Across the board, whether you are looking at the UK, European or North American entertainment, music and festival scene, we see that the current pandemic and lockdown culture has already had a costly toll for society, urban nightlife, festival and gig economy and therefore, has hit the pockets of tens of thousands of artists and others employed in the music industry, not to mention causing the closure of many great venues.

The new single ‘The Last Dive’ from Los Angeles-based artist Ethan Gold touches on this thematic, along with the problem of gentrification in urban cultural centers. Described as a homage to old dive bars and the joy of sleazy urban exploration, Gold tips the hat to Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Lou Reed in New York, and Charles Bukowski in Ethan’s home base of L.A. The opening of this track does also carry that same energy as Iggy’s ‘Lust For Life’ and honestly, the world needs more of such fun, buoyancy and drive.

“This song is for all the neighborhood haunts, in every city around the world. The first time I went to New York when I was a kid, when the city was still dangerous and artists could afford it, my hair was spiked, and was small and very underage. I ended up pulled off the street into a gaggle of models and junkie musicians – older teenagers. We wandered to bars in alphabet city and I played the upright piano until the regulars motioned throat-slitting at the models. I was the sober one and convinced the crowd to leave. One of the musicians didn’t make it to morning,” says Ethan Gold,

“I still love exploring cities, even though gentrification has wiped away a lot of that old stuff. The dark stupid glory of the night. The low path can still be a path of transcendence. Just ask Bukowski. Gentrification was hard enough. Let’s hope the old bars survive the pandemic.”

Gold makes lullabies of strength and catchy art rock for people who still dream. Personable, relatable and with depth, Gold sings about the longing for human connection in the city, and also for the natural world.

This single follows up singles ‘Our Love is Beautiful’, a tale of human solidarity that arrived with a video of hundreds of people around the world delivering Ethan’s song for human unity in this time of fear and separation, ‘Not Me. Us’ (a call for unity in troubled times, and ‘Never Met A World Like You’, an environmental song timed for the first climate strikes.

This song the latest taster of Gold’s forthcoming double-album ‘Earth City’ – a record about the modern world. About longing for human connection, for love and thrill in the city, for connection to nature. An artist whose path has been curved by inner impulse and fate, Gold returns to the essential path of his original mission to “make sensitivity cool again” – quiet enough to paint the delicate details of the modern age in songs and strong enough to fight for the world as it could be.

Raised in San Francisco during the long extended hangover after hippie times, Ethan Gold is son to Beat author Herbert Gold and Melissa Gold, a collaborator and girlfriend of legendary concert promoter Bill Graham – the two died together in a helicopter crash. A childhood of constant change and chaos may have led Ethan to the unique way he approaches music. Today he lives and dreams songs, sometimes writing music while asleep.

Gold’s acclaimed debut ‘Songs From A Toxic Apartment’ (“Best New Music” – Sunday Times London) was a deeply personal work confronting childhood trauma and the sexual ambiguity of adulthood. After a head injury sidelined him for some years, he returned with the naive electronic album ‘Expanses (Teenage Synthstrumentals)’ (“Wildly diverting” – Electronic Sound), a mostly 80s live covers record ‘Live Undead Bedroom Closet Covers’ (“Unhinged but weirdly compelling” – Uncut), and several film scores including the jazz-inflected ‘The Song of Sway Lake’, featuring artists John Grant and The Staves singing Ethan’s songs, the glitchy Blumhouse supernatural thriller ‘Don’t Let Go’, and brother Ari Gold’s feature film ‘Adventures of Power’.

‘The Last Dive’ will be released digitally, including via streaming platforms like Spotify and various online stores The ‘Earth City’ double LP will be released in early 2021.

Also check out Ethan Gold’s two previous offerings – both very much worth your time…

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