Heligator is more than pleased to present its second release in its digital single catalog by J. Torena. J. Torena, for those familiar with Tome to the Weather Machine, fronted the awesomely loud Junior Low back in the day (back in the day meaning 2010). After moving from Denver, Justin Schweitzer has found his home in southern California, where the permanently perfect weather belies this downer pop single. J. Torena's newest ballad skirts the line somewhere between the slow-burn, emotional wallop of Jesu and the unmoored yearning of ambient pop acts Aarktica and the One AM Radio. For those of us who wish this kind of slow, sad music never faded out of pop's musical landscape, "Left Out in the Sun" will be a breath of fresh air.
Heligator Records is a non-profit organization of sorts. Heligator/Tome to the Weather Machine founder Ryan Hall spent the last two years in Swaziland, Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. One of his projects, and arguably the most succesful, was rennovating a block of derelict buildings to hold a library and two pre-schools at the Malindza Refugee Camp in Mpaka, Swaziland. The library now holds over 1,000 books, a teacher resource library and a computer for the refugees. Ryan worked at the camp for two years and cultivated great relationships. In order to ensure the longevity of the library a fund has been put in place to help with basic maintence and upkeep of the library as well as some financial compensation for the two volunteer librarian.
The full story can be found at
malindzarefugeecamplibrary.blogspot.com.
So now, all purchases at Heligator Records will go towards the library which serves over 400 refugees from all over Africa (Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Mozambique). Every dollar you spend will go towards creating a brighter future for refugees in Swaziland. Plus, you get awesome music. Win-win.
released November 10, 2013