The good news: At this time of year, there’s so much new music you can’t possibly listen to it all. The bad news: See the good news. Granted, there are way worse problems to have. But as somebody who really wants to check out everything at least once, the firehose of songs being blasted at me every day quickly goes from exciting to exhausting. Still, I made time to compile another collection of the latest and greatest tracks from coast to coast to coast. Yo, Canada! Enjoy:
The Dead South | Tiny Wooden Box
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Dead South introduce their fourth studio album with Tiny Wooden Box, a song that gets right into it with a big hypothetical. The first single and video from forthcoming Chains & Stakes, out Feb. 9, shows the four-piece in top form in a rolling, finger-picked nail-biter. On Tiny Wooden Box, The Dead South confront the challenges of returning home from two angles: Existential and actuarial. This true story starts with a phone call, an offer from an insurance agent too good to refuse. As the song contemplates the cost of life’s last one-way ticket, the mood spirals, growing more ominous and anxious. Propelled by the chugging acoustic guitar, Tiny Wooden Box picks up speed as it hurtles head on through uneasy thoughts; group vocals boom like heavy thunder with bolts of off-kilter banjo.”
Imogen Moon | Martin Of Her Mind
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Imogen Moon, a talented singer-songwriter from Galiano / Vancouver, has released her new single and video Martin Of Her Mind, off of her stunning debut album When They Start Rebelling. An atmospheric neo-jazz soundscape, Moon’s video captures the creepy vibes just in time for Halloween, and serves as both a captivating short film and a tantalizing preview of Alone Time, an upcoming psychological horror feature directed by Byron Lamarque and penned by Geoff Inverarity. This narrative delves deep into the unsettling realms of sibling rivalry and a young girl’s vivid imagination, unfolding as a haunting descent into madness for a young woman and a chilling transformation of a tranquil countryside into a nightmarish landscape.”
Andy Shauf | Halloween Store
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Andy Shauf presents a video for Halloween Store and announces a 2024 solo tour. Halloween Store was one of the first written for Norm, mulled over and reworked from when he envisioned it as a disco record. “It’s definitely a Halloween story,” he said, “I was hoping to put it out around Halloween, but I missed deadlines.” Now, with the holiday just around the corner, Shauf shines a flashlight on the much-adored Norm standout. The hand-drawn Halloween Store video is charming and timely, a perfect visual accompaniment for the fast-approaching holiday.”
Robert Connely Farr | Gettin Tired Of Gettin Old
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This album was largely inspired by our time playing with Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes down in Bentonia, where new songs bubble to the surface anytime someone grabs an instrument. So we set up some mics in our little space in East Van, hit record and started playing — the idea was to capture the songs in their infancy / the first takes so to speak. Gratitude to Jay Bundy Johnson for literally making this happen — he set up, tracked, recorded and mixed the whole thing. If you don’t know it, Jay was a critical part of the legendary Canadian alt-country outfit The Blue Shadows for decades. And this new album Pandora Sessions is all him, from conception to the tracking, mixing to the final product — and even the cover photo.”
https://youtu.be/2bn8BnaMiS4?feature=shared
Waash | It Goes On
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Andrew Bishop, a versatile musician hailing from Vancouver, has established himself as a prominent figure in the city’s pop music scene over the past decade. He’s contributed his talents as a guitarist to bands like Alex Little & the Suspicious Minds and Twin River, all while crafting country-infused solo tracks under the name White Ash Falls. Now, he’s embarked on a new musical journey with Waash, merging his prolific songwriting skills with a passion for expansive shoegaze soundscapes, marking both a culmination of his musical career and a fresh start. It Goes On is about moving on, learning to let go and not really listening to what others have to say. Sometimes relationships get to a point when both people don’t really care anymore. The writing’s on the wall, and everyone around you knows this is coming. You just have to take a moment, reflect and allow yourself time to breathe.”
Daniel Isaiah | Wild Life
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A multi-talented musician, Daniel Isaiah has been captivating audiences with his performances on guitar and piano, all while leaving an indelible mark with his unique voice. His meticulously crafted songs have reached No. 1 on Canadian campus stations. A Wild Life could be travel or adventure or extreme experiences. But it could just be a life dedicated to your passion — in Daniel’s case, music. There’s another aspect to the song Wild Life — a sense that our days are disrupted by distractions that aren’t helping us live how we want to live, or be who we want to be.”
Fleece | Stay At Home Boy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Montreal indie-rock band Fleece are changing up the sound on their new single Stay At Home Boy by using more electronic instruments — something they’ve been dabbling with as they’ve all been getting more into pop artists like Doja Cat, Charli XCX and Drake. The group have been playing this one live while opening for Sammy Rae & the Friends across North America and the U.K., and they’re so excited that the world gets to finally stream it — perhaps while staying at home partying by themselves. An introvert anthem, Stay At Home Boy is a sassy, feel-good hit about partying on your own. Lead singer Matt Rogers isn’t coming out tonight cause he’d rather dance by himself alone in the bathroom. “We wrote this one back in 2021 when the only option we really had was to party by ourselves, and even now, we find these lyrics still ring home on a Monday, Tuesday or even Saturday night.”
OurGlassZoo | Free Remix (KutMasta Kurt ft. Prevail & Moka Only)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A fresh mix of electronic rock with a few drops of synth-pop are the secret ingredients of the Vancouver band, OurGlassZoo. In 2022, they released their album Aftermath, which included the single Free in collaboration with Juno-winning hip-hop artist Prevail (Swollen Members). The track was remixed by producer KutMasta Kurt (Linkin Park, Beastie Boys) and features hip-hop legend Moka Only. This all-star team has come together again for Free Remix with a catchy hook, a retro vibe and a powerful message about equality that encourages freeing yourself from stereotypes and moving forward as one.”
The New Pornographers | Firework In The Falling Snow (Acoustic Version ft. Aimee Mann)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The New Pornographers kick off their West Coast tour on Nov. 7 and are celebrating in style with the release of Firework In The Falling Snow (Acoustic Version). This reworking of the A.C. Newman/Sadie Dupuis–penned Continue As A Guest standout features a guest of its own, as Aimee Mann lends her voice on the harmony. “I played the new song Firework In The Falling Snow at last year’s Aimee Mann and Ted Leo Christmas Show, and Aimee joined me on vocals,” frontperson A.C. Newman says of the collaboration. “So I figured, let’s do a for-real studio version like this, and here it is. Honored to sing with her — she is a giant and just a cool person.”
Lal | Moments Of Release
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lal (Nicholas Murray and Rosina Kazi) are sharing a new song and video from their upcoming eighth album and film project Spectacular, which brings together amazingly talented artists whom they have worked with throughout the group’s 25-year history. The new song Moments of Release speaks to “the ways in which we find love with community and, for me, music and nature,” says Kazi. “It is about the constant back and forth between grief and joy, whether it be old or new wounds, we can and do find ways to heal, and find love, in a world that often does not encourage or hold us. So we find moments, through dancing, music, sharing, stories, sun rises and sunsets, full and new moons, gatherings, meditation, walking, being creative and still, and releasing that into the world, no words can describe the feeling of transcendence, and how it is such a powerful gift.”
Bludnymph | Body Parts
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bludnymph emerges from her lair to push boundaries with the genre-bending, rap-infused pop of her debut Drool EP. “Halloween is my joy,” she says. “Halloween is my oxygen. Halloween is my reason for existing. Growing up my family always went aaall out, turning our home into the haunted house from our most beautiful nightmares. Thousands of people would come, all of our family and friends would get together to help us build and decorate and be actors. It’s a season of monsters (my biggest crushes), witchy magic (I’ve been doing spells since I was just a baby nymph), dressing up (I do this every day but it’s fun when everyone else does too), and candy (my main source of sustenance). Basically, Halloween is me and I’m trying to be the Mariah Carey of Halloween. Also from now on please call it Hallowbean because Bean is my childhood nickname and I would make all of my friends call it that.”
Alex Coley & Afterlove | Courage And Crime
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Built around his soulful, worn-in voice and wrapped in tender harmonies, Alex Coley & Afterlove explore the elemental tension between joy and pain; heartache and healing; what was and what will be. For Alex, the song Courage And Crime places him in a specific time and place. At the beginning of the pandemic, he would walk to the ocean, and because we weren’t allowed on beaches at that time, he’d get as close as he could without stepping on the sand and hide in the tall grass, careful not to disturb the sandpipers. But the landscape doesn’t really speak to what the song is about, it just places it. The song is more about negligence and complacency — the kind that comes from being so consumed by something that you forget to blink.”
