Arduous Records
VETERAN ARTIST MANAGER BLAZE JAMES LAUNCHES
ARDUOUS RECORDS
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VIRGIN MUSIC GROUP
APPOINTS JORDYN REESE AS GENERAL MANAGER
ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL SIGNINGS
FAILURE AND HEAVE BLOOD & DIE
Los Angeles, CA (February 17, 2026) – Veteran artist manager and former Roc Nation Global Head of Rock, Blaze James has announced his latest venture, Arduous Records, a new imprint of Virgin Music Group. Industry executive and artist manager Jordyn Reese has been appointed General Manager of the new record label, with her agency Do Better For Artists providing full-service artist support. The move to Arduous marks Reese’s entrée into the major label system after years of honing her craft in the independent arena. Combining DIY ethics and decades of experience guiding artists’ careers, Blaze and Reese’s strategic collaboration follows their December announcement of Reese’s joining The Fellowship, James’ artist management company, which is now home to Coheed and Cambria, High Vis, Militarie Gun, Failure, Soul Glo, Matt Pinfield, Minus the Bear and Narrow Head.
Speaking on the label’s launch, James says “My whole career in management has been built developing artists and I wanted to bring that experience to the label side. I consider myself an extremely hard working person, and so Arduous fits. We are going to grind and hustle for our artists, and I’m really looking forward to this next chapter.” Speaking on her role as General Manager, Reese says “Blaze has built his career on vision, integrity, and fearless artist development, and Arduous Records is a powerful extension of that legacy. I’m proud to step into this role and help build a truly artist-first label, combining our DIY ethos with the global reach of Virgin Music Group.”
Today, Arduous announced their first signing, Failure. The influential shoegaze pioneers return after a half-decade with a new album, Location Lost, out April 24, 2026, via Failure Records/Arduous/Virgin. The LP, which marks the inaugural release of Arduous Records, features nine new tracks, showcasing a focused, modern vision of their signature alternative space-rock sound, including the hypnotic force of the album’s lead single out today, “The Air's on Fire," and the beautiful ballad “The Rising Skyline," feat. Hayley Williams. The album follows the band’s 2025 Hulu/Disney+ documentary, "Every Time You Lose Your Mind,” which spans the band's career and legacy.
Additionally, the label is excited to share that they've also signed Norwegian modern post-punk stoner rock band Heave Blood & Die. Since their inception in Tromsø in 2017, Heave Blood & Die have been hailed by national radio as one of the most exciting new bands in Norway, played major European festivals like Øya, Roskilde, and Reeperbahn and toured with Kvelertak. Their third album, Post People, was nominated for the Norwegian equivalent of a GRAMMY Award, Spellemann. The band will perform at the UK’s Great Escape Festival this May.
James got his start as a manager after discovering the band At the Drive-In at a Los Angeles bar in 1994 and helming their notorious rise, and went on to launch the management company Black Sheep Fellowship where he began his stewardship of Coheed and Cambria in 2002. In 2007, James joined the MGMT Co, an offshoot of HITS, and in 2011 joined Velvet Hammer Management, before Jay Brown asked Blaze to join him at Roc Nation in 2015 to develop “the Rock Dept” which he helmed for a decade. Reese has spent the past fifteen-plus years guiding artists careers, leading advertising and direct-to-fan marketing for global independent distributors and labels like The Orchard, ONErpm and Platoon, before founding full-service artist management and creative services agency Do Better For Artists in 2023.
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For more information on Arduous, please contact:
Shane Greenberg | The Syndicate | shane@thesyn.com | 661.607.1137