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Our Lady Peace Embraces Music and Tech Intersection with New Album Release

“We just had 500 fans lean into the future of web 3.0 with us and be the first to purchase our forthcoming album, Spiritual Machines 2, as an NFT,” says Raine Maida, lead singer and co-founder of Our Lady Peace. “We have firmly embraced this critical intersection between music and tech and are leveraging the power of the blockchain to build better communities and change the way we distribute music. This is a first and we thank all our fans for taking this step with us.”

This week, the multi-platinum alt-rock band Our Lady Peace will release the sequel to their critically acclaimed 2000’s album ‘Spiritual Machines,’ a record that has become a pillar of early 2000’s alt-rock and a prime example of the band’s creative brilliance. ‘Spiritual Machines II’ serves as the answer to the 2000 LP which was influenced by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil’s book “The Age Of The Spiritual Machines” and marks an uplifting new chapter for OLP, carving out a new genre that is best described as future rock, with each song crafted to represent the new predictions for our future as a society. 

Our Lady Peace – Stop Making Stupid People Famous (ft. Pussy Riot) [Official Music Video]

Produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek (with additional production by Jason Lader on three tracks), the album features the return of Kurzweil with new predictions such as near-future with UBI (Universal Basic Income), AI that will pass the Turing Test by 2029, and sustainable solutions to ending global hunger and poverty. ‘Spiritual Machines II’ includes the track “Stop Making Stupid People Famous,” featuring Nadya Tolokno of the iconoclastic feminist Russian group Pussy Riot, serving as a reflection on society’s preoccupation with celebrity influencer culture.

Other album highlights include the ironic feel-good of “Future Disease,” and “Holes,” a sister song to early OLP classic “Superman’s Dead” that uses a descending single-note guitar synth riff to make us feel like we’re sinking into life’s darkness. “19 Days” asks: How do we heal, and has technology hurt or helped us in that repair? Album closer “Temporary Healing” gives an answer: No matter how hard it is, we must honour that journey to healing. “Run” reminds us of the very human contradiction of escape, to flight or fight, while “Simulation” shows us the technological contradiction of progress. 

Our Lady Peace 2022 2
Our Lady Peace 2022

The first ‘Spiritual Machines’ wasn’t a typical mainstream rock record, it had anthemic guitar hooks next to literal predictive modelling addressing a future dependent on AI and the legal rights of computers. Raine Maida, the singer and co-founder of Our Lady Peace, stated: “Twenty years later, ‘Spiritual Machines’ predictions have mostly come true, 86% to be exact. Now, new predictions must be made for the future — and with groundbreaking advances in technology, there’s reason to celebrate.”

Earlier this month, the band had a successful sell-out of all 500 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of the album and are the first band to deliver NFTs to fans in real-time at live events. Using frontman Raine Maida’s newly launched Drrops app, fans at their recent USA shows were able to redeem exclusive music, merchandise, and live moments based on their Geo-located presence at the venues. SEE attached PR re: OLP + NFTs.

They also introduced their Future Famous program, which recognizes a wide range of exceptional people in different fields (science, environmentalism, music, art, etc) who are making a real difference in the world. Learn more at www.futurefamous.org.

SPIRITUAL MACHINES II TRACKLISTING

RK1.Age of Spiritual Machines 

Stop Making Stupid People Famous

Holes

RK2.Consciousness 

The Message

Wish You Well

RK3.UBI 

Future Disease

19 Days

Run

RK4.Escape Velocity ft. EMTEE

Simulation

Good Die Young

RK5.Turing Test 

Temporary Healing

Our Lady Peace is one of the most successful Canadian bands of the post-grunge era, garnering platinum-selling album after platinum-selling album while also achieving acclaim in the US with hits such as “Superman’s Dead“, “Clumsy” “Somewhere Out There” etc. The band has sold over 5 million albums worldwide, won four JUNO Awards and ten MuchMusic Video Awards – one of the most awarded group’s in MMVA’s history, and have toured the world with The Rolling Stones, Guns n Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, The Stereophonics, Foo Fighters, Alanis Morrisette, and more, in addition to launching their iconic music festival, Summersault, and playing at legendary festivals such as Woodstock ’99 and Live 8.

Our Lady Peace is Raine Maida (lead vocalist), Duncan Coutts (bass), Steve Mazur (guitar) and Jason Pierce (drums).