We are only two days away from the Ides of March, so get ready to beware. Thankfully, you have nothing to fear from this crop of fine Canadian singles and videos. Let the lovfest commence:
Kandle | Danger To Dream
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Montreal music industry vet Kandle’s forthcoming new album (due out later this year) is a crescendo of all her years immersed in music and an intimate knowledge of the many ways this industry, this world, can break your body and heart. Today, Kandle shares Danger To Dream, the latest single ahead of her LP’s release, alongside a video directed by Lauren Graham while she was breastfeeding her new baby. Danger To Dream is a tale of trying to wake up from the trance of unworthiness. Of the voices in our heads telling us we should be more, have more. A constant comparison of ourselves to the influences we consume and how inadequate they can make us feel.”
Major Love | One Woman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Major Love share another new track from their upcoming album Live, Laugh, Major Love. On the track, songwriter Colleen Brown says “I wanted to highlight the way women are pitted against one another, and question the idea that there are only so many spots available for women to succeed. This felt especially true for me in my 20s, but as I get older it’s more apparent that it’s just bogus. We always lose when we fight with each other instead of banding together — when we spend time comparing ourselves and being in a state of jealousy instead of celebrating one another. It chips away at our self esteem when we don’t stand up for our own worth, personally, but also collectively, with and for one another.”
Kinley | Charlotte
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The song, written by Kinley and fellow East Coasters Carleton Stone (Port Cities) and Colin Buchanan (Paper Lions, Sorrey) was released on Kinley’s third album Daylight. What started as an ode to Charlottetown soon took a rock ’n’ roll turn. Filmed in the iconic Charlottetown landmark Baba’s Lounge, Charlotte takes viewers on a mesmerising journey through the midnight hour. “It is a visual representation of the magnetic push & pull we can feel in the presence of a lover, lifestyle, or habit that once held us in its grip,” says director Jenna MacMillan. Kinley is a multiple Music PEI and ECMA-winning artist. She is known for her songwriting and as a recording musician and an advocate for women’s rights.”
Myriam Gendron | Long Way Home
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Acclaimed guitarist and singer-songwriter Myriam Gendron has announced her new album Mayday, out May 10. Along with the announcement, she has shared first single Long Way Home, a spirited, bounding crusade informed as much by folk traditions as it is pop forms, buoyed by the deft playing of fellow guitarist Marisa Anderson and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three). “This was one of the first songs I wrote for the album,” explains Gendron. I wanted to write a song with verses and a chorus, which was a bit of a challenge for me, as I’m more used to ballads without a chorus… This song opens the album with the idea of a symbolic shipwreck (“when my great ship went down”, a reference to the popular song It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down, about the sinking of the Titanic) and the retreat that follows. The words of the refrain ‘Mother make my bed’ are also very old, and are a recurring motif in traditional songs about returning home (sometimes to die).”
Abigail Lapell | Rattlesnake
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Abigail Lapell shares the second single and video from her upcoming album Anniversary, set for release on May 10. “Rattlesnake is an ode to love and superstition,” says the award-winning songwriter. “The trad-inspired track combines powerhouse vocals and slightly distorted finger-style electric guitar. The serpentine melody unspools around a catchy refrain, doubling vocal lines about archaic love omens and herbalist incantations to timeless yet modern effect.” An evocative collection of original love songs, the album balances upbeat earworms with elegiac ballads, ultimately emerging as an earnest celebration of commitment. Anniversary was recorded at a 200-year-old church in Ontario and was produced with Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker, who helped shape the project’s spooky, resonant sound while lending his voice to a few spellbinding duets.”
Thunder Queens | All These Problems
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Embark on a sonic journey of revelation in motion with Thunder Queens, the London, Ont. trio of Violet Bruneel, Lola Hayman and Clara Magnan. On their debut album Strike One, Thunder Queens deliver a blend of doom-tinged grunge, onyx-toned punk melodies, and searing multi-part harmonies — all while creating a mesmerizing sound that is uniquely their own. Today, they’re sharing the single All These Problems, a song they wrote “during a summer of protests that affected so many different communities, including the black Black Lives Matter protests stemmed from the murder of George Floyd. We wanted to tell our perspective being teenage girls and dealing with problems in our lives. Our favourite lyrics are ‘all these problems may be hard, we just have to set the bar’ and it speaks to how our generation needs to step up and get involved if we want to see any change. It’s about repression, racism, and societal issues that are going to impact our futures. We want to influence people to care, pay attention and speak up. Anger about issues can be very inspiring for action and we channeled that energy for this song.”
Haley Blais | Somebody’s Son
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Preceding the start of her North American tour next week, Haley Blais shares her single Somebody’s Son. The new single, written and recorded during sessions for her recent sophomore album Wisecrack, is grounded with acoustic guitar strums layered with atmospheric vocals. “This is me talking directly to my brother; one family ending, and another beginning,” she says. “A conversation with him spanning years.” For Haley, the purpose of looking backwards was never just for nostalgia’s sake, but to come to terms with the past in an effort to push herself forward. Within the creases of Wisecrack, Haley dives into the existential, everyday worries we all contain but rarely share and lays them bare with grace and humour.”
Waash | Time To Let Go
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Waash — the latest pop-refining project from prolific Vancouver songwriter Andrew Bishop — is previewing its upcoming self-titled full-length with the second single Time To Let Go, a soaring, synth-coursing statement on putting up boundaries as a form of self-care. While it’s an aesthetically smooth stream, the single also stirs up Bishop’s thoughts on interpersonal strife. “Sometimes it’s just easier to deal with life if you’re not fully aware of everything that’s going on,” he suggests of scaling back from a particularly taxing tandem. “You’re probably going to think these are breakup tunes,” Bishop continues of the song — and the album on the whole — though he adds the drive of pieces like Time To Let Go is more generalized than pure romance. “It’s really just about standing up for what you need out of a relationship, and making sure you’re getting what’s important to you. And if it’s not reciprocal, then you go. No harm done.”
