Welcome to the end of another brutal, beautiful, ball-busting Bandcamp Friday. Somehow, somewhere between the 1,500-plus emails that I have waded through since this morning — way too many of which were nothing more than messages helpfully reminding me that today was Bandcamp Friday (gee, thanks) — I managed to compile this magnificent collection of new Canadian videos and singles. For my money, there’s no better (or more patriotic) way to wrap up your week. Which reminds me: Did you know it’s Bandcamp Friday?
Brock Geiger | Lemonade
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A prolific multi-instrumentalist and producer, Brock Geiger has been a key collaborator on nearly 50 records, scored over 10 short films, and has toured with a multitude of projects. His latest offering Lemonade is the second instalment in a collection of solo material — a bold step out of the sideman role, showcasing Geiger’s penchant for refined songcraft and ambitious production. Produced and recorded by Geiger and longtime collaborator Will Maclellan (Boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers) between the former’s StudioB and the prestigious Sound City, Lemonade features a band of L.A.-based first-call players — Matt Chamberlain on drums, Gabe Noel (Kendrick Lamar, Father John Misty) on upright bass, and Sam Gendel (Moses Sumney, Maggie Rogers) on saxophone and effects.”
The Boneheads | Feel The Light
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Boneheads have stayed true to their roots while emerging from the Toronto scene. They deliver a refreshment of blues-tinged rock ‘n’ roll, combining old-school and modern influences that bring a familiarity of the golden age of the blues with contemporary expression. The band explore a roots-inflected direction on the infectious and rollicking Feel The Light. This highly melodic track finds them blending bright vocals, driving guitars, and tumbling drums as the song gradually builds into a collective message of positivity. “Our favourite lyric is ‘Lead me to salvation, from this digital generation of fear and spite’ because it represents breaking free from the attachment to our phones or computers and living life in the moment instead,” explain the group, zeroing in on the song’s ethos. The song came to be this year when their producer Jon Savard got married and the band traveled to Pennsylvania for his wedding. “Having a cabin full of musicians can be either a recipe for disaster or a good time. Naturally, we brought our guitars with us and jammed a lot in our free time. Next thing we knew we had Feel The Light written in about 20 minutes.”
The Weather Station | Neon Signs
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Weather Station — the project of Toronto’s Tamara Lindeman — return Jan. 17 with the LP Humanhood. It was written during one of the most difficult periods of Lindeman’s life and rendered by a rock band with improvisational chops just as she began to recover by reckoning with a complicated truth: Sometimes, life simply tries to dismantle us, no matter how good everything may seem, and we must accept that in order to survive. It takes only seconds for Lindeman to pull us under on Neon Signs. ‘I’ve gotten used to feeling like I’m crazy — or just lazy,’ she sings. ‘Why can’t I get off this floor? Think straight anymore?’ “I wrote Neon Signs at a moment of feeling confused, upside down, at that moment when even desire falls away, and dissociation cuts you loose from a story that while wrong, still held things together,” she explains. “The song came with multiple strands entwined; the way that something that is not true seems to have more energetic intensity than something that is, the confusion of being bombarded with advertising at a moment of climate emergency, the confusion of relationships where coercion is wrapped in the language of love. Ultimately though, isn’t it all the same feeling?”
Iskwē | Caught In The Waves (Live at Panoram)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Cree Métis artist Iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ (short for Waseskwan Iskwew, meaning Blue Sky Woman) reimages a crucial piece of her most recent album Nīna, a 10-song collection of both electronic and sweeping chamber pop which evokes the intense emotions of a turbulent period in her life. Recorded in Mexico City at Panoram Studios at a point in the pandemic when in-person contact was only beginning to resume, this rendition of Caught In The Waves utilizes an incredible group of musicians and friends to create rich harmonies and a nimble orchestral backdrop to Iskwē’s vocals. Ths song zooms in on the conflicting emotions of a turbulent love affair. Featuring Latin instrumentation including the charango, marimba, and cuatro, this live recording trembles with a delicacy that echoes the vulnerable nature of Iskwē’s past relationship. “I fell for a man I had met six years earlier while traveling through Buenos Aires, a man who was like no other. He is the salt in the sea, the breeze that tickles your skin once the sun goes down. He is also the one that breathed life back into my sunken lungs. Our story was one of love and of history, truths resurfaced as we rode into the night holding our trust and uncertainties as tightly as we held hands.”
Maddie Jay | Chemical
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Producer and multi-instrumentalist Maddie Jay’s new album I Can Change Your Mind is due Jan. 10. “I wrote many of these songs over improvised tape loops that I recorded with my dear friends in hazy late-night studio sessions,” Maddie explains. “I wanted to create a sonic bed that felt organic, nostalgic, immersive and emotionally cathartic. Working outside of solitude was a challenge for me, however I feel the end result resonates much stronger than something I would have created alone, which is probably a lesson in itself.” Chemical is a song that “feels like smoking a little bit too much weed when you were already anxious and laying on top of your covers with a light breeze coming in through and having an absolute internal meltdown,” says Maddie. “It’s about the pain of simply existing and trying to rationalize why it’s all so intense and confusing by labeling everything as a chemical and disconnecting from the emotional side of things. This song was a collaboration with a few friends, we wrote the Radiohead / Aphex Twin-type outro very late in the studio one night and immediately knew we had something special.”
Child Actress | Just Fine Never Better
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As Child Actress, Rena Kozak toes the line between a tangible reality and an infinite universe. While Calgary was her initial foundation, her move to Montreal in 2017 solidified her work not just as a performer and songwriter, but as a sought-out producer and engineer. Having released the LP Ancestor Worship last year, Kozak is now sharing the last of the songs she wrote after her boyfriend died in 2012 — in the form of an EP entitled Just Fine Never Better. This year, it became important to Kozak to finish and release the songs so she can cleanse herself of that phase and see what might happen next. The EP’s title track was originally written by Kozak’s late boyfriend Chris Reimer of Women and The Dodos. It’s one that the couple both really liked, and after Reimer’s death, his parents gave Kozak permission to use it with Child Actress.”
S.G. Sinnicks | Miss America 2.0
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “S.G. Sinnicks is a two-time Hamilton Music Award winner. He began playing drums at 11, and at 15 began to play the pubs with everyone from local artists to Stompin’ Tom Connors. His latest track reimagines a piece from his back catalogue with a new twist, fashioning it into a modern take on the state of American politics. An earnest lament with a soulful folk/roots sound heightened by the song’s organ and subtle gospel infused backing vocals, Miss America 2.0 is atmospheric, capturing the duality of love and grief for a generation that just forgets to count. “This song is a remake of a song I wrote and released on The Last Irishman in Corktown in 2018,” he says. “I spent so many years playing and touring in the U.S., seeing the growing fractures in a society that is too important to fracture, and the pain in my American-born wife, friends, and family as it went downhill.”
Ada Lea | I-95
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ada Lea (Montreal’s Alexandra Levy) has released the new EP Notes, a collection of songs written at the same time as her sophomore album. To celebrate, the acclaimed songwriter is sharing the video for I-95, a fun, day-dreamy crush song worked up with collaborator Emilie Kahn. The duo wrote it in one sitting, “using the corny drum machine sound on an Omnichord to get us grooving,” Levy says. “The song is about driving to N.Y. with your crush. Hot scenes playing out in your mind. I love how the song blurs the space between fiction and reality.” She also animated the video. “I’m still very much a beginner with animation, so if I think too hard about whether what I’m doing is good or not, I lose all hope. At each step, I was in my ‘first thought, best thought’ mode — from which drawing I would use as the base, to the decision to add sunglasses and a neon green bralette and angel wings to the figures.”
Versa | Flew The Coop (ft. Ross Jennings)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The greatest music goes beyond merely entertaining us; instead, it conjures deep and varied emotions by evoking the universal hopes, fears, and experiences of humanity. Canadian prog / post-rock troupe Versa embody that sentiment. Founded in 2007, they have spent over 15 years perfecting their superb chemistry of serene vocals, eloquent songwriting and majestically ornate, engrossing instrumentation. Their latest offering, A Voyage / A Destination Part 2 is truly a tour-de-force of everything Versa have achieved thus far. From the Big Big Train-like symphonic warmth of Breaking and Entering and dramatic complexity of The Seething Bay to the Devin Townsend / Decemberists-esque acoustic contemplation of Bury Me at Sea, the sequence is breathtakingly exploratory, touching, ambitious, and impactful.”
The Dream Eaters | Crucifixxx
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Since 2015, The Dream Eaters have evolved from a dream-pop band into a full-on video art project with an extensive catalogue of weird and darkly humorous videos for their catchy songs. The duo started working together after Calgary’s Elizabeth LeBaron started working at the same Brooklyn bar as singer-songwriter Jake Zavracky. Their new track Crucifixxx incorporates religious symbolism that The Dream Eaters use throughout their work, the crucifix being a symbol to those in mourning and searching for hope. LeBaron has written and performed multiple versions of this track (which was written in 2007), until feeling that the version you hear now is finally the right one. It’s about the loneliness and hopelessness she felt when her life was a mess, and how in that hopelessness, there is a silver lining. “I can only go up from here,” she says. “I think that’s reflected in the music too, with its ascending theme — you start at the low point and go up from there.”
Homeshake | Waiting For The Phone To Ring
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Homeshake — the solo project of Toronto’s Peter Sagar — just announced Horsie Deluxe, the expanded edition of the 2024 album Horsie. The lead single is Waiting For The Phone To Ring. The third album from Sagar this year, Horsie Deluxe features melodic guitars over saturated drums, woozy vocals, treading indie, beats, and jazz influences. It comes with six new songs and is due Nov. 8. Written and recorded at his home studio in Toronto, Horsie explored Sagar’s complicated feelings about returning to live performance. Deepening his relationship to loneliness and anxiety, the record examines those themes in the context of touring. Influenced by artists like Four Tet, My Bloody Valentine, D’Angelo and Sade, Horsie honors Sagar’s diverse influences, yet is adrift within its own transportive imagination.”
Lisa Humber | It’s Me, It’s You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto indie-pop musician Lisa Humber shares her empowering new single It’s Me, It’s You. A radiant anthem of self-discovery and empowerment, it’s the third release of 2024. The track was created in collaboration with producer/guitarist Justin Abedin. On the song, Lisa crafts a poignant narrative about the transformative power of self-knowledge, inviting listeners to embrace their true selves and harness their inner strength to drive positive change. “The song reflects a period when, after enduring condescending and undermining attitudes rooted in deep-seated misogyny, I began to mirror these behaviours as a form of resistance,” says Lisa. “This shift highlights the complex interplay of power and identity, showing how one might adopt venomous tactics to protect oneself and assert one’s worth. Ultimately, the song centers on my decision to prioritize myself over succumbing to misogyny.”
Clothesline From Hell | Nice Enough Words
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Clothesline From Hell, aka Toronto songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam LaFramboise, shares the single Nice Enough Words. The track falls hot on the heels of his debut EP Soon We’ll All Be Smoking, further showcasing LaFramboise’s abilities as a singer and songwriter, diverging from the breakbeat-driven tracks that defined the EP. On Nice Enough Words, he collaborates again with Matthew Tavares on a swelling and emotional mini-epic about how the most painful comments are often the ones intended to protect feelings. “This is a song that came together with ease; written in one sitting, recorded in one session,” he explains. It’sabout “those times when you get the sense someone is letting you down easy; sugarcoating the truth in order to protect your feelings. It’s an awful feeling. It’s when all you want is honesty, but someone else is deciding that you can’t handle it in full. To me, this is the biggest flaw in a polite world, as the truth sometimes gets lost behind our manners.”
Odd Marshall | Nobody Wins
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Odd Marshall is that strange guy in the backwoods. His songs speak of world travels, but it kind of feels like he’s come out of nowhere. Don Kerr has produced his upcoming debut album Sand & Glue, with Mike O’Brien on lead guitar and Jason Haberman playing bass. Sand & Glue is a collection of songs with a wide range of moods. From start to finish, the album takes listeners around the world with a strong backbeat and infectious hooks. The record’s latest single Nobody Wins follows Odd Marshall’s songwriting themes of losing. Though negative in connotation, the song is a cathartic exercise in the frustration life presents us. A refreshingly open work, Nobody Wins features Blue Rodeo’s Mike Boguski on keys. “The song covers three categories of failure. Personal failure. Relationship failure. Global failure. The chorus — not too subtly — deflects blame from me. Like we all do. The ‘no one’ in the song is not so subtly me.”
Petunia & The Vipers | Loved In Vain
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver’s Petunia & The Vipers’ genre- transcendental sound is an eclectic and engrossing bar room mix of style and innovation. Inspired by the sting of unreciprocated love, latest single Loved In Vain, is a unique and swaggered blend of yodel, folk, western and bold Latin horns, fitting of a sun-soaked cantina with a psychedelic-infused patronage. “I played Loved In Vain for the first time down there to a crowd of 200 Argentines. The audience started clapping a latin rhythm in time after about three seconds! I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I had written a song that galloped along in traditional Argentine folk time. I had written a Chacarera. The applause after the song was stupendous. I felt like finally, I had found a home for this song.”
W/Frnds & Paige Penney | Southern Drawl
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Award-winning DJ/producer W/Frnds (originally from Toronto, now in Nashville) began creating music in his late teens and now blends ingredients of pop, house, country and techno to create a new flavour of music that has something for everyone’s musical taste buds. As his former folk-rock band broke into the festival scene and started gaining industry hype — and his bandmates started to develop other interests — W/Frnds followed his passion and began writing and producing music for other artists where he fell in love with the art of collaboration and songwriting. Southern Draw(l) is a co-release with folk artist Paige Penney, whose career also began in Canada before taking her to Nashville. The smoky country track shows reverence to the Southern accent. “This was such a fun song to work on with amazing people. We think it’s going to be a great song for the post summer szn, when the moody vibes come alive.”
