The Globe and Mail and Arts & Crafts create a collection of original music highlighting stories of the year

Six original songs feature contributions by Broken Social Scene, Fucked Up, Jason Collett, Canadian Opera Company, and more.

TORONTO, Dec. 19, 2014 /CNW/ - The Globe and Mail and renowned record label Arts & Crafts have collaborated on a collection of six original songs that reflect on the most important news events of the past year. Broadsheet Music: A Year in Review debuts on globeandmail.com today and features original songs created by diverse artists including celebrated indie collective Broken Social Scene, Polaris Music Prize winning hardcore punk band Fucked Up, Calgary's Reuben And The Dark, and songstress Tamara Williamson among others. Topics explored in this unique project include missing aboriginal women in Western Canada, the divisive battle for Jerusalem, sexual violence and a culture of silence, and the loss of comic Robin Williams. The project comes to life in audio, video, photography and editorial, with elements featured both online at globeandmail.com as well as in print. The album is made available as a free download for a limited time from Arts & Crafts: arts-crafts.ca/broadsheetmusic

"Broadsheet Music bucks the trend of traditional year-end best-of lists in a massive and meaningful way," said Jared Bland, Arts Editor of The Globe and Mail. "Together with our project partner Arts & Crafts and presenting partner Canadian Opera Company (COC), our goal was to commission a peerless collection of timeless songs, built by musical peers in a crystallized time. It is our gift to our readers, and the fans of these diverse and extraordinarily talented Canadian artists."

Working in collaboration with Arts & Crafts and music director Charles Spearin (Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene), a collection of unique Canadian artists assembled in late fall to create distinctive and impactful songs. The project includes the first piece of new music to emerge from Broken Social Scene since 2010's Forgiveness Rock Record – the archival "Golden Facelift" – as well as Fucked Up's seventeen-minute Italian opera in six acts, featuring soprano Karine Boucher and tenor Owen McCausland of the COC.

"We are honoured to partner with The Globe on this ambitious and creative idea," said Jonathan Shedletzky, Project Manager of Arts & Crafts. "The project provided the opportunity for a diverse collection of our artists to collaborate on the creation of meaningful and challenging pieces."

This collaborative effort resulted in a 38-minute album of six songs covering a breadth of topics vital to our country and our time:

• Reclamation and human accountability – "Golden Facelift" – Broken Social Scene
• Missing aboriginal women in Western Canada – "Red River" – Reuben And The Dark
• Sexual violence and a culture of silence – "The Next One" – Tamara Williamson and Absolutely Free
• The misleading illusions of liberty and the voice – "Voce Rubata" – Fucked Up
• Exploring the divisive battle in the Mid-East – "Jerusalem" – Jason Collett and Zeus
• Ode to one of our era's most affective comedians – "No Doubt Or Fire" – Brendan Canning

In a statement from Broken Social Scene, the Toronto collective encapsulated the themes of Broadsheet Music, on which "Golden Facelift" has found its home:

"2014 has not been without its beauty, but it has also been a year of incredible brutality and all of humanity has a great deal to answer for. Broken Social Scene aims to echo the voice and concerns of the underdog while creating music that will hopefully inspire those who are doing good and useful things for this planet and humankind."

Visit tgam.ca/broadsheet to listen to Broadsheet Music: A Year in Review and read related content.

About The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail, through its newspaper, magazine, online and mobile platforms, is Canada's foremost news media company. Each day, The Globe leads the national discussion by engaging Canadians through its award-winning coverage and analysis of news, politics, business and lifestyle. The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, founded in 1844; Report on Business, Canada's most influential business magazine; and globeandmail.com, the newspaper's online and mobile media hub, reach a combined 6 million readers every month. The Globe and Mail is 85% owned by Woodbridge, the investment arm of the Thomson family, and Bell Canada (15%).

About Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts Productions is a premium music focused artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, festival & events producer, merchandiser, and publisher worldwide. Entering its second decade with over 100 album releases to its credit, Arts & Crafts has employees in Toronto, Los Angeles and Mexico City.

About Canadian Opera Company
Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. Under its leadership team of General Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC is increasingly capturing the opera world's attention. The COC maintains its international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation by creating new productions within its diverse repertoire, collaborating with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracting the world's foremost Canadian and international artists. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world.

SOURCE: Globe and Mail

or to arrange an interview, please contact: Michelle Titus, Environics Communications, 416-969-1667, [email protected]; Jonathan Shedletzky, Arts & Crafts Productions, 416-203-2203, [email protected]