Altameda

“Bought a dead man’s suit in Denver / Then I wore it onstage,” sings Altameda’s Troy Snaterse, his voice drifting out over a bed of slowly shifting piano and synth chords. “Got me thinking about impermanence / How everything dies with age.”

Like much of Altameda’s stunning new album, "Born Losers", the line is at once simple and profound, a visceral snapshot of a moment in time that speaks to something far deeper about the human condition. It 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. Where past Altameda records showcased the sound of a rock and roll band cutting loose live in the studio, "Born Losers" is an exercise in craftsmanship and restraint, one that relies on subtlety over brute force as it learns to let go and fully embrace the present.

Founded initially as a solo project for Snaterse, Altameda quickly found their stride as a hard-touring four-piece and garnered early acclaim with the release of their 2016 full-length debut, "Dirty Rain". Dates with the likes of Sam Roberts Band, The Trews, Dan Mangan, and SUSTO followed, as did an even more ambitious 2019 sophomore effort, "Time Hasn’t Changed You", which was met with continued praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Exclaim! hailed the group’s music as “the perfect summer soundtrack,” while Rolling Stone Germany swooned for their mix of “country bliss” and “pub-rock enthusiasm,” and the CBC’s Grant Lawrence proclaimed them “the best Canadian band I have heard in a while.”