Announced: Patrick Watson – Uh Oh + ‘Peter and the Wolf’

Patrick Watson announces his new album Uh Oh, to be released on September 26, alongside sharing new single ‘Peter and the Wolf’, a menacing, dream-like song inspired by the ghosts of New Orleans and the pitch black-ness of being in the forest in the dark. The pulse-pounding new video, directed by Patrick Watson and SAM WOY was shot in the Quebec countryside.

The new album finds Watson meditating on the idea of life being a series of “uh ohs”: a little phrase uttered in response to everything from childhood accidents to our most overwhelming anxieties. For Watson, it came to mind when faced with the biggest “uh oh” that a singer could endure: he lost his voice. Unsure if or when he would be able to sing again, his new album took a new shape, a collection of collaborations with friends and strangers; artists that he wanted to hear sing. Uh Oh represents a vision that Watson has chased for his entire life, the culmination of 20 years of musical exploration and lived experience that enabled him to translate the films in his mind to the sounds and words swirling in your ears.

Most of the songs on Uh Oh see Watson and his band, long-time bandmates, collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Mishka Stein, and Olivier Fairfield and co-vocalist Ariel Engle—a.k.a. La Force joined by a guest singer, ranging from the iconic voices he’s idolised for years (Martha Wainwright) to ones he discovered through Instagram scrolling (Solann); a local Quebec favorite (Klô Pelgag) to international phenoms (MARO, Hohnen Ford, November Ultra); from JUNO Award-winning pop star (Charlotte Cardin), to Félix award winner (Anachnid), to a friend he met when she worked the counter at his local coffee shop (Charlotte Oleena). “Every singer has these different magical powers on this record, and each song kind of represents that,” Watson says.

Hearing how the songs on Uh Oh flow seamlessly into one another, one might never guess that it was recorded in multiple locations—Montreal, New Orleans, L.A., Mexico City, Paris—with a minimalist approach, using just two microphones, in mostly one or two takes.

Stream / download ‘Peter and the Wolf’ here.
Pre-order / pre-save Uh Oh here.