The Rural Alberta Advantage, recently returned with the single “CANDU” alongside accompanying track “AB Bride,” their first new music in five years. The new songs also marked the return of core band member, Amy Cole, and hinted at new influences informing the band’s sonic palette, songwriting and creative evolution. The RAA has announced a May U.S. tour, kicking off May 16 in Seattle and running through May 28 in Minneapolis

With the seismic shifts that have rolled out across the world over the past couple of years, demanding everyone to attune to the world in vastly different ways, The RAA will embark on a distinctly divergent course for releasing their music. An ongoing series of new songs and EPs will be shared over the coming year as they’re written and recorded by the band, with intentional release dates set via Saddle Creek Records/Paper Bag Records.

“’CANDU’ is a rustic, anthemic reply to a once-booming Northern settlement that was abruptly forgotten and the band’s lament on the common connections that emerge when you’ve unknowingly tied your hopes to a sinking ship. My mom’s uncle worked up in Uranium City, Saskatchewan in the late 70s/early 80s, when it was a small but very active mining settlement,” notes vocalist/guitarist Nils Edenloff. “We went to visit and it was the first time I was ever on a plane – as a young kid then, I’m not sure if the pictures in my mind now are

real or just something from a dream. Candu was the local high school and only open for a couple of years while the town was booming; it was abandoned like everything else after the mines abruptly closed in the early 80s leaving most families stranded without work, and now sits completely vandalized. Growing up in a mining town myself, it’s hard not to think about who or what would have remained for me if the jobs all suddenly dried up, and where my friends and I would have ended up.”

“When Nils said he was writing a song called ‘CANDU’ about Uranium City, it made me think of my Dad,” adds drummer Paul Banwatt. “He spent decades working as an engineer helping design the CANDU nuclear reactors. I remember the uranium fuel rod bundle display that was at my dad’s work. What happened to the people in Uranium City is really tragic, but I didn’t know about it until Nils wrote these lyrics. So the song also makes me think about all the different and hidden ways people across Canada are connected.”

The “CANDU” single cover art is credited to Edmonton-based photographer, Leroy Schulz. A long time live photographer of The RAA, Leroy will be a regular collaborator on imagery throughout the coming releases.

The Rural Alberta Advantage 2022 Tour Dates:

05/16 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
05/17 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
05/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
05/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
05/23 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
05/24 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
05/25 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
05/27 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
05/28 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line

Order tickets for the Royal Alberta Advantage HERE