Canadian songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist Mitch Davis has released his debut single “Bear The Cold”. The track is lifted from his forthcoming 7” and title-track will be released on March 12th via Arbutus Records. The video that accompanies the song, was directed and animated by Jordan “Dr.Cool” Minkoff known for his work with Built To Spill, The Besnard Lakes, Nap Eyes and more.

The song “Bear The Cold” is described as that feeling when a relationship is about to end. How it’s better to rip off the bandaid and move on, rather than stay in a potentially toxic environment. It offers a glimmer of hope in that you never truly leave each other, because part of that person has now become part of you.

Mitch Davis on “Bear The Cold:”

“I had the bass line for this one written and it was just floating around in my head for probably 5 years, so it was a huge relief to finally give it some life. Despite the bouncy groove, the song is about navigating uncertainty in a relationship showing signs of collapse and the processing/attempts to shed unwanted memories after the fact. Maybe everyone knows when it’s better to rip off the band-aid than ride the ups and downs of oscillating emotions, but it’s hard advice to follow. I also just feel incapable of forgetting some elements of the past, so it’s about trying to come to terms with carrying that whether you want to or not.”

Davis spent the greater part of 2020 starting new projects and reinventing his sound in the vein of classic multi-instrumentalists such as Stevie Wonder, Todd Rundgren, Sly Stone, and Paul McCartney. His upcoming release contains two cuts, “Bear the Cold” and “What You Say”, both odes to a past relationship. However, one might miss the melancholic suggestion underlying the catchy, harmonic, groovy backbone of these tunes. Both tracks are relatively short, clocking in under three minutes, yet pack a mean punch. They are locked down by bass, uplifted by sax, driven by drums, and sweetened with rhodes, clavinet, piano, synth – all while feeling glued, natural and whole.

Perhaps this is because Davis writes, records, and plays all the instruments himself in an analog studio he built in Chabanel, the post industrial abandoned garment manufacturing district of Montreal. He stays busy out there designing and manufacturing his own equipment, much of which he used in the recording of these songs. As a result of this experimentation with building gear, he has recently released a boutique analog compressor which is gaining steam as a proto-cult tool, already in its second round of production.

Bear The Cold 7” will be out March 12 via Arbutus Records. Pre-order HERE.