After the success of singles 'Samson' and 'When Gods Lie', Aotearoa local Reb Fountain will release her highly-anticipated self titled album on Friday, May 1st 2020, her debut through Flying Nun.
Today, Fountain reveals a brand new album single 'Don't You Know Who I Am' and announces rescheduled tour dates for later in the year.
Reb Fountain tells the story behind the creation of the new single, ’‘A friend of mine had given me two prints by Benjamin Chee Chee, an Ojibway, First Nation artist, found at an op shop I fell in love with his work and when I came across his piece ‘Three Flying Geese’. It totally resonated with me and I sought the license to use it as artwork for my earlier album Little Arrows. I also got it tattooed on my forearm. It was during this time, in conversation with Benjamin’s estate's lawyer, that I heard Benjamin’s story. A young artist on the cusp of ‘success’ he was also Native American and in the 70s, growing up ‘Indian’ in North America was particularly harsh. While you had AIM, UNA and Red Power fighting for indigenous rights and restitution you also had extreme racism and brutality towards first nation people. One night–true to the times-Benjamin got locked up for being ‘drunk and disorderly’; for being native. In the cell he was heard, a little tipsy and full of bravado, bragging that he was a famous artist. ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ a proud swagger amidst rampant injustice. The next day he was found hanged in the cell; an apparent suicide ... his entire art studio was also found; completely empty ... all his works down to his paintbrushes were gone.
'Don’t You Know Who I Am’ is about a lot of things but mostly it’s about who we think we are, who we want to be, who we have become and who we have left behind. It’s a rallying cry to rise up, to unite, to fight the good fight. It’s a call to dig deep, wake up, open your eyes and beat your own drum. It bids you to holdfast, pick yourself up and keep on keeping on".
As is the "new normal" for now, Fountain joins the ranks of artists needing to reschedule tour dates, commenting "Regretfully, yet predictably, we have had to re-think our upcoming tour dates, we hope to be in a better position to gather and celebrate at these new dates and times. Can't wait to see you on the road though - we are bursting to play you these new songs”.
See full details on BanishedMusic.com
REB FOUNTAIN SELF TITLED ALBUM IS OUT DIGITALLY THIS FRIDAY, MAY 1st
Limited edition vinyl, Standard Vinyl and CD is set for release June 26, 2020.
Bandcamp will again waive its cut of sales to support artists via a 24-hour campaign on (coincidentally) album release day, Friday, May 1st https://rebfountain.bandcamp.com/
Or pre-order the album here: https://ffm.to/rebfountain