Wild Rivers Share “Do or Die” From New EP ‘Songs To Break Up To’ Out May 1; Tour Dates Rescheduled

“The band has certainly found a strong and quietly powerful sound to define themselves by… promising for a future sophomore album that balances the folk and the pop.” — Earmilk

 “A catchy, bittersweet folk-pop journey through a relationship’s rocky aftermath…” — Atwood

Folk pop foursome Wild Rivers share new track “Do or Die” ahead of the release of their anticipated EP, Songs To Break Up To, out May 1st. On Songs To Break Up To, Wild Rivers transpose personal experiences into relatable anthems woven from strands of folk, indie, rock, pop, country, and beyond. For its recording, they retreated to Nashville in late 2019, where they worked with producer Skylar Wilson (Rayland Baxter; Justin Townes Earle; Joshua Hedley) to expand their sonic palette by further incorporating synths, guitar effects, gang vocals, and choral harmonies.  The theme of the EP was inspired by co-lead vocalist/guitarist Khalid Yassein facing the dissolution of a long-term relationship in 2018.

He says, “’Do or Die’ is about the rockiest conditions before a breakup, where every fight feels like it could be the last. It almost challenges the other person to an ultimatum: let’s fix this now or break up. It originally started as a completely different percussive up-tempo song, but that didn’t feel right with the darker tone of the lyrics, so we planned to record a different song instead. Two days before going into the studio, we almost jokingly tried it as a piano ballad, but when Devan started singing, it suddenly felt like a really special moment that we needed to capture. We’re really glad it took a left turn at the last minute and we followed that feeling.”

LISTEN + SHARE “DO OR DIE” HERE:

A portion of Wild Rivers’ previously announced “Where We Left Off” global tour has been rescheduled duo to the Covid-19 pandemic. The band announced the new dates along with the following statement to fans: “We hope to see everyone later this summer, but we know that there’s still a lot of uncertainty about when we’ll be able to hit the road and play for you. We are paying close attention to public health guidelines, and we will not put your safety and well-being at risk.” See their full statement/video HERE.  As with the previously announced and rescheduled May dates, $1 from every ticket sold for the U.S. tour dates will be donated to Voices of Our City Choir, the San Diego-based non-profit organization created in response to the current housing crisis

 

Rounded out by co-vocalist/bassist Devan Glover, guitarist/bassist Andrew Oliver and drummer Julien Laferrière, Wild Rivers first caught attention with their 2016 self-titled debut, followed by their acclaimed 2018 EP Eighty-Eight, which received praise from the likes of Rolling Stone Country, Earmilk and No Depression, and saw the band surpass 100 million combined streams on Spotify alone. Having supported artists like The Paper Kites, Donovan Woods, Jake Bugg and Alvvays, Wild Rivers has built a dedicated live following thanks to their charismatic stage presence as evidenced by sold out headline shows across North America, including major cities like New York, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto and more.

With exquisite harmonies, gorgeous melodies and emotionally charged, tightly crafted lyrics, the Toronto-based band deliver their unique blend of folk-pop songs that are at once inviting and infectious. Their sound is an amalgamation of their various influences, from contemporaries like The Lumineers, Bahamas and Kacey Musgraves to the iconic storytellers of the 70s, like James Taylor, Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac.

Stay tuned for more news from Wild Rivers.

Wild Rivers “Where We Left Off” World Tour (Rescheduled)

North America

Fri, June 19               Dayton, OH @ Levitt Pavilion

Sat, June 20             Detroit, MI @ The Shelter

Sat, July 25               Waterloo, ON @ Maxwell’s

Tue, July 28              Boston, MA @ Sinclair*

Thur, July 30             New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge*

Mon, Aug 3               Washington, DC @ Union Stage*

Tue, Aug 4                Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theater*

Wed, Aug 5               Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5*

Thur, Aug 6               Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge*

Fri, Aug 7                   Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme*

Sun, Aug 9                Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall* (sold out)

Mon, Aug 10             Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line*

Tue, Aug 11              Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge*

Wed, Aug 12             Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater*

Thur, Aug 13             Salt Lake City, UT @ State Room*

Sat, Aug 15               Seattle, WA @ Barboza* (sold out)

Mon, Aug 17             Portland, OR @ Doug Fir* (sold out)

Wed, Aug 19             Sacramento, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post*

Thur, Aug 20             San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Music Hall*

Tue, Aug 25              Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom^

Wed, Aug 26             San Diego, CA @ Voodoo @ House of Blues^

Thur, Aug 27             Phoenix, AZ @ Last Exit Live^

Sat, Aug 29               Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Indoors^

Sun, Aug 30              Plano, TX @ Legacy Hall^

Tue, Sept 1               Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Upstairs^

 

Support by

*Allman Brown

^The Harmaleighs

 

Europe/UK

Sun, Sept 20             Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord

Tue, Sept 22             Cologne, DE @ Blue Shell

Wed, Sept 23            Brussels, BE @ La Machine

Fri, Sept 25               Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden

Sun, Sept 27             Copenhagen, DK @ Ideal Bar (Vega)

Mon, Sept 28            Oslo, NO @ Krøsset

Tue, Sept 29             Stockholm, SE @ Bar Brooklyn

Thur, Oct 1                Manchester, UK @ Night & Day

Fri, Oct 2                    London, UK @ The Camden Assembly

Sat, Oct 3                  Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana