Art Bergmann’s 2014 EP, Songs For The Underclass will also receive 10th anniversary reissue this summer
“If the International Criminal Court can’t stop a declared genocide, maybe a song can.”
“Gazacide” is a new track by Art Bergmann, available today via (weewerk) on iTunes and Bandcamp, with all sales to be donated to Gaza Relief. Bergmann wrote “Gazacide” in response to the sense of helplessness he felt at seeing coverage of the war in Gaza. He then teamed up with Palestinian-Canadian singer/songwriter Sara Wazani who incorporated some of the desperate Arabic words written on the Al-Aqsa hospital walls. The song was recorded with Dave Genn (54-40, Matthew Good Band) at Burnbridge Studio in Vancouver B.C., and mixed by Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Emmylou Harris). Bergmann is currently finishing songs with his partner Patricia Kay for his next full-length album entitled Mythos, coming this fall on (weewerk). A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to complete the recording.
(weewerk) has also announced that Bergmann’s 2014 EP Songs For The Underclass will be available for the first time on vinyl in a 10th anniversary remastered edition out July 26. At the time of its original release, Songs For The Underclass was regarded as the Juno-winning, Order of Canada recipient’s “comeback” after spending the previous 15 years out of the music business due to health issues.
In a 2014 interview with Exclaim’s Kerry Doole, Bergmann said,
“These songs took years to write and I feel they’re the best lyrics I’ve ever written. I feel it was worth the wait. I have a deep well of songs to draw from. I just won’t shut up now that I’m back again. What’s the point, unless you are going to wander off into the forest and die? You have to do something, even though it is futile.”
Staying true to those words, Bergmann has enjoyed a career renaissance over the past decade, releasing three acclaimed full-length albums — The Apostate, Late Stage Empire Dementia, and ShadowWalk — cementing his status as one of Canada’s greatest living singer/songwriters.