Astralwerks is proud to announce the release of Mood Swings, the sophomore album from Toronto's Small Sins and the follow up to last year's eponymous debut album Small Sins.

Small Sins was a masterpiece of wistful electro chamber-pop, with hushed stories of love lost and found. The critics agreed, with Blender calling it a “…lovely piece of campfire synth-pop”, and Spin opining- “Imagine if Jack White had a crush on Kraftwerk.” The band toured the US relentlessly, with dates supporting Scissor Sisters, The Kooks, Radio 4, The Little Ones, and Sloan. Mood Swings fuses the power of their live show with their knack for penning addictive hook-laden gems.

Small Sins was originally conceived by Thomas D’Arcy as a self-contained solo unit, with D'Arcy not only singing and playing every instrument on his debut album, but also writing, producing, and recording it entirely on his own. As D'Arcy began to perform live with four exceptional musicians: Steve Krecklo (guitar, banjo, keyboards) Todor Kobakov (keyboards), Brent Follett (drums), and Kevin Hilliard (percussion, handclaps), they found themselves occasionally writing together and talking about future recording plans. It was inevitable that D'Arcy would involve them in the making of Mood Swings.

The album was recorded mostly at D'Arcy's home in Toronto, although not in the traditional sense. D'Arcy wanted to strike a balance between recording on his own and with the rest of the band- thus retaining the intimacy found on Small Sins, while capturing the energy of the live band.

The result is an album that one can mellow out at to home, as well as turn up to feel the power and vitality of the live show. This new vigor is most notably heard on the explosive tale of retribution "On The Line" and the driving "We Will Break Our Own Hearts".

Elsewhere on Mood Swings D'Arcy's recurring themes of longing and revenge are evident on "On The Run" and "What Your Baby's Been Doing"- both songs juxtaposing pensive lyrics with buoyant up-beats. And then there are the guns- references to guns and other weapons are used throughout the entire album as metaphors for power and conflict. All of these contrasting sentiments can be summed up in two words we can all relate to- Mood Swings.