It is truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas around these parts — ie: frozen and deserted. Thankfully, it still doesn’t sound like it. As someone who hates 99% of all holiday music ever recorded, I am happy to note that this edition of your Canadian Beacon remains blissfully free of seasonal singles and videos. God bless us every one:
Mustafa | Dunya (Live)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mustafa shares a live session featuring songs from his recent debut album Dunya, with collaborators like Daniel Ceasar, Micah Preite (guitar), Kibrom Birhane (masenqo, krar) and Monica Martin (backing vocals). The session showcases performances of What Good Is A Heart?, Leaving Toronto and I’ll Go Anywhere. Mustafa shares that he is “trying to preserve and celebrate the ordinary life in the hood.” But Dunya, which roughly translates from Arabic to “the world in all its flaws” is also an interrogation of his faith and lifelong relationship with Islam, something that Mustafa has referred to as “the longest, most peculiar relationship in my life.” This examination is evident in I’ll Go Anywhere, which reads as a folk song, albeit one that interpolates a melody his parents sang to him as a child and prominently features the oud, a string instrument originating from the Middle East that folds seamlessly into the record’s unique, rich atmosphere paired with vocal contributions from Rosalía. This effortless mixture of disparate elements that seemingly shouldn’t work together, but ultimately do, speaks to the power of Mustafa’s work as an artist.”
The Weather Station | Body Moves
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Weather Station releases Body Moves, the latest single off her next album Humanhood, due Jan. 17. Many singer-songwriters are diarists, it’s never been that simple for The Weather Station, the project of Tamara Lindeman. Her lyrics use first person, but they don’t end there; rather they tend to branch out into philosophical question marks, existential knots; entangled threads of memory and allegory. On Body Moves, she sings ‘You thought you knew what it was you loved / Then again, look at this mess / Your body fooled you / Your body moved you — yes.’ “This song was the hardest song,” Lindeman says. “We recorded it, changed everything, recorded it again, changed everything, recorded it again. It had to be tender and bruised and painful; like falling into a dream but also into reality. This was yet another song I rejected when I wrote it because I wasn’t sure how to stand behind it. But then again, the song was simply presenting something that is real and that happens; the body fools you, the body moves you, sometimes in directions seemingly self destructive or painful or visceral. Bodies are biological and so is their language; chemical, pain, impulse, shut down, wake up. What matters is the interpretation, the response, whether or not you’re able to hear the signal at all.”
Tristan Armstrong | The Lonely Avenue
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The title track of Tristan Armstrong’s 2025 album, The Lonely Avenue is a cathartic release of rock ’n’ roll energy inspired by the dualities of urban life and a longing for home. Written during his early days in Toronto after moving from Vancouver Island, the song melds raucous rhythms with an undercurrent of melancholy, creating a dynamic sound that captures the bittersweet transition of leaving behind the familiar to chase a dream. Rooted in rock, indie, and roots traditions, The Lonely Avenue showcases Armstrong’s signature guitar-driven aesthetic, blending a QOTSA-inspired groove with vintage rock swagger. Produced in part at Lincoln County Social Club with John Dinsmore and recorded in Armstrong’s Toronto basement studio, the track features lush mellotron strings and chugging guitars that evoke both grit and nostalgia. “I wanted this track to be a good time — a release of rock ’n’ roll abandon that’s cathartic for me and fun for listeners. “The Lonely Avenue” captures the energy of urban life and the yearning for something deeper.”
Cinnamon Sandhu | I’ll Be Alright
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver fusion-pop artist Cinnamon Sandhu shares her single I’ll Be Alright. 2024 has been a busy year for her: I’ll Be Alright is the fourth single she’s released this year, following Materialistic Rani (April), Diamond (July) and Genie (September). She chose to end out the year with I’ll Be Alright because its universal theme of self-empowerment and healing is perfect for moments of new beginnings, like the New Year, when people focus on healing and fresh starts. “I’ll Be Alright is me telling myself that I’ve got this — it’s like a self-affirmation in the form of a song,” says Cinnamon. “It’s about reminding myself that no matter how hard things get, I have the strength to heal, grow, and come out stronger on the other side.”
