We Speak Alternative

Angine de Poitrine Bring Vol. II to Brooklyn Steel on November 16

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2026

Photo: @anginedepoitrine

Two masked musicians from Saguenay, Quebec have become one of the strangest and most talked about live acts in rock, and on Monday, November 16 they open a three night stand at Brooklyn Steel that sold out long before the tour reached New York.

Angine de Poitrine play Brooklyn Steel on Monday, November 16, the first of three sold out nights at the room on November 16, 17 and 18. The Brooklyn stand is part of the world tour behind the duo’s second album, Vol. II.

The duo performs in masks as Khn de Poitrine, on microtonal guitar and bass, and Klek de Poitrine, on drums, and their identities stay off the record by design. A live session filmed for KEXP went viral in early 2026 and turned a Quebec underground act into an international story almost overnight.

Vol. II, released on April 3, 2026, followed their 2024 debut Vol. I and went on to win the 2026 Polaris Music Prize, one of the top honors in Canadian music. The record stretches jagged, math heavy time signatures against grooves you can actually dance to, and the live show adds a full theatrical streak to the precision.

Brooklyn Steel, at 319 Frost Street in Williamsburg, is the biggest New York room the band has played, and three sold out nights say plenty about how far word has traveled. Expect a crowd that came to watch two people build controlled chaos out of a guitar, a bass and a drum kit.

Darren Jessee Returns With Wistful New Single “Shoulder Season”

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2026

We Speak Media

Darren Jessee. Photo by Dustin Condren.

Darren Jessee has been the drummer behind Ben Folds Five and the songwriter behind Hotel Lights, and his new single sounds like a man deciding not to put the pen down. “Shoulder Season,” recorded by Bonny Light Horseman’s Josh Kaufman, previews a forthcoming solo album due in 2027.

North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Darren Jessee (Ben Folds Five, Hotel Lights) is proud to present “Shoulder Season,” the acclaimed multi-instrumentalist’s brand new single lifted from his forthcoming solo album that will see a 2027 release. Recorded by GRAMMY-winning musician and producer Josh Kaufman of Bonny Light Horseman and mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Kurt Vile), “Shoulder Season” traces the paths people chart in and around our lives over the years. The track also invites close listening, which in turn draws attention to Jessee’s evocative lyrics as well as the nuanced instrumental performances he and Kaufman captured on tape. “‘Shoulder Season’ … I liked the words by themselves,” Jessee says. “They suggest perseverance and resilience during a season of time. The term shoulder season means a transitional time of year.” Watch the music video for “Shoulder Season” on YouTube.

Darren Jessee was in a period of personal upheaval. His mother had recently passed away after a short illness. He was also touring as a drummer for the Americana act Chatham County Line, a gig that he enjoyed but one that kept him from performing much as a solo artist. And then his label rep at Bar/None, home of Jessee’s last seven albums, retired. In the wake of it all, Jessee found himself wondering if it was perhaps time to set aside the burden of managing a songwriting career and simply lean into his work as a drummer. “But then I just kept finding these songs and enjoying them,” he says of his forthcoming solo showcase that symbolizes a new beginning for the veteran musician — an organic, hushed and transcendent sound very much inspired by the blizzard that the album was recorded in.

Stay tuned for more music and information on Darren Jessee’s forthcoming solo album to be announced in the coming weeks. Jessee will be making the following appearances in November:

November 12 — Wake Forest, NC — Wake Forest Listening Room

November 18 — Greensboro, NC — Flat Iron (with Natalie Jane Hill)