it’s so well embraced, but you’re always trying to get that magic back, I think. We’ve done well, certainly, but the fervor that happened around Oh, Inverted World we never quite reached again. It’s a special moment when you’re a new band and you’ve got what was apparently kind of a new sound. This record symbolized a very special moment in my life, a watershed moment for sure.”

The Oh, Inverted World (20th Anniversary Remaster) is now available to pre-order through Sub Pop. LP pre-orders from megamart.subpop.com, The Shins merch store, select independent retailers in North America, the U.K., EU, Australia and New Zealand will receive the limited Loser edition on light blue with white marble vinyl (while supplies last). 

The Shins
Oh, Inverted World (20th Anniversary Remaster)
 
Tracklisting:
1. Caring Is Creepy
2. One by One All Day
3. Weird Divide
4. Know Your Onion!
5. Girl Inform Me
6. New Slang
7. The Celibate Life
8. Girl on the Wing
9. Your Algebra
10. Pressed in a Book
11. The Past and Pending

What Is Going On? the five-song debut EP of bedroom pop from singer, songwriter, and producer Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) is out now on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
 
Today, she is sharing the official video for “Sundown,” which she co-directed with her manager Ava Solomon. Hannah says of the video, “We shot this video on iPhone because we really wanted to tap into the DIY vibe of the project, especially since it’s how I made the EP.  I also wanted it to capture friendship and my teenage years. I feel this “Sundown” video really ties the whole EP together.”

“Sundown” was the first song that helped Hannah realize that music could be a way to express what she was otherwise unable to articulate. She says,“‘Sundown’ takes place when I was a junior in high school and I decided to write a song about how I was feeling at the time,” she says. “I was exhausted from schoolwork, extracurricular activities, college-prep, and overall life of being a pre-college teen. ‘Sundown’ was a way for me to express thoughts I’d kept to myself.” She continues, “Sonically, this song is layered with many different background vocals, uses of reverb, chorus and pitch shift. It’s very telling of the music I was consuming at the moment.”
 
Hailing from Mesquite, Texas and now residing in New York, the incredibly resourceful 18 year-old records and produces her music all through her iPhone 7. Using Garageband iOS, an iRig, microphone, and guitar, Hannah has found a process that has served her well so far in her young recording career.
 
Hannah released What Is Going On?’s first single “Think Too Much,” which was warmly received by outlets like Jezebel who raved,  “An immediate charmer—dreamy melodies emboldened by a neurotic interiority—and maybe the greatest song about fearing turning 23 since Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?” Meanwhile, Alternative Press noted it for “dreamy synths and beats” and Brooklyn Vegan called it “A catchy dose of indie/dream pop that makes good on the promise of Hannah’s Soundcloud singles.”
 
What people are saying about Hannah Jadagu:
“She does a great job of expressing a sense of being trapped in a loop of negative thoughts (“why does it feel like I’m digging a hole?”) while keeping the music light and breezy.” [“Think Too Much” / “20 Best Rock Songs Right Now”] - The FADER
 
“Jadagu’s songs have an inherently chill quality that feel almost effortless.” - Dallas Observer
 
“A colorful dose of sweet, soaring psych and folk seems to coalesce into its own new genre… “Think Too Much” is intimate, but feels like it was always meant to be shared not with a diary, but a full audience: Jadagu’s dazzling performance is underscored by haunting lyrics that delve into one’s inner demons, uncertainties, and self-doubts – and an ethereal, catchy chorus all about overcoming these obstacles.” - Atwood Magazine
 
“Will delight your ears and …will warm your heart.” [“Think Too Much”] - Closed Captioned
 
“The track spans just under 3 minutes long and it captures a rosy, youthful wonder. Jadagu’s dreamy vocals paired with the lo-fi instrumentation gives “Think Too Much” a light bedroom pop haze. There’s a feelgood nature to the track, especially with its jangly guitars and upbeat bounce.” [“Think Too Much”] - Abduction Radiation
 
“Invitingly-vernal and open-hearted…” [“Think Too Much”] - The Autumn Roses
 
“The near 3-minute track begins with melodic guitar strumming before light drums kick in and give the song the feeling of a great summer pop tune. As Jadagu’s soft, gorgeous voice swears “It’s all in your head,” backing vocals from a group falsetto choir bring the song’s energy to life even more. The video for “Think Too Much” was directed Cameron Livesey and features Jadagu and a group of friends wander through a city-scape of bridges, trains and streets, singing along to the positive tune.”  [“Think Too Much”] - MXDWN
 
“[A] brilliant letter of introduction…” [“Think Too Much”] -  Binaural
 
“The title track of the debut EP from 18-year-old New York-by-way-of-Texas singer/songwriter Hannah Jadagu, What is Going On? is one of the better ‘song of the summer’ candidates we’ve heard thus far in this young year. With a Strat as her weapon of choice, Jadagu coats the song’s anxious lyrics with a breezy, perfect ’n’ simple riff. Just the right touch of distortion, a catchy lead guitar hook, and warm washes of synths as background muscle? Can’t ask for much more than that.”  [“What Is Going On?”] - Guitar World
 
“The single features a chorus-drenched riff and phased strums reminiscent of the Beach Fossils guitar sound. The crisp packet drum sound is loaded with lo-fi tones and a tinge of hip hop. Hannah’s vocals are addictively sentimental, the melody echoed by the jovial lead guitar.” [“What Is Going On?”] - The Most Radicalist
 

Hannah Jadagu
What Is Going On?

Tracklisting:
1. My Bones
2. Sundown
3. Think Too Much
4. What Is Going On?
5. Bleep Bloop

Today, Sub Pop releases Indian Yard, the debut record from Sitka, Alaska project Ya Tseen. Galanin began working on the record in 2017 while going back and forth between his home in Sitka and Juneau, Alaska where he was carving a totem pole. The album entwines falling in love and the birth of a child with the urgency of current social and environmental justice movements to tear down destructive systems and build anew.  He shared the concepts with bandmates Zak D. Wass and Otis Calvin III and together they structured the album alongside longtime collaborator Benjamin Verdoes. Through sessions in Sitka and Seattle, a cast of brilliant friends—Shabazz Palaces, Nick Hakim, fellow Indigenous Alaskan singer and songwriter Qacung, to name a few—helped form Indian Yard into a cataract of intensely current pop wonders. 

His debut as Ya Tseen (“be alive,” and a reference to his Tlingit name Yeil Ya Tseen) is Indian Yard, his first album for Sub Pop.  Rich with emotional range and sharp awareness, Indian Yard explores love, desire, frustration, pain, revolution, and connection through magnetic expressions of an Indigenous mind and body. The lusty electro-soul cascade of “Close the Distance,” the lithe funk frolic of “Get Yourself Together,” the insistent weight of “Back in That Time,” sung in Yupik: These 11 tracks put Galanin, Ya Tseen, and Indigenous art at large in a current musical conversation with the likes of Moses Sumney and TV on the Radio, FKA Twigs, and James Blake.
 
Indian Yard is a profound record of liberation and an implicit act of protest, making its case by facing the intersection of past, present, and future realities. In a nod to Sun Ra, “Gently To The Sun” mentions “meds for a nightmare”—an apt description for a record that offers a much-needed antidote for what now ails us personally and universally.
 
This is not, by any means, Galanin’s first album. He has released a steady stream of records under a panoply of aliases, including Silver Jackson and Indian Agent. He has worked with the likes of Meshell Ndegeocello, Tanya Tagaq, and Samantha Crain. And for the better part of a decade, he’s also been part of the revolutionarily borderless art collective Black Constellation alongside Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction (read full bio at Sub Pop).

Indian Yard can be purchased on CD/LP through Sub Pop. LPs purchased through megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America, the U.K., and Europe will receive the standard LP on black vinyl. The North American deluxe edition on clear vinyl is now available for preorder. The deluxe packaging will include a 24-page hardcover LP-sized book with covers featuring a sci-fi landscape populated by a toddler-wearing artist Merritt Johnson’s sculpture Mindset, a VR headset woven from sweetgrass. The interior art was designed by Galanin. This deluxe edition will be available while supplies last.

Ya Tseen’s Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. His work spans sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry, and music; advocating for Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social, and environmental justice, for present, and future generations. For Galanin, memory and land are inevitably entwined. His most recent installation for Desert X 2021, on view through May 16, 2021, entitled Never Forget has garnered international media acclaim including from outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Desert Sun, Galerie Magazine, and Time Out. The 45-foot letters of Never Forget reference the Hollywood sign, which initially spelled out HOLLYWOODLAND and was erected to promote a whites-only development. Its timing coincided with a development in Palm Springs that also connected to the film industry: Studio contracts limited actors’ travel, contributing to the city’s rise as a playground and refuge of the stars. Meanwhile, the white settler mythology of America as the land of the free, home of the brave was promoted in the West, and the landscape was cinematized through the same lens. Never Forget asks settler landowners to participate in the work by transferring land titles and management to local Indigenous communities. The work is a call to action and a reminder that land acknowledgments become only performative when they do not explicitly support the land back movement. Not only does the work transmit a shockwave of historical correction, but also promises to do so globally through social media. In connection with this installation, Galanin has organized a Go Fund Me account to benefit the Native American Land Conservancy (NALC.) You can contribute here. 

What people are saying about Indian Yard:
 “a rich listen, strengthened by Galanin’s burning focus on critical issues” - [ 8/10] Uncut

“A widescreen epic of joyous, synth-driven indie-pop, electro-soul and borderless beats. […] An artist who refuses to be hemmed in.” - WePresent 

“Indian Yard is every bit as multi-layered and multi-faceted a listen as Galanin’s artistic take on the world promised” - Loud & Quiet

Ya Tseen
Indian Yard

Tracklisting:
1. Knives (feat. Portugal. The Man)
2. Light the Torch
3. Born into Rain (feat. Rum.gold and Tunia)
4. At Tugáni
5. Get Yourself Together
6. Close the Distance
7. We Just Sit and Smile Here in Silence
8. A Feeling Undefined (fat. Nick Hakim and Iska Dhaaf)
9. Synthetic Gods (feat. Shabazz Palaces and Stas THEE Boss)
10. Gently to the Sun (feat. Tay Sean)
11. Back in That Time (feat. Qacung)