The late, great Maggie Smith’s dowager countess might not have known what a weekend is, but I sure do. And I know exactly when it starts: As soon as I finish posting this roundup of great new singles and videos from Canadian artists. Well, actually it starts with the crack of the first beer, but hey, you catch my drift. Now catch theirs:
Ark Identity | Bleed Out In The Night
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ark Identity’s Noah Mroueh of Toronto is sharing a glimpse of his forthcoming debut EP Anndale, due Nov. 8. The deceptively laidback and bass-led indie-pop track Bleed Out In The Night finds Mroueh reflecting on holding onto your integrity when someone threatens to dictate your path for you, going against your core values. “This song is all about standing firm in your beliefs, even when everything around you is pushing you in the opposite direction. It’s about those moments when you have to say, ‘I won’t go that way,’ even if it means going through pain or conflict,” Mroueh elaborates. The sing-song verses comfort the listener over a distinctive bass melody and summery guitar strums, juxtaposing the song’s subject matter as Mroueh delivers the chorus refrain: “You leave me there to bleed out in the night, you run so fast the impact is a fight.”
Tauro | Great Minds
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tauro, the collaboration between jazz pianist and singer-songwriter Cynthia Tauro and Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene), share their debut single Great Minds. The duo found their genesis in the summer of 2022, during the uncertainty of the pandemic. This laid-back, alternative R&B track speaks to a long lasting love between two people. Of the track, Tauro reflects, “They know they shouldn’t be together, but somehow the feeling of them still lingers.” Combining R&B drums with Cynthia’s soothing harmonies, layered with Brendan’s vocals, Great Minds harkens back to the days of trip-hop and finds itself in the spirit of such legendary groups as Air and Zero7.”
Mustafa | Name Of God (Live)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mustafa released his debut album Dunya today. It’s his first full-length since 2021’s When Smoke Rises, which was acclaimed far and wide. The album marks the intersection of Mustafa’s art and activism, the latter of which has most notably seen him produce two installments of his Artists For Aid concert series in New Jersey and London this year, featuring the likes of 070 Shake, Blood Orange, Clairo, Daniel Caesar, Earl Sweatshirt, Faye Webster, FKA twigs, King Krule, Nicolas Jaar, Nick Hakim, Omar Apollo, Ramy Youssef, Stormzy, Yasiin Bey and more, in addition to Mustafa himself. The album’s release coincides with a stunning live performance of Name of God that finds Mustafa performing alongside Micah Preite (guitar) and Kibrom Birhane (masenqo).”
Blessing Tangban | Prayer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Emerging from New Orleans’ vibrant jazz scene, Blessing Tangban debuted an introspective, vulnerable and folky sound with 2014’s EP Nowhere Girl. It opened us up to the world of a 15-year-old Nigerian immigrant in America — starting college, falling in love, getting heartbroken and finding her faith. Her soulful musical spirit has led her to tours around the world, working with renowned African musicians (Johnny Drille, M.I. Abaga) and having her music in films. She now resides in Canada and is up for five African Nova Scotian Music Awards. Her latest single Prayer is a transcendent and hopeful piece written as a prayer to God that she would get through a valley of uncertainty and false promise in her music career and life. The beautiful single is quite literally a prayer to God that Blessing wrote. She hopes restores faith in her listener, so they can continue to be bold and trust in God during times of low light.”
Rose Cousins | I Believe In Love (And It’s Very Hard)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rose Cousins announced her new album Conditions of Love Vol. 1, is set for release on March 14. Along with this news, she shared an uplifting new single that she calls the album’s cornerstone: I Believe In Love (And It’s Very Hard). It arrives with a video shot by Halifax cinematographer Jeff Miller, starring young actor and award-winning filmmaker Eli Arsenault, who recently took home best documentary at the Atlantic International Film Festival Youth Film Competition in Halifax. It also features Rose’s good friend Margot Durling, a creative director and multi-disciplinary artist, designer and musician who Rose has been collaborating with for over 15 years.”
Jennifer Castle | Earthsong
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Celebrated songwriter Jennifer Castle shares the achingly beautiful, incantatory new single Earthsong, the penultimate track from Camelot, her upcoming album due Nov. 1. Earthsong is anchored by a compelling spare solo performance and coiled chord progression, an ambiguous appeal to … a wounded lover? a wounded saint? our wounded planet? Possibly all of all of the above, as she sings: “I’m never just your girl/I belong to the world / And sometimes I feel that pull / Succumb to it and start to twirl / And doorways will have to do / Hallways and mirrors too / Step through, I’m feeling free / From this landlocked modernity.” According to Castle, “Earthsong was one of the last songs I wrote for what would become Camelot. Seeded from hope, imagination, destiny and resistance, the line that works on me like medicine is ‘I belong to the world.’ Feels good to say and mean that.”
Hildegard | Cruel
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hildegard — the musical project of Montreal artists and multi-instrumentalists Ouri and Helena Deland — have just announced their new album Jour 1596, due Oct. 18. Alongside the news, they share their first glimpse into the project with the single Cruel, showcasing the musical evolution from their celebrated debut. The new single is introduced with a commanding slap, directing attention to the duo’s imaginative harmonies and jazzy baseline. The upcoming album uses playful improvisation as its starting point, resulting in music that is ornate and raw, intimate, and deeply connected. Cruel serves as a “dialogue between lovers or friends, where one seeks stability while the other is drawn towards disruption and change,” they say. Accented by delicate vocals and Ouri’s signature harp contributions, the two artists uphold the same gradual mind meld that defined their debut collaborative album.”
Ekelle | Games (ft. Ervin Mitchell)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ekelle is an artist and songwriter from Toronto who rhymes about what she knows best — her life. Key music themes include money, sex, drama and identity seen through a black feminist lens. Her genre of choice is a style that she created called hood pop. Ervin Mitchell is a Memphis songwriter and rap artist now based in Atlanta. His overarching theme is the power of the mind to manifest our reality. He internalizes the philosophy that the job of a true artist is to convey meaningful messages and emotions in the simplest way. On Games, Ekelle and Mitchell team up to deliver a sexy single that’s inspired by the swipe culture of online dating. Although we usually have an idea of who we’d like to be with, there’s this energy nowadays where everyone thinks they’re going to find someone better so they keep looking. The song’s protagonist doesn’t necessarily want to be in the streets anymore, but is forced to because of the current culture.”
Vicki Lovelee | Double Edged Sword
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Vicki Lovelee is a Chinese-Canadian alt-pop sensation in Markham, Ont. With a foundation in classical piano and a degree in jazz vocals, she masterfully blends deep musical knowledge with a passion for pop to create a genre she calls “dark pop ballerina music at the opera.” Her new record, Phase 2: Power Struggle, is the sequel to 2021’s Phase 1: Shadows. This whimsical, fun, and seering new LP represents a period of being in flux — “transitioning into a more confident person but still struggling to regain our power,” she explains. Double Edged Sword grapples with one of the challenges to one’s confidence, the archetype of the masked fool. The theatrical alt-pop piece pulsates with anticipation and nimble strings as Lovelee stops falling for their tricks and reveals this individual for who they really are. “Double Edged Sword is about revealing someone’s true nature,” she says. “There are some people who are kind and charismatic and everyone loves them and are drawn to them. But it’s all just an act; it’s just a mask that they’re wearing. If we take off their mask, we realize that they have selfish and nasty intentions behind their kind actions.”
Kodiak Arcade | No Reason To Change (ft. Cabin Fever Orchestra)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Over the past 15 years, Graeme Cornies has composed music for over 1,000 episodes of TV — including shows like Paw Patrol, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Total Drama — scored documentary features for the BBC and NGTV, contributed to video games and established himself as one of the most widely heard composers in the world. His passion projects, Kodiak Arcade and Cabin Fever Orchestra, mark a creative departure from his process. Instead of composing to complement visuals, he now creates visuals to accompany his compositions. These projects are at the cutting edge of AI and human collaboration in generative art, while musically, they allow him to explore new palettes and expand orchestration techniques honed through his work in visual media. On the new single, No Reason To Change, Graeme took inspiration from PBS icon and sage Fred Rogers. “No Reason To Change is a track about feeling fully accepted,” Cornies says. “It expresses that we can be loved for who we are right now, despite the individual imperfections we often try to conceal. The song is about gradually letting others into our inner worlds, dropping our defenses in favor of mutual vulnerability, and learning to trust that this openness can make us stronger.”
Old Hoss | Smellin’ Like A Rose
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Old Hoss is the alter ego of Edmonton-born, Toronto-based musician Kris Gies. Over the past few years, he has transitioned from bass duties with hard rockers Flamingo Bay to creating his own brand of mutant country. His sound’s crackling energy is captured on the debut Old Hoss album Mid-Atlantic, out Oct. 18 and produced by Steve Bigas, an old friend who relocated his Hamilton recording studio and label Porcelain Records to Raleigh, N.C. Armed with his bedroom demos, Kris and his guitar headed south in his 2008 Ford F150. He, Steve and some of his friends and neighbours banged out Mid-Atlantic in true old school fashion, song count-ins and all. It’s all there on the album’s first single, Smellin’ Like A Rose, a classic touring song with Gies underscoring the twang like Mick Jagger circa Let It Bleed. A little ragged? Sure, but above all ALIVE!”
Ombiigizi | City Trials
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ombiigizi, the Anishinaabe-Canadian band led by Daniel Monkman (aka Zoon) and Adam Sturgeon (aka Status/Non-Status), share City Trials, the final single before the release of their sophomore album Shame. “City Trials is a dedication and a repetitive reminder that you can change,” they say. Through the lens of its impact on the Indigenous community, the Anishinaabe duo confront the widespread issue of addiction, and the drug companies responsible for its wildfire spread. With layered guitars and the tension of its melodies in the balance — working again with producer Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene — Ombiigizi find resolve in the struggle, and envisions a world where powerful corporate forces are held responsible for their damage to humanity. “We recorded City Trials after seeing what the opioid epidemic did to the Indigenous community, looking back after tens of years,” says Zoon. “I fantasized about holding the pharmaceutical companies accountable and the city would put them on trial for their crimes against the planet.”
The Bobby Tenderloin Universe | Marigold
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Edmonton’s Bobby Tenderloin Universe are a band, a community and a movement, but most of all they’re an excuse to don your western wear and give yourself over to the song and dance at the heart of every BTU show. Bobby enraptures his audiences with his deep, rich voice and thoughtful, tender lyrics, rustling up a fresh new take on the old country we all love. Some say he exhibits the sincerity of Johnny Cash, the wit of Roger Miller, and vocal stylings and production sensibilities of Lee Hazlewood. He and his band are lifelong friends and it shows in the way they bring the songs to life. Their 2019 self-titled debut album led to tours with Orville Peck and Charley Crockett. Now they’re releasing their sophomore full-length Satan Is A Woman; a themed album that includes songs about Bobby’s grandmother, romantic lovers, death, loss and guilt. The record’s focus track Marigold is a voyeuristic song about yearning love set in a garden. Bobby uses floral imagery to create a metaphor relating the natural beauty of marigolds with the euphoria two lovers feel when close to each other.”
We Found A Lovebird | 100%
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “We Found A Lovebird excels at trance-like chiming rock. Since 2009, they’ve released three albums, one EP and eight singles. Despite their western roots, We Found A Lovebird often invite comparison to Tom Verlaine and Television, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, or post-Commotions Lloyd Cole. What it all adds up to is the enduring magic of a rock ’n’ roll four-piece with elegant guitar interplay and evocative lyrics. Their latest track 100% evokes a bouncy, positive vibe with nods to ’80s groups like The Smiths and Prefab Sprout. 100% came about from a fingerpicked melody by guitarist Kerry MacPherson, which went with an unfinished song by frontman Larry Lechner. “I’ve written hundreds of songs and I’m so close to all of them that it’s hard to stand back and generalize,” Lechner says. “What does seem to recur is references to other artists, the moral conundrums of everyday life and the ever present possibility of love. For instance, in this song the ‘poet’ I’m referring to is Leonard Cohen, who basically embodies all those things.”
Shane Pendergast | Crossing The Bridge
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Shane Pendergast has folk music in his blood. Growing up in P.E.I., he hails from a lineage of storytellers and musicians. He began singing and playing guitar at a young age, and performed frequently at small halls with his family. After moving to Toronto, he began playing in pubs on weekends, honing his craft and finding his voice as a songwriter. Drawing inspiration from the landscapes and lore of his Maritime home, Shane’s songs began to take shape, resonating with themes of community, history, and the sea. In 2020, Shane returned to P.E.I., where he founded the Jack Pine Folk Club, a monthly gathering inspired by the coffeehouses of the 1960s, featuring a mix of traditional music and poetry. His latest single Crossing the Bridge was sparked when he saw a seagull eat a starfish. This made Shane think about the quirks of his home — an idyllic place whose real-life rough edges make it interesting. “I walk over the bridge every day, but the title Crossing the Bridge suggests a shift in perspective,” he says. “Seeing the beauty in the rough edges, and going with the flow a little more instead of seeking perfection.”
Mallory Chipman | I Am Slumber
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After creating an acclaimed EP inspired by birdsong, 2023’s As Though I Had Wings, Canadian singer-songwriter — and one half of country duo The Goddamsels — Mallory Chipman returns with Songs To A Wild God, 10 new songs offering a tour of what she describes as, “my reverence for the wild mystery that keeps my feet on solid ground in a world that is spinning by me at rates I can hardly fathom sometimes.” Powered by her multi-octave voice, the sound of Songs To A Wild God ranges from cinematic folk-rock to intimate spoken-word observations. While Mallory has often leaned on her formal musical education on previous releases, she says that this time she wanted to rely solely on her gut and intuition. The results speak for themselves, as Songs To A Wild God harkens back to when artists such as Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Sarah McLachlan built their reputations through a musical connection to nature.”
Angela Saini | Wanna Be You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto singer-songwriter Angela Saini captivates audiences with instantly memorable roots-pop, celebrating courage and finding joy in surprising places. A 2017 Toronto Independent Music Award winner, she uplifts and inspires audiences with songs that make you want to take a leap of faith and trust in the process. Saini’s empathic and upbeat new single Wanna Be You blends mandolin with acoustic guitar and warm production to strip back and interrogate the patterns of comparison we engage in far too easily thanks to social media. As the song develops, Saini recognizes the value of herself and her own individuality, with a singalong refrain which emphasizes the importance of finding the courage to love oneself. The track was inspired by self-discovery, she explains, along with “being confident in being unique and not conforming to be like anyone else. (It’s about) the joy of finding myself and loving her for who she is.”
Marzia | Supermodel
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Marzzhia Janine (MJ) Ancheta, mononymously known as Marzia, has gained recognition for her live performances and vocal range. Following up on her debut single She Is Her, released in January, Marzia shares the Ariana Grande-inspired Supermodel. The feel, vibe and overall aura of Supermodel evoke pop, R&B and soul sounds with a little dab of funk. Growing up on stage, Marzia has always loved live instruments and live bands, and really wanted to incorporate that for her future shows. “The idea stemmed from a keyboard line that one of my closest friends, Sanha Kim, played,” she recalls. “It was upbeat and peppy, which I asked him to produce a beat to. The song started off very electronic and midi and eventually it grew to become a full live-instrument band track.”
Liv Wade | Slow Motion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As the Indigenous music renaissance continues to introduce groundbreaking singer-songwriters to the world, a new name can be added to that list: Liv Wade. A queer, two-spirit artist with Metis and Scandinavian roots, Liv’s family came from the Red River Metis Nation, eventually settling in northern Manitoba. Now living in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, Liv’s rich cultural heritage and profound personal journey continue to deeply influence her music, more of which she will soon reveal on her highly anticipated EP Radios And Buffalos. The latest single from the EP is Slow Motion, a heart-swelling, string-laden track that shows off Liv’s bell-clear voice and natural melodic gifts. The song exemplifies how Liv and her trusted producer Winston Hauschild (Hannah Georgas, Mike Edel) created a sound that is both cathartic and healing, weaving lived experiences into compelling stories that explore themes of reawakening and self-discovery.”
