Alt-Country Duo Altameda Releases New EP 'Born Losers Live'

The Toronto-based duo Altameda releases their new EP Born Losers Live, via Missing Piece/Pheromone Recordings. The EP contains five live tracks from their third studio album Born Losers, which was released earlier this year to acclaim from NPR, Atwood Magazine, Under The Radar, FLOOD Magazine and more.

"Since the majority of these songs were developed from a simple acoustic guitar and vocal melody, we feel that they are malleable, and can be represented in many different capacities," the band explains. "There is not one definitive version, and we feel that each recording and arrangement showcases and evokes a different set of emotions. With this offering, we hope to provide new context to the material for the listeners, and we hope that you enjoy it."

Born Losers Live features three live recordings from the band's acoustic set at the Old Town School of Folk in Chicago, IL supporting The Zombies and two live in-studio sessions with a 9-piece band at Toronto-based recording studio Taurus Recording. The band also shared live videos of "Wheel of Love" and "Sweet Susie".

Born Losers was recorded in Toronto by Thomas D'Arcy (Neko Case, The Sheepdogs) and mixed in Portland, OR by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Whitney, R.E.M.). 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.

The album was written during a tumultuous stretch in Troy Snaterse's (guitar, vocals) life in which he nearly lost his father to a stroke, only to lose his 18-year-old stepbrother just weeks later in a tragic accident. The resulting emotional upheaval permeates the music in ways both painful and transcendent, with raw, candid performances often arriving wrapped inside gorgeous, gently atmospheric arrangements.

Altameda is Troy Snaterse (guitar, vocals) and Erik M. Grice (drums). Founded initially as a solo project for Snaterse, Altameda quickly garnered early acclaim with the release of their 2016 full-length debut, Dirty Rain. Altameda's ambitious 2019 sophomore effort, Time Hasn't Changed You, was met with continued praise on both sides of the Atlantic - the CBC's Grant Lawrence even proclaimed them "the best Canadian band I have heard in a while."

Listen to the new EP here: