Written in the midst of deep personal tragedy and dramatic emotional upheaval, Altameda’s stunning new album, Born Losers, is a meditation on change, loss, and growth, but more than that, it’s a reckoning with mortality, a call to live while we’re still alive. The music here is more subtle and nuanced than ever before, with raw, candid performances arriving wrapped inside gorgeous, gently atmospheric arrangements, and the lyrics showcase a similar leap in scope and maturity, grappling with our dueling desires for connection and escape through visceral, cinematic imagery that finds meaning in the mundane.

Launched in Edmonton, Altameda first found their stride as a hard-touring four-piece and garnered early acclaim with their 2016 debut, Dirty Rain. Dates with Sam Roberts Band, The Trews, Dan Mangan, and SUSTO followed, as did an even more ambitious sophomore effort, 2019’s Time Hasn’t Changed You, which was met with continued praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Exclaim! hailed the group’s music as “the perfect summer soundtrack,” while Rolling Stone Germany swooned for their “country bliss” and “pub-rock enthusiasm,” and the CBC’s Grant Lawrence proclaimed them “the best Canadian band I have heard in a while.”

Recorded with producer Thomas D’Arcy (Neko Case, The Sheepdogs) and mixed by studio wiz Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Whitney, REM), Born Losers marks Altameda’s first release since relocating to Toronto, as well as their first collection as a duo.

Small Paul