muteEnglish singer-songwriter Polly Scattergood’s 2009 self-titled debut may have been an indulgent, precious, and overdramatic work that sounded very much like the diary entries of a 22-year old put to music, but it was also impressively assured for the same reason, assuredly declaring “this is who and what I am right now” and doing it by way of sophisticatedly melodic electro-pop and expressive vocal work. Even if it didn’t do it for you, it was hard to deny that it heralded the arrival of a new talent with much potential that merited attention as it grew and matured.

The follow-up will arrive sometime this Summer, but a couple samples have already been released to both remind listeners of what she’s about – four years is an eternity to be away these days – and show how far she’s come. Two tracks aren’t quite enough to judge the latter point, but they’re both solid tunes and as far as getting me to revisit the debut and remember to pay attention to when the album finally comes out? Mission accomplished.

MP3: Polly Scattergood – “Wanderlust”
Stream: Polly Scattergood – “Disco Damaged Kid”

MTV Hive interviews Foals about Holy Fire, out next Tuesday.

7Digital and The 405 chat with Veronica Falls about their new record Waiting For Something To Happen and DIY gets a track-by-track walkthrough of the new album It’s out next Tuesday and they play The Garrison on March 12.

Spinner talks to David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick about new album The Next Day, out March 12.

Scottish synth-pop trio CHVRCHES have announced a March 26 digital release for their first North American EP Recover, and are streaming the lead track from it. They play The Mod Club on March 20 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

Stream: CHVRCHES – “Recover”

The House Of Love have released the first single from She Paints Words In Red by way of video. Getting quiet excited for this record as well as the fact that international shipping on the limited-edition vinyl was four pence.

Video: The House Of Love – “A Baby Got Back On Its Feet”

The Line Of Best Fit debuts the new single from Little Green Cars by way of video session; they play The Drake on March 28.

DIY and The 405 interview Frightened Rabbit, who have put out a new video from the just-released Pedestrian Verse. They play The Phoenix on March 31.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Today’s Cross”

The Skinny and MusicOmh interview Ritzy Bryan of The Joy Formidable while Aritzia asks her which five songs she wished she’d written. The Joy Formidable are at The Phoenix on April 12.

Anyone wondering why it’s taken Mumford & Sons so long to bring 2012’s Babel to town can blame their decision to eschew conventional touring in favour of their Gentlemen Of The Road events. Southern Ontario finally gets our turn, though, as they’ve announced a “stopover” for the weekend of August 23 and 24 in Simcoe, Ontario on the shores of Lake Erie, a little under two hours outside of Toronto. There will be two days of music with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Dan Mangan amongst those playing the Friday The Old Crow Medicine Show, Hey Rosetta!, and The Vaccines as well as Mumford themselves on Saturday with more acts to be announced. Two-day passes run $109.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait”
Video: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

NPR has posted a video session with Bat For Lashes.

Neil Halstead drops in at Daytrotter.

The Phoenix interviews Peter Hook.

Last.fmIt’s been a long time since there’s been a live music throwdown of any kind at the city’s most picturesque and moderately inconvenient venue, the Toronto Islands. The 2009 edition of the almost-annual Islands concert was canceled thanks to a combination of the Toronto Indy and sluggish ticket sales, so excepting a private frosh week event last September, the last time the throngs gathered on Olympic Island was V Fest 2008, and that ended with the ignoble thud of Noel Gallagher getting knocked on his ass. 2010 seems set on making up for that absence, however. In addition to the heavyweight lineup of Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Beach House and Band Of Horses (and more) playing the June 19 Toronto Island Concert, a second excuse for people to complain about having to take the ferry was announced yesterday.

Having sold out three nights at Massey Hall on their last visit to Toronto in 2007, where Arcade Fire would play next was a reasonable question – the idea of another multi-night stand would make wallets ache and still probably not meet demand, and yet any of the larger venues in the city – Sound Academy, Air Canada Centre, Molson Amphitheatre – seemed unlikely for a multitude of reasons. But having played the inaugural Olympic Island Concert in 2004 at the bottom of the bill as veritable unknowns, Arcade Fire will return six years later on August 14 as one of the biggest bands in the country. Tickets are $47 in advance, plus ferry, fees and $1 charitable donation to Partners In Health, and go on sale Friday at noon. The band remain cagey about releasing details of their third album, but a single could/should be out next Tuesday and the record will probably follow soon after, almost certainly before their touring schedule starts in Finland at the end of June.

Gates for the show are at 4PM, so while that’s a little too late to assume this will blossom into a mini-festival, there’s certainly enough time for a few decent supporting acts to be added. So while this Summer is looking awfully lean as far as fests in the GTA go – V is MIA/probably DOA, Rogers Picnic’s 2009 hiatus looks to now be permanent, Imagine is feeling more like a pipe dream and there hasn’t even been a peep about Edgefest for the kids – we’re doing alright for festival-setting shows. And if you like, you can think of the Arcade Fire and Broken/Pavement show as a single excellent multi-day festival – just one that’s two months apart and require separate admissions.

MP3: Arcade Fire – “Keep The Car Running”
MP3: Arcade Fire – “Black Mirror”
MP3: Arcade Fire – “No Cars Go”
MP3: Arcade Fire – “Wake Up”

Having sold out their May 28 show at the Horseshoe, Born Ruffians will entertain those who couldn’t get tickets or just need another another encore with a free in-store at Sonic Boom on Saturday, May 29, at 3PM. Their new record Say It is out next Tuesday.

MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”

Also confirmed for an in-store are Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit. Their debut The Big Black & The Blue is out now, and they’ll showcase it both at the Rivoli on the evening of June 12 and at Criminal Records that afternoon at 4PM. Exclaim has a feature on the band.

MP3: First Aid Kit – “Hard Believer”
MP3: First Aid Kit – “Sailor Song” (live)

The Old Crow Medicine Show will be at the Phoenix on July 13.

Video: Old Crow Medicine Show – “Wagon Wheel”

The Black Keys have added a second local date in support of the just-released Brothers; in addition to the sold-out August 3 show at the Kool Haus, they’ll also be there the following night, August 4. The Morning Benders will support both nights.

Video: The Black Keys – “Next Girl”

Though the new Belle & Sebastian record is nearly finished – their Twitter is abuzz with updates and hey, does anyone remember when this band was all mysterious and stuff? – Stuart Murdoch continues to find time to tend to his God Help The Girl project, releasing a new non-album single and video. “Baby You’re Blind” features vocals from Linnea Jonsson of Swedes Those Dancing Days; it’s available digitally and as a 7″, and has an accompanying video. And while I haven’t figured out exactly where they got it, the pull quote at BrooklynVegan certainly implies that there’ll be some B&S live dates in Canada this Summer/Fall. Hey, maybe we can get THEM to play the Islands as well!

Video: God Help The Girl – “Baby You’re Blind”

Yours Truly has posted a video session with Camera Obscura.

Amelia Fletcher, formerly of Heavenly and currently of Tender Trap, talks to Spinner about being name-checked on the new Hold Steady record. The new Tender Trap record Dansette Dansette is due out on June 22.

MP3: Tender Trap – “Girls With Guns”
Video: Tender Trap – “Girls With Guns”

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Neil Halstead’s performance at the Truck America festival in New York state earlier this month.

Love Shack Baby catches a word with Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons, who also stopped in to play some songs for Tripwire, captured on video.

Johnny Marr tells BBC6 that work on The Cribs’ new record is coming along swimmingly.

Clash talks to The Futureheads about their new record The Chaos; it’s out next week and they’re at the Mod Club on June 10.

Platform chats with Frightened Rabbit.

Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen gives Spinner his thoughts on audience participation at their shows.

Billboard talks to Richard Thompson about his decision to record his new record Dream Attic, out August 31, entirely live in concert.

NME reports that the second album from Nick Cave side-project Grinderman will arrive on September 13 under the title of Grinderman 2. The first record was greasy, grimy and awesome – I expect no less from this one.

Interview interviews Jonsi.

Magnet has a Q&A with Bettie Serveert’s Carol van Dyk as a kick-off to her week as guest editor of their website.