Saskatchewan rock band Sheepdogs released their new six-track EP, No Simple Thing, which was released Friday, May 28th, 2021, and is the first music released by the band in more than three years.

Starting with the single Keep on Loving You, which was released April 30, it’s the first new music that the band has put out since the album Changing Colours came out in February 2018. That makes it the longest the band has gone without releasing new material since they formed in 2006.

Band frontman Ewan Currie said, “it was a tremendous relief” to get more music out into the world after a bizarre pandemic-addled year.

“Sitting around, twiddling your thumbs, not being able to do anything during the pandemic has been frustrating,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s a sign things are turning around.”

Like so many other bands, The Sheepdogs were forced to cancel numerous touring and recording plans because of COVID-19. Currie said the band had planned to travel to Portland, Ore. last spring and were anticipating recording a full new album before the pandemic forced them to adjust.

Band members were separated by public health guidelines before coming together in Montreal last summer to play a livestreamed show for Canada Day.

While all together again, they decided to record a handful of their new songs — the ones, as Currie puts it, that were the best and most prepared — to make a new EP instead of an album.

So, over the span of a week, No Simple Thing was recorded at Mixart Studios in Montreal.

“We took the opportunity … we didn’t have a lot of time,” Currie said.

Instead, the new EP was recorded on an analog tape recorder — which means it was much tougher to edit, and required all of the band members to be in the same space and completely focused for every song.

“It really puts a premium on the group performance,” Currie said. “Digital recording is regular season, recording to tape is the playoffs.”

The new EP won’t be the last of the new music from The Sheepdogs in the near future, as Currie noted there was plenty of other material being workshopped from the album that wasn’t made. No Simple Thing might be the newest music from the band, but Currie said it still has the hallmarks of what makes The Sheepdogs great.

May 28th they invited fans to join them as they played their newest songs while the new EP dropped and 1000s tuned in via Zoom to set a record on how many ppl could shotgun a beer together with the award-winning Sheepdogs in their up-close and intimate virtual concert. https://sidedooraccess.com/shows/xHVAmNpIHSehK5cf5jJH

Keep on keeping on Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen, Sam Corbett, Shamus Currie, and the one and only Jimmy Bowskill from Bailieboro (small village near Peterborough).