Bad Copy

Portugal-born, Toronto-raised musician Neil Leyton released a new single last month entitled “These Seeds” via European Phonographic Records. The new single follows Leyton’s tradition of crafting sing-along pop anthems with garage-rock-grit. Recorded at Canoa Studios in Portugal, the song features Leyton on acoustic guitar and vocals, João Sousa from Lusitanian Ghosts on drums, and Nelson Canoa on piano, keyboards and bass as well as being the recording engineer and co-producer of the song.

Leyton explains the timing of his new single:

“Now is the time to release this song – with all proceeds going to Music Export Ukraine. Regardless of other tragedies unfolding, the world must not forget that Ukraine is fighting for its country, for Europe and for democracy – which is being threatened once again everywhere, in Ukraine, in Europe with the rise of the extreme-right wing fascist, xenophobic and neo-nazi groups which I never thought could be the case in the 21st century.”

“I wrote and recorded ‘Seeds’ back in 2022, shocked and appalled that this sort of thing could happen again in the 21st century. The lyrics were inspired by the words of a courageous Ukrainian lady in Kherson, who walked up to a Russian soldier and asked vehemently, ‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’ before denouncing the invasion or her land and admonishing the Russian soldier with the line ‘Take these seeds and put them in your pockets, so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.’

Stream the new single below. But please also grab a copy today, as all proceeds from “These Seeds” will be paid from the European Phonographic label to Music Export Ukraine in support of Ukrainian artists and musicians.