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. Recorded with producer Thomas D’Arcy (Neko Case, The Sheepdogs) and mixed by studio wiz Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Whitney, REM.)
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 followed, as did an even more ambitious sophomore effort, 2019’s Time Hasn’t Changed You, which was met with praise from Exclaim! who hailed the group’s music as “the perfect summer soundtrack,” and the CBC’s Grant Lawrence proclaimed them “the best Canadian band I have heard in a while.”