Front: Jeffrey Innes. – Photo by Zachary Vague
Press release –
Vancouver alt-rock band Yukon Blonde have been lighting up the festival stages all summer, giving fans a preview of their upcoming album, Friendship & Rock ‘n’ Roll (out September 19 with Dine Alone Records), including their latest single, “Keep On Breaking My Heart.”
The song was the first track band member Jeffrey Innes (guitar, vocals, keys) wrote on his Rickenbacker 12-string, a guitar he’d dreamed of owning for years. “I was listening to a lot of bands like the Byrds and Tom Petty,” he explains, “so when a ’90s Rickenbacker 12 came up at my local pawnshop, I kinda had to have it.” The only hitch? He didn’t have the money. To make it happen, he sold his beloved Leica M3 film camera, a fixture in his life since Yukon Blonde’s On Blonde album era. “It was kind of heartbreaking,” he admits. The camera had travelled the world with him, capturing “many beautiful people and bands in many beautiful places,” and was one of the last to be repaired by the late Horst Wenzel.
Once the guitar was in his hands, he was flooded with conflicting emotions: “I couldn’t decide if I had made a huge mistake, so my only course of action was to write some damn good music on it.” Reflecting on how artists often romanticize gear, he adds, “We think, ‘if we get THIS, we can do THAT,’” and when inspiration doesn’t strike, “we tend to seek more physical, tangible solutions—maybe it’s the amp, the cables, maybe they just don’t make things the way they used to.” But in this case, the instrument lived up to the dream. “Sometimes, the tool, as intended, inspires.” Within 20 minutes of picking it up, he had the bones of “Keep On Breaking My Heart”. “I’d like to imagine that the lyrical motif was partly inspired by the break-up of my camera, and 60 years of jangly, rock ’n’ roll heartbreak. It just came out this way, and I’m happy it did.”
The latest single lands just as Yukon Blonde are having fun at summer festivals (including Victoria’s Soberfest, Riverfest Elora, and Toronto’s CNE), before hitting the road on the Friendship & Rock ‘n’ Roll Fall Tour, which kicks off September 18 in Kelowna, BC. The band will bring their infectious energy and soaring melodies to audiences across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, with support from acclaimed alt-country rockers Altameda on most dates. Janky Bungag will also appear on select shows.
From the dreamy sway of lead track “Colours of My Dreams” to the charged intensity of “Adore You,” and the undeniable hooks of “Keep On Breaking My Heart,” Yukon Blonde’s new material marks a shift, stripping things back to spotlight the rawness and electricity of their rock ‘n’ roll live show. The new songs have been featured on 3 am Revelations’ Songs of the Week, Alan Cross’ Five Songs You Must Hear This Week, CBC Music, The Straight’s Van Jams of May, Photog Music’s May 2025 Playlist, Barrie’s ROCK95, Toronto’s 949ROCK, Calgary’s X92.9, Red Deer’s X100.7, Victoria’s ZONE and many more.
Friendship & Rock ‘n’ Roll Tracklist
1. Colours Of My Dreams
2. Keep On Breaking My Heart
3. Phaedra
4. I’ve Got Yours
5. Waiting On A Call
6. One Of These Days
7. Adore You
8. Here She Comes
9. That Girl (featuring Taylor Hickson)
10. This Night
11. What People Can
If friendship comes naturally to Jeffrey Innes, Brandon Scott, Graham Jones & James Younger, so too does rock n’ roll. Yukon Blonde has always sounded classic, but they live in the present day. You won’t see them placating the myth of rock n’ roll. Never have they slipped into a “throwback” caricature of some supposed glory day. No posturing, or pretending – it’s guitar music that doesn’t wink at the camera.
On their new album, Friendship & Rock n’ Roll, the riffs are bold and the vibes are bright. Even when the lyrical tone is defeated or heart-broken, we get the sense that everything is going to be alright. There’s whimsy in the subtext of Keep On Breaking My Heart, where Innes welcomes the punishment from his distant lover. The mid-tempo burner harkens to Tom Petty’s golden era in tone and playfulness – a cheeky grin behind the melancholy.
This is a seasoned quartet making music for the joy of it with songs that were cultivated the old-fashioned way: in a jam space. The band spent the summer of 2024 pooling song ideas and crafting air-tight arrangements before getting to work at Innes’ Vancouver area studio, Midvale Sound.
“This is a straightforward, fun record, made by four people in a jam space,” continues Innes, “and the thing is, it was probably the easiest and most fun record we’ve ever had the privilege of making.”
The pursuit of building a career in music can involve a great deal of struggle, but music can also be fun. And, if four best buds are going to love each other for as long as Yukon Blonde have, perhaps it must be fun in order to last. Perhaps that’s why this album feels so settled and comfortable. They’re older, wiser, and back in the pocket of the energy that spawned the band in the first place.
If you’re going to go it alone out there, you may as well have company. Yukon Blonde are still leaning on each other and tapping the well of their bond. And what better glue is there to bond them than Friendship & Rock n’ Roll?
FRIENDSHIP & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FALL CANADIAN TOUR 2025
September 18 – Kelowna, BC – Red Bird Brewing*
September 19 – Nelson, BC – The Royal*
September 20 – Calgary, AB – Modern Love*
September 21 – Red Deer, AB – Bo’s Bar & Stage*
September 25 – Windsor, ON – Meteor
September 26 – London, ON – Rum Runners
September 27 – Hamilton, ON – Mills Hardware*
September 28 – Kingston, ON – Broom Factory*
September 29 – Ottawa, ON – NAC Fourth Stage*
October 1 – St. Catharines, ON – Warehouse
October 4 – Sudbury, ON – Townehouse Tavern
October 6 – Thunder Bay, ON – Black Pirates Pub*
October 7 – Winnipeg, MB – The Park Theatre*
October 8 – Regina, SK – The Exchange*
October 9 – Saskatoon, SK – Amiogs*
October 10 – Edmonton, AB – Double Dragon*
October 11 – Fernie, BC – The Northern*
October 16 – Nanaimo, BC – The Queens+
October 17 – Cumberland, BC – The Waverley+
* with support from ALTAMEDA
+ with support from JANKY BUNGAG
Visit: www.yukonblonde.com/
