Song Premiere : “Back In The Game” by Pleasure Craft

From The Artist : “The lyrics on this song are my favourite on the EP. I tried to compare everyday clothing to sports team uniforms. I tried to reflect on the identity I construct for myself and how people will spend most of their money just trying to belong.”

From the Director : “The circular banality of daily/nightly routines: Waking up… no, hitting snooze on life. Waking up again, ok fine, let’s do this. Walking through our lives wearing our various identities, feeling like a cheap mannequin displaying a surface-level reality. Carrying our frenemies around in our heads and judging ourselves with them, but feeling all alone at the same time.” – Chanho Bang

Debuts don’t come more dazzling, fully realized or powerful than EP1, the opening musical statement of singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Lewis, a.k.a. Pleasure Craft. Heads are going to spin.

EP1 is that rarest of releases, one that scans effortlessly as pop, alternative and 80’s throwback, yet is beholden to none. Powered equally by vivid lyrics and Lewis’s plaintive delivery, which conjures Nick Cave and David Byrne by way of Ian Curtis, this brilliant sonic taster boldly announces a towering new talent.

Indeed, the Toronto-based Lewis has distilled a lifetime’s worth of experiences —including (but not limited to) guitar by age 10, trumpet by age 11, solo world travel, aeronautics training, gigging with retro-rockers Lovers Touch, and a heap of fly-on-the-wall observing — into five utterly unique songs that seep into the consciousness and stay firmly put.

Written by Lewis between 2016 and 2018, and recorded at home and at Humber Recording Studios with notable assists from multiple guest singers and musicians — many encountered by Lewis while studying jazz trumpet at Toronto’s acclaimed Humber College — EP1 clarifies the prevailing Pleasure Craft ethos: music created by Lewis but buoyed by input from collaborators.

The new spellbinding video for single ‘Back In The Game’ perfectly encapsulates the aesthetic of the project. Sleek production envelopes the dry, matter-of-fact vocals. Think LCD Soundsystem if James Murphy ever made music as a young man. Confident, stylish, and most importantly infectious, ‘Back In The Game’ is an instant game-changer for the artist. His paranoid world both alien and captivating in equal message. There’s a depth to Lewis’s sonic blueprint. You’re caught up in his universe, slightly unsettled, but not looking for an escape. You’re more than happy to revisit over and over again. Pleasure Craft has our attention.

The EP 1 is out October 25th

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