CHERITON and Lydia Clowes of Bad Honey want to ‘Say Hey’ with bright new single. Communication and reconnection is the song’s key message, as it floats between breezy and playful.
Seraphina Simone shares the rich and velvety ‘Blue Devil’, as part of a double release, also featuring a track called ‘Skin’. It’s another passionate and 80s-dipped alt-pop number from the rising artist.
German-born singer-songwriter and producer MatildaEyre returns with her newest offering, the raw and emotionally vulnerable indie-pop single, ‘Let Me Be’.
Introducing Toronto-based singer, songwriter and producer YASSiN, who invites us to escape with his uplifting new offering ‘Take My Time’. Teaming up with Sean Terrio, the track effortlessly blends folktronica, indie-pop, soul, and classic disco.
Rising star Emanuel shares the powerful new visuals for his latest single, ‘Black Woman’, out now on Universal Music Canada.
Shining a light on Black women, the Jamar Harding-directed video in Los Angeles features women of various ages, shades and lifestyles, as the resilience, beauty and uniqueness of the Black woman’s spirit is portrayed.
Emanuel explains,
“‘Black Woman’ is about reconciliation and also celebration – celebrating how strong our women are and how they hold us up,” says Emanuel. “People might think this song was written as a response to the moment right now but it’s saying the exact same thing it was saying when it was written a year ago – ‘I see you, I recognize you, I appreciate you and I love you’.”
It forms part of Emanuel’s “I AM BLACK WOMXN” portrait series, creatively directed by Ashley McKenzie-Barnes, that puts five influential Black women from Toronto’s artistic and advocacy communities in the spotlight. View the portrait series and vignettes HERE.
Sounds like: John Legend, Dylan Sinclair, Son Little, Michael Kiwanuka
Toronto-based singer/songwriter Alex Frew shares some nostalgic visuals for his new single ‘Antisocial Love Song’. It has a modern emo aesthetic with a pop tinge. Watch below.
The wonderful Seraphina Simone returns with her deeply personal and moving single ‘O M D’. It’s a ruminating love affair that sees Simone tackle the minefield that is life in your early twenties.
Sounds like: Celeste, Lana Del Rey, Laurel, Chløe Black, VÉRITE, Blondie
Introducing UK/Stockholm based producer/artist Danny George. His new single ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is a harmony-led ode to dating in your twenties, from a male point of view.
Multi-instrumentalist and all-round talent, Mokita shares his emotionally-charged pop/EDM single ‘Ready Yet’, continuing to explore songwriting themes such as depression, anxiety, and relationships.
Uniquely talented songwriter Aimée Steven is sharing her view on the fragility of the current world in new single ‘Today’. Taking a classic approach to the single, it’s reverb-drenched and full of retro charisma.
Hedara has just released ‘We’re Not The Same’, the final track from her stunning, effortlessly powerful new EP ‘Sad Girl Syndrome’, full of piano-led, electro-pop.
Very much a leftfield psychedelic visual and auditorial journey, former Jamie T guitarist Attawalpa shares the timeless hand-painted visuals for ‘Done Hanging On’, by modern visionaries Alex Gamsu Jenkins and Joe Taylor.
Sounds like: Jude Shuma, Alfie Templeman, Muck Spreader, Leonard Cohen
Strongly influenced by 90’s French touch and techno, two French characters from Annecy, namely Low Bird (vocals) and Jimmy Q (guitars, synthesizers, production) – aka Caspian Pool, blast their contagious electronic cold wave in ‘Special Way Reloaded’.
Sounds like: FFO: Nimmo, The Chemical Brothers, Hercules & Love Affair, Goldfrapp, Joe Goddard, Chvrches, Digitalism, Holy Ghost!, Boys Noize, Little Dragon, Cut Copy, Icona Pop
The dreamy ‘Forever Forget’ is taken from Lucia & The Best Boys‘ new EP, ‘The State of Things’, and is a generous nod to the 80’s queens, Pat Benatar and Stevie Nicks.
Toronto R&B artist and songwriter Emanuel shares his new single ‘Black Woman’. Written a year ago, the message hasn’t changed – it’s a healing, celebratory ode to the resilience of Black women.
Sounds like: John Legend, Dylan Sinclair, Son Little, Michael Kiwanuka
Swiss sibling collective Sirens of Lesbos gear up to release their album, with the release of new single, ‘Pala’. It’s turned-on pop for a new psychedelic age.
South-African songwriter-producer Julia Church shares catchy pop gem ‘Don’t Really Care What We Call It’, a song about navigating those awkward feelings in a new relationship.
British singer-songwriter Lissy Taylor shares her alluring single, ‘High’. Echoes of Lana Del Rey ooze from untamed Lissy, amongst the soft guitar riffs, driving rock percussions, and jangling tambourine.
German multi-instrumentalist turned producer, Felix Räuber‘s bold new video aims to turn the preconceptions surrounding autism on its head, as it tells the story of an autistic character, deemed to be an outsider.
Sounds like: Aquilo, Solomon Grey, Son Lux, Nils Frahm, Ulrich Schnauss
Meet Vancouver-based three-piece daysormay comprised of twin brothers Carson and Nolan Bassett and Aidan Andrews. Their name is taken from the English phonetic of the French word “désormais,” meaning “from now on”.
They’ve put together a playlist for us, check it out below.
Charli XCX – enemy
Carson: The chords and the melody along with the production of this song really all work
together to elevate each other, one of our favourites right now. It was so mind-blowing to hear
that this whole album was made in a month.
Ricky Reed, Terrace Martin, St. Panther – Real Magic
Carson: This song just brings the mood from wherever it is to a happier place, a feel-good song.
Toro y Moi – Lissoms (Instrumental)
Nolan: Love how this song is chill but manages to still make you groove. Even though this song
is 10 years old, it still feels fresh.
Mk.gee – Isn’t It So Convenient
Nolan: The drums on this song sound SO good. It’s just full of really cool and organic sounds
and I love how straight up and honest the lyrics are.
Grady – Let’s Stay Inside
Carson: The beat switch at the end is legendary.
Post-Modern Connection – Drowning
Carson: Glad to call these guys our friends, from just outside our hometown. Great chords,
beautiful vocals and keeps you interested all the way through.
Gia Ford – Waterslide
Nolan: So funky and kind of sinister-sounding at the same time. Whoever played bass on this
song killed it.
HAIM – 3AM
Nolan: The chords are SO good and the chorus bangs. Rostam is also one of my favourite
producers at the moment so I was stoked to find out he worked on this album.
CHIKA – DESIGNER
Nolan: It drops in hard and not in a way you would expect and I love how this song just plays
with your expectations the whole time. CHIKA also has such a good voice.
The 1975 – I Like America & America Likes Me
Aidan: The 1975 helped me realize that you could be in a band and not make “band music”.
Realizing that I could make a song with whatever sounds I wanted, that it didn’t have to be
based around guitar, drums, bass, typical “band instruments”, that was a big deal for me. I love
how they used the hard autotune in this, and the production and lyrics are so good.
Baby Keem – MOSHPIT
Aidan: A legend. I’m always drawn towards artists that have a unique vocal style/delivery, and
almost every line of a Baby Keem song is quotable. So good.
Charli XCX – claws
Aidan: this song’s been in my head for weeks now. Charli is so cool, and I’ve been trying to find
the snare sample Dylan Brady used on this ever since I heard it. It’s currently my favourite
song.
Watch their energetic video for ‘Role Model’ with Tessa Violet below, which happened after she brought the band on tour and was blown away, signing them up to her label, T∆G Music.
Sounds like: Passion Pit, Sea Girls, Cold War Kids, Peach Pit, Walk Off The Earth, Chloe Lilac, Tessa Violet, Local Natives, Phoenix, Tokyo Police Club
Kickass trio Wild Horse shares the slow-burning, yet anthemic single, ‘Don’t Want You To Go’.
With it’s soaring and dynamic energy, it gives us a snippet of what’s to come from their upcoming album, ‘We Are In An Identity Crisis… But We Love It!’.
Montreal-based electronic artist CRi is quickly becoming a household name within the ambient electronic scene.
Having already released on TOKiMONSTA’s label, Young Art, and Anjunadeep, his new single ‘Never Really Get There’ is driven by his anxieties and desires for introspection, represented in expansive synths and Jesse Mac Cormack‘s elegant vocals.
Oslo-based alt-rock/punk outfit Lazy Queen share the potent new single, ‘Sober’.
Discussing the complex nature of addiction – a subject close to lead singer Henrik’s heart – it’s a frenetic and unpredictable beacon of sound as the band explore to find balance and normality.
Canadian duo Daniel MacKenzie and Peter Mol met in 2010 at a music festival at which they were both performing.
Fast forward seven years, SMOKEHOUSE was formed, allowing both MacKenzie and Mol to carve their own path and take time to sculpt the songs exactly how they wanted them, or “indie hip-pop” as they describe.
Their laid back and enigmatic new single ‘Slowly’ takes inspiration from artists like Anderson Paak, Tame Impala, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Listen below.
Everything is far from ok at the moment, but perhaps we need a bit of light relief ahead of the weekend.
Cue PhilGood and his overtly optimistic attitude to what’s going on at the moment. Remember, someone always has it worse than you, so appreciate what you have. You can watch the Joren Cull-animated visuals below.
Sounds like: Honne, Joseph Salvat, Miike Snow, Glass Animals, Joywave, Just Kiddin’, San Holo
Unique band Artio share new single ‘All Things End’, released on Monomyth Records.
Embracing newly learned production techniques and taking an almost more mature approach to songwriting, with a feisty prowess not seen too often in modern bands.
US based Phoebe Ryan shares her former ‘Reality’ with us, taken from a time when she was very dishonest with herself.
The visuals for the wistful and fantastical story is inspired by the psychedelic production of The Flaming Lips‘ 2006 album ‘At War With The Mystics’, a formative album for Ryan’s music career.
Our favourte band in the UK right now, Sea Girls, share the visuals for ‘Do You Really Wanna Know?’.
Blurring the lines between reality and fansity, and touching on the topic of mental health, the video – directed by world class animator Francesca de Bassa – takes the band’s own self isolated photography and brings them to life as kaleidoscopic, animated collages.
Sounds like: Marsicans, The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, Swimming Tapes, Slow Riot, Two Door Cinema Club, Sundara Karma
Gia Woods is an emerging voice in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as in the pop sphere.
As a queer, Persian woman, born into a traditional Persian household in Los Angeles, Woods grew up a loner and used this time to make music. Her latest single, ‘Naive’ touches on the subject of discovering what you want out of an intimate relationship.
Remix connaisseur Macious has turned himself to Kidnap‘s classic track, ‘Start Again’.
As one of his biggest musical inspirations, the opportunity to remix the nostalgic original came about during a time when Macious was going through some exhausting changes. It’s offered as a free download.
Swiss jazz/soul collective Sirens of Lesbos shares ‘How Many Miles’.
Originally written about travelling the world with their future children, the song has since taken on an unexpected, larger meaning due to current travel restrictions. For those eager eared, it features some reworking of lyrics from The Fugees‘ ‘How Many Mics’.
Canadian born popstar Mathew V releases his enigmatic single ‘Don’t Let Me Go’.
A bold, unabashed pop track, Mathew V is using his strong roots within the LGBTQ+ community to express himself and let the music do the talking. Listen below.
Debut act MΛD FVN has a lot to say, about a lot of things, including the light hearted topic of life, which she so nearly lost in two separate accidents.
A call to arms, this is emotional, raw and powerful.
Rising Los Angeles vocalist kauf is offering a rework of his first original track featuring another vocalist Overjoy – one of three artists on his burgeoning label ONE / HALF.
Taking a more “pop” approach to his music, he has added a UK garage style beat and some looped vocal samples, giving it more energy and bringing it into the dance world.
Only on her second release, 16 year old Romanian electro-pop act Francis On My Mind is proving that “Euro pop” is very much a thing of the past.
Sparing synth, melodic drums and fragile but still powerful vocals, this new song comes as a breath of fresh air in a saturated industry of overproduced singles.
Danish pop newcomer ELBA is 25-year-old singer and songwriter Ellen Bathum. She tells stories about the loss of control and the many nuances of love.
Her new single ‘700 Angels’ has a catchy pop hook, but it almost feels like it splits in two directions – experimental electronic music and indie that ultimately culminates into a fiery explosion.
Former death metal singer, Cloudy June, takes a proud new step into the world of pop.
Expect her new ‘Psycho’ to be an exhilarating ride of rock and pop. It proves once again how young self-made independent talent can make a real impact.
With a modern twist on an emo/pop-punk ballad, the song was initially written in the format of a love letter to an ex, and shows a more sentimental perspective to Mokita’s music.
Nashville bootgaze/indie-rock outfit Creature Comfort share the fuzzy ‘Arcade Fire’.
Not to be confused with the track ‘Creature’ Comfort’ by the band Arcade Fire (a cheeky nod to Arcade Fire unexpectedly releasing ‘Creature Comfort on the same day Clark and his bandmates performed at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2017), this is a psychedelic explosion with wavy electric guitar and unrelenting percussion.
With an abundance of material being released during the global crisis, it could be said that there has never been more new music available to us and therefore, it takes something special to stand out and hold our attention for its entirety. It’s safe to say that within the first three seconds, Peter Katz had us sold on his latest single ‘Like We Used to Be’.
Hitting us with a preview of the chorus’ to come in the intro, it’s clear that this record is going to be a catchy summer bop. Exposing Peter’s stunning vocals in the verses the track builds up the tension for a huge release of lush synths and layers of backing vocals when we reach the chorus. We would truly be amazed if you can make it to the end of this track without at least a little foot tap if not a full-blown sing-a-long.
