Do you love Three’s Company? How about reunited Can-Rock supergroups? Or charmingly eccentric country music laced with F-bombs? If your answers are yes, yes, and F— yeah!, you’ve come to the right place. Fry up some back bacon, crack yerself a Molson and put on your tuque — it’s Canadian Beacon time. Light it up!
Count Sally | Roper Romp
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After thinking about how to get some people interested in a new electronic act from me and not being close to the age of 20, realized I had to cross promote with something I liked — Three’s Company, and to be more specific, Mrs Roper, who represented someone who was quite loving as a character,” says Winnipeg elecro-pop queen Eve Rice (aka Vav Jungle aka DJBeekeeni), explaining her newest incarnation as Count Sally and her newest single, a tribute to the crimson-tressed, caftan-clad matriarch of everyone’s favourite saucy sitcom. “I found the Mrs. Roper community online; I also noticed they do not have a pub crawl dance song.” Well, now they do. And here it is:
Rose Cousins | That’s How Long (I’ve Waited For Your Love)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Acclaimed Juno-winning singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rose Cousins shares another new song from her upcoming release Conditions of Love – Vol 1, which arrives March 14. That’s How Long (I’ve Waited For Your Love) is a poetic analogy for a seemingly unquantifiable length of time; the length of a longing. What are the ingredients of waiting? “The concept of time endlessly fascinates me,” explains Cousins. “I keep looking for how the heart experiences ineffable amounts of time. How longing can last forever and loss can speed time up but also grind it to a halt. Love pulls us into the present and presence. It’s incredible how something we can’t see has such a deep influence on how we feel.” On her new album, Rose holds her listeners’ hands as she guides them on a journey through the “conditions of love.” Ever the emotional explorer, the Nova-Scotia artist seeks truth, in all its imperfection, in the depths of humans’ most complicated of emotions: love. The journey results in a striking clarity, and it’s the gift of that clarity that brings on surprising tears.”
Change Of Heart | In The Wreckage
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When asked to name Canada’s most influential bands, musicians and critics alike invariably single out Change Of Heart. The Toronto institution formed by singer-guitarist Ian Blurton and bassist/lyricist Rob Taylor in 1982 — when both were barely into their teens — quickly established itself within the nascent Canadian independent music scene, transcending their post-punk roots through a combination of psychedelic and experimental influences that pre-dated the “alternative rock” revolution of the 1990s. With Taylor’s departure following the 1992 masterpiece Smile, the band continued with various lineups until 1998, when Blurton quietly shut things down and charted a new course. But now, the classic core roster of Blurton, Taylor, keyboardist Bernard Maiezza and drummer John Richardson is back — with contributions from every other past band member — on In The Wreckage. Due March 7, it’s an album that re-affirms Change of Heart’s rightful place near the top of Canada’s rock hierarchy. Blurton says, “For me, the whole record encompasses the entire history of the band. We made a list of all the things we wanted to include on the album that had maybe not appeared on previous ones, so I feel like it fills in the blanks of our character.”
Leah Barley | Don’t Get Weird
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After making a powerful statement with her 2020 debut album Bring Out Your Dead, Vancouver Leah Barley is finally returning on March 7 with an EP entitled Awkward & Heartbroken that stays true to her light-and-shade approach to songwriting. The first single Don’t Get Weird finds Leah moving from traditional folk into vintage honkytonk. She doesn’t hold back in expressing her recent romantic frustrations in the lyrics. Leah explains, “Don’t Get Weird pretty much wrote itself after a few very interesting dates I experienced. A lot of love songs are about young love or finding ‘the one,’ but I don’t know of many people sharing how incredibly awkward it is to date in your 40s.”
Brock Geiger | Early August Rain
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brock Geiger’s latest single, Early August Rain, is an introspective meditation on acceptance in the face of uncertainty. Inspired by both personal upheaval and the devastating Canadian wildfires of recent summers, the track transforms struggle into optimism, creating a hopeful anthem wrapped in immersive production. With its alternative and indie-rock sensibilities, the song blends organic instrumentation with intricate electronic textures, offering a glimpse into Geiger’s forthcoming album Some Nights, due March 18. Produced at Sound City Studios in L.A. by Geiger and Grammy-winning collaborator Will Maclellan (Phoebe Bridgers, Boygenius), Early August Rain showcases a unique sonic approach. The song’s foundation was laid with a reverb-soaked drum recording captured in the studio lobby, an unconventional choice that resulted in one of many captivating tones on the record. Layered with speaker-tearing guitar tones and atmospheric sequenced percussion, the track finds beauty in both its rawness and its refinement. “Early August Rain was written while I was watching parts of my personal world go up in flames while simultaneously witnessing the wildfires in Canada last summer,” says Geiger. “This song became an outlet for practicing acceptance in the face of things beyond my control, evolving into a personal anthem of resilience. The title is quite literal, but thematically, I was drawn to the relationship between the natural world, and how we navigate our own storms.”
Takes An Army | You And Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hamilton punk trio Takes An Army return with their electrifying new single You And Me. A high-energy track packed with emotional depth, it blends melodic punk and ska influences to create a song that’s as introspective as it is infectious. Inspired by personal hardship and the power of connection, You And Me reflects on unexpected moments in life that bring people together. Originally written in a slower ska style, the band reworked it into a driving, anthemic punk song with a chorus made to be shouted back at live shows. “The beginning line of the chorus, ‘We’re not perfect, even though it seems,’ really resonates with us,” says Tyler Gelderman. “People assume everything looks perfect from the outside, but life is about overcoming struggles. That’s what Takes An Army is all about.” Formed by three self-taught brothers, Takes An Army have spent years honing their sound, drawing inspiration from punk and ska legends while infusing their music with deeply personal themes.”
