Songs of the Week: January 08 - 14, 2024

“My Status is the Baddest” ft. Bahamas by Old Man Luedecke

Old Man Ledecke…without a banjo?!

Yep! That’s the direction that Chris Luedecke is taking with his new album, at the suggestion of Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen)! His first new song in years “My Status is the Baddest” definitely has a Bahamas-esque tone to it, but with Luedecke’s signature songwriting, with this one reflecting on parenthood.

Good thing we didn’t fully lose Luedecke to the scallop boat (not joking) that he has been working on since the pandemic!

• Christine

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“Waiting For The Laughter” by iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ

Over the last few months we’ve been getting steady releases from iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, but now we finally have news of a full album! nīna is due out on April 12th, and is said to be “profoundly autobiographical”.

The latest single, “Waiting For The Laughter”, was co-written with akaMatisse of Keys N Krates, and is dense & sweeping, yet melancholic, with iskwē explaining: “Each time the mirror faces, I find brand new lines and deeper creases. The art of aging never changes; we all get older every day. Somehow women are told we age out faster, life spinning out so quickly, it can be hard to live up to all the beauty standards that keep changing along the way. I find it dizzying to think of the times I’ve loathed my body, how I pluck, colour, and cover the natural body I was born with. Will I stop? Probably not. Do I try to push myself as far as I can in order to love the body and being I was born with? Every day. I’m constantly searching for the laughter in it all. Laughter is medicine after all. Waiting for the laughter to drive the hurt away.”

If what we’ve heard so far is any indication, nīna is one of my most anticipated albums of the year so far, and I can’t wait to hear it!

• Kirk

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“Alone In America” by Hotel Mira

Ahead of their “I Am Not Myself Canadian Tour”, Hotel Mira has dropped a brand new video for “Alone In America”.

The earworm of a song is from their recently-released album, I Am Not Myself, and the new video follows the band’s exploits in Las Vegas, playing into “the glitz and sleaze of the distilled over-the-top grotesque idea of America.”

Their tour kicks off later this week, and includes a stop at the legendary Commodore Ballroom here in Vancouver, joined by Fake Shark!

• Kirk

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“Holster” by The Strumbellas

It’s just under a month until the new album, Part Time Believer, from The Strumbellas drops (Feb 9) and we have another new single from the record.

The band says the new album will be about either being depressed or optimistic, and the latest single “Holster” fits that bill.
Dave Ritter says that the track bounces between “feeling like a failure and feeling like a hero. I hear the cry of someone who always almost overcomes their demons–who stumbles at the crucial moment every time–but comes roaring back, still believing that maybe this time they’ll come out on top.”

The band is heading out on a Canadian tour in February starting in Vancouver on the release day for the record, at the Commodore with Michael Bernard Fitzgerald opening.

• Christine

Songs of the Week: Holiday Edition 2023

“Last Christmas” by The Matinee

Well, #Whamageddon I guess!?
At least it’s with a fun Americana-style twist courtesy of Vancouver’s own The Matinee!

The band has their own original Christmas songs, but have never done a cover. Of the choice of song, lead singer Matt Layzell says: “You can’t go a few hours without hearing this one during the holidays, and we hope our version stands up and stands out and has you feeling festive for years to come.”

I definitely think it does!

• Christine

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“xmas angels” by JEEN

If you know me, you know I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas or holiday music. But the few songs I do like always seem to be on the more… downbeat side, so I am happy to add “xmas angels” from JEEN to the list.

The lo-fi song was written and recorded by JEEN in her attic, with drums later added by Stephan Szczesniak, and she says “It’s a melancholy track about the people we miss the most.”

• Kirk

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“Christmas Eve” by Laryssa Vachon

This is definitely not a holly jolly Christmas song, but hell is it ever fun!

Vancouver musician Laryssa Vachon has penned a song about Christmas Eve, aka her birthday. It covers the downfall of having such a date, lack of celebration (and usually alone), and both being a burden while simultaneously and continually being let down by those around her.

So needless to say Laryssa “really fucking hate[s] Christmas Eve”, but Happy Early Birthday Laryssa!!!

• Christine

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“Running on Empty” by Adaline

Okay, so this isn’t technically a holiday song, Adaline’s single “Running on Empty” from her new Ep Hymnal (due out March 22nd), is about the “stress and anxiety felt by many LGBTQ+ individuals during the holidays”.

“The new single hopes to resonate with those returning home to religious communities and families that still believe they need to be “saved””, says the press release.

It’s a beautiful and haunting song, and with it a video that was produced and edited by Adaline herself.

Have a safe and loving Holiday season everyone.

• Christine

Songs of the Week: December 04 - 10, 2023

“Bluebird Wine” by Elliott BROOD

Hot on the heels of their last album Town, Elliott BROOD have announced that the partner album Country will be released next year.

To go along with that announcement, they’ released the first single from the record, a BROODified cover of Rodney Crowell’s song “Bluebird Wine”.

The band is touring in Ontario and then Europe in the new year, and hopefully when they album is out, they’ll make their way back out west, as that last show was awesome.

• Christine

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“The Wolf” by KROY

You may know Camille Poliquin, as one half of the JUNO Award-winning duo Milk & Bone, but recently she’s been releasing new music under the name KROY.

“The Wolf” is the second single she’s dropped this year, a haunting and ominous track that spotlights her vocals over a soft guitar, about “a frightening, all-consuming love that you can’t live without”

Have a listen below, and hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon!

• Kirk

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“10,000 Suns” by MOONRIIVR

I let you know last month that there was a new super-group on the scene, called MOONRIIVR, and they’re becoming a new favourite of mine.

Their album, simply titled Vol. 1, is out, and they’ve released a new video for the track “10,000 Suns”. It’s a super sweet, simple and slow tune about “the weight of the past”.
Vocalist Gavin Gardiner (whom you might recognize from The Wooden Sky) says it’s about: “how one can be crushed by shame, anger and regret. I’m not searching for answers within the song, but simply living in the present and looking towards love & forgiveness”.
Check it out below!

• Christine

Songs of the Week: November 27 - December 03, 2023

“Fixing The Again” by Kevin Drew

I’ve really enjoyed Kevin Drew’s latest album Aging, as it’s given me lots of early BSS nostalgia.

The latest video for the single “Fixing The Again”, is made up of “footage partially shot and directed by Drew, the video intercuts flashing vignettes of everyday life with brief scenes made up of a variety of characters. The video is bittersweet and reflective, capturing the true essence of the human experience.”

Drew also announced a run of solo, intimate shows in January, and while there’s no Vancouver date yet, we can cross our fingers we’ll get added to the run.

• Christine

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“Hollowed Out” by Ducks Ltd.

Toronto duo Ducks Ltd. have just announced their latest album, Harm’s Way, and given us a taste of what’s to come with a jangly new single, “Hollowed Out”.

Singer Tom McGreevy says: “There was a sinkhole that opened up on Dundas West a little while ago, in an area near to where I live. It shut down the road for a month. It had a strange resonance, partly because a lot of the streets in Toronto used to be rivers and streams running down to the lake that roads were then built over. It felt like an encroachment of nature into an urban environment–the river coming back to collapse a piece of civic infrastructure, and I built the song around the feeling that evoked.”

Harm's Way drops early next year, on February 9th via Royal Mountain Records!

• Kirk

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“Make You Understand” by Chin Injeti ft. daysormay

This song slipped under my radar for a bit, but I’m glad I spotted it in my inbox!

What started as a chorus on TikTok by Chin Injeti, was then sampled by daysormay, and then finally turned into a new song from the artists.

I love when a collaboration is something organic and natural, and that’s exactly what this tune, “Make You Understand”, ended up being!

• Christine

Songs of the Week: November 20 - 26, 2023

“All My People (Elsewhere Version)” by Dan Mangan

Dan Mangan may have released his latest album Being Somewhere a little over a year ago, but he’s not done with it yet.

Over the last few months, he’s been releasing reimagined songs from the album, and the latest is the “Elsewhere Version” of “All My People”. The new rendition turns the song into a dreamy, hypnotic, acoustic-guitar driven tune, which highlights the songs already melancholic feel.

Dan says of the song, “I didn’t start with any particular plan. I just started deconstructing the song and exploring where else it might like to be constructed. I wrote this song in the depths of lockdown, wandering around my home, annoying my kids,” he continues. “It took forever to get the chords right. The lyrics right. I wrote several different choruses and bridges. Before it was even a real thing, it had lived several lives. My 40th birthday was looming in the distance. I pictured a party. This same home, full of people laughing. I pictured a huge pileup of shoes by the front door. Coats laid on the bed. It was one weird dream away.”

Check out the lyric video below, and make sure you’re at the Vogue on December 9th to see Dan live!

• Kirk

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“I Give Up” by The Royal Foundry

This one skipped by me, but the title is appropriate for the week I’m having right now (waiting for BCAA to come jump start my car).

That said “I Give Up” by The Royal Foundry was inspired by the house fire that left the duo without a home! Of it Jared says it “is about giving into the harsh reality of life so that you can become the best version possible of yourself. To stop fighting the inevitable desires to be something/someone else and to give in to your natural draw to be yourself.”

Taking this inspiration with my the rest of my day.

• Christine

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Songs of the Week: November 13 - 19, 2023

“St. Paul’s” by Kandle

With her new album coming out next spring, Kandle has released her second single, “St. Paul’s”.

The song is a dark and hynotic tune, with Kandle explaining: “I feel that the importance of making “dark” music lies in its relatability. Throughout my life I’ve connected with the words and melodies of artists like Nick Cave, Courtney Love, Nine Inch Nails, Leonard Cohen, Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Billie Holiday. These songs mirrored my own experiences of pain, misery and loneliness, and through that connection I was granted temporary comfort and self-acceptance, even if it only lasted the length of a song. I believe that much of the therapeutic and cathartic benefit of music is diminished when it’s over-explained. Rather it should be encouraged to project one’s own meaning onto a song and create one’s own connection. When lyrics resonate with you, it’s as if they can articulate every feeling you just can’t seem to find the words for. It is for that reason that I would rather say very little about this song.”

You can check out the equally haunting video below!

• Kirk

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“Running Out Of Time” by The Strumbellas

The Strumbellas recently shared “Running out of Time”, the latest track from their forthcoming album Part Time Believer, which is due February 9, 2024.

Of the song, Dave Ritter, who performs piano, organ, percussion, and vocals says: “Berry Gordy Jr. used to say, ‘Don’t bore us - get to the chorus.’ This song joins a long lineage of songs from She Loves You and Nowhere To Run to Bad Blood and Hotline Bling that start with the chorus. It’s not something we pre-determined. …But while we were making the song it felt right not to beat around the bush. I guess we didn’t want to waste any more time.

If you listen closely, maybe with headphones, you can hear one of our favourite parts of this song. Somehow producer Keith Varon and mixer Ben Allen were able to gather the background vocals together into a fuzzy choir of robot angels, especially in the final chorus. The harmonies dance and sparkle around the lead vocal in a way that makes us smile every time we hear it.”

The band has also announced a whole slew of tour dates, which happens to kick off here in Vancouver at the Commodore on February 9th (the release date!) with Michael Bernard Fitgerald!

• Christine

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“I Will Remember You” by Metric

Of all the things I was not expecting from Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, near the top of that list was Metric covering Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You”

Scott Pilgrim and Metric have a long history together; the character of Envy Adams is partially based on Emily Haines in the original graphic novels, and her fictional band The Clash at Demonhead uses their song “Black Sheep” in the film, Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Now that connection continues in the new Netflix anime, with the inclusion of this cover (no spoilers as to why, where, and when it happens, though).

And just an aside, as a long-time fan of Scott Pilgrim, I really enjoyed the show!

• Kirk

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“Making the Most of It” by Major Love

When Colleen Brown and Scenic Route To Alaska get together, they make Major Love.

The band is the collaboration of Brown with Trevor Mann, Shea Connor, and Murray Wood, and last week they shared their latest single, “Making the Most of It”.

The new song is a high energy earworm, that was written out of pandemic-times, reflecting on “the dissolution of a once vibrant existence, turned mundane; and the pressure to become a ‘productivity drone’ in place of a social life on the outside.”

Have a listen blow and good luck not getting the chorus stuck in your head!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: November 06 - 12, 2023

“Brave” by Adaline

Adaline is back! It’s been a few years since her last release, but the alt-pop singer has announced a brand new EP, and released the first single from it, “Brave”.

The song is inspired by reconciling her own queerness with her religious upbringing (as the daughter of an evangelical minister), as well as stories of hundreds of LGBTQ+ people in a non-profit community she founded called Bad Believer.

She explains, “Is it worth the cost to unveil your authentic self, even if it means potentially losing the people you love? Even if it means forever altering the perception of you in the minds of the people who matter most? These are the kinds of painful, vulnerable and anxious questions grappled with in this coming out ballad. My mother and I have always been very affectionate with each other. But I also knew the narrative of queer people being an abomination, disgusting and immoral was a part of her religious, political, and cultural upbringing. I questioned whether she would hold me or "kiss my face" the same after finding out. The thought of losing our special connection was almost enough to keep me in the closet. These fears and questions are so often repeated to me in conversations with other people considering coming out, I wanted to give a voice to their feelings and concerns.”

You can find out more on Bad Believer, a community that helps people heal from religious trauma at their website, and Adaline’s new EP Hymnal will be out on March 22.

• Kirk

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“Flowers On The Fire Escape” by Moonriivr

Say it with me now…. SUPERGROUP!!!

We’ve got a new band called Moonriivr, featuring Gavin Gardiner (The Wooden Sky), “Champagne” James Robertson (Lindi Ortega, Dwayne Gretzky), with Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), and Lyle Molzan (Kathleen Edwards).

Birthed, like many projects of late, during the pandemic, Gardiner and Robertson got together together on Robertson’s family farm and created some seriously sonic songs with a wide variety of themes from personal reflection to politics.

The entire Ep, titled Vol. 1, is out now (click here), but check out “Flowers On The Fire Escape” below - the bongos really do it for me in this one.

• Christine

Songs of the Week: October 30 - November 05, 2023

“So Small” by Talia Schlanger

Super exciting news this week that Toronto musician Talia Schlanger has announced her debut album, Grace For The Going, will be released on February 2, 2024.

Her latest single “So Small” is a beautiful little track, with a soothing arrangement behind her smooth vocals. And I’ll let her speak about the song itself:

“Right now, like so many of us, my thoughts are consumed by the horrors of war,” says Talia. “My heart is consumed by collective grief.” 
“So Small” was written and recorded as the pandemic years engulfed the globe in a different sort of trauma. The urgency of the song, offers a philosophical view on humanity and a perspective on our space on this planet that is deeply relevant to world events today.

“'So Small' is about finding a way to hold many truths at the same time,” explains Talia. “The idea that each of us is at once as big as the universe itself and smaller than the smallest speck of dust. This is a concept that appears in a number of traditions/faiths/systems of belief. My first window into this way of thinking was through the Jewish teachings I grew up learning as a kid. And it’s an idea I continue to cherish and explore as an adult through the western interpretations of Buddhist texts by teachers like Pema Chödrön, Joseph Goldstein and Tara Brach. For me, this sense of perspective has been life-saving.
'So Small’ addresses 'the war outside me and inside me.' I share it along with my prayers for peace, outer and inner, for all.”

• Christine

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“Part Two” by iskwē

iskwē is not slowing down; last week she released the fourth new single from her upcoming album.

“Part Two” was written along with producer Damian Taylor and Ali “Willa” Milner, and iskwē shares: “This is a song about my broken heart after a rocky relationship finally came crashing down, We should have known, and we probably did, that things would end as passionately as they began. We ran the other to the ground while simultaneously pulling each other back to our feet, but the landing got slipperier and slipperier with each recovery, until enough was enough.”

Still no word on when the new album will be out, and sadly, iskwē had to postpone the Vancouver show that was supposed to be later this week. But have a listen to “Part Two” below!

• Kirk

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“Hold My Head Up Higher” by JEEN (feat. Ian Blurton)

We’re still a couple months out from her next album, but JEEN has released the third tease by way of “Hold My Head Up Higher”, which was co-written with the prolific Ian Blurton.

The new song is a slow-burn that is the second track JEEN has colaborated on with Blutron — who has also produced her last few albums — and she elaborates, “When we were in pre-production for Gold Control, Ian and I bounced an idea he had back and forth for a couple weeks long-distance before really solidifying the song in studio rehearsals. It’s always fun collaborating with Ian, so I'm really happy we got the chance to do it again on this album.”

Gold Control is out on February 2nd, next year.

• Kirk

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“Who The Hell Am I” by NOBRO

I needed a banger to wake me up this Monday morning and “Who The Hell Am I” by NOBRO did the trick.
The band’s new album Set Your Pussy Free (or SYPF as you’ll probably see it printed, lol), was released on the 27th, and it’s non-stop rock and roll throughout.

No Vancouver tour date listed as of yet, but hopefully there’s one on the horizon, because I want to hear these live!

• Christine

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“The Matrix” by Mother Mother

Mother Mother is back! The alt-pop group has announced a brand new album, and celebrated with the release of the new single “The Matrix”.

The new tune starts in the most Mother Mother way possible with the lyrics “Baby love, baby child, you’re gonna die”, before going on to a chorus that defiantly proclaims “Fuck no!” to living in The Matrix.

Grief Chapter will be the band’s ninth album, and is out on February 16th, but you can check out the trippy video for “The Matrix” now!

• Kirk

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“Renegade” & “Can I Get Your Name” by Bend Sinister

Not only are we getting another two songs from Vancouver’s Bend Sinister, but we’re also getting a little more info on their upcoming album!

“Renegade” & “Can I Get Your Name” are two more tracks off their upcoming yet-to-be-named release, which will be out spring of next year, and follow the same boisterous, 70’s influenced groove as their last few singles.

With “Renegade”, the band says “Dog is man's best friend. We played with that metaphor in this song, starting with that relationship in mind and how perhaps it can relate to more than just our K9 pals.”

While “Can I Get Your Name” is “about that fairytale romance that stems from two strangers meeting in the crowd and finding love. With dating apps and the online world is it even possible to find love the old-fashioned way?”

We’re now heard a half dozen new songs from the album, and I can not wait to hear the rest of it!

• Kirk

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Path Of The Heel EP by The Halluci Nation

Okay, this is damn cool.
The Halluci Nation have released the first part of their new project: “The Road to Halluci Mania.” What’s that you ask? Well…

"The Halluci Nation's Bear Witness and 2oolman have always had a deep interest in Professional Wrestling ever since they were kids – loving the complex story lines that play out week after week, and seeing the underdog overcome adversity and have their chance to shine.

…Themed around one of the main character archetypes in professional wrestling – "The Heel" (a.k.a. the bad guy) – Path of the Heel follows a faction of this group, called the ALie Nation. The creator of the ALie Nation has gone from being curious about The Halluci Nation – the champion "Baby Face" tag team wrestlers – to becoming obsessed with taking them down at Halluci Mania, aiming to do so by recruiting two wrestlers into the ALie Nation.

The story unfolds through the album openers, Tree of Woe and ALie Nation (Interlude), both of which feature powerful vocals written and performed by Damian Abraham [of Fucked Up]. The theme then expands with Eater of Worlds and Atomic Drop, featuring long-time collaborators, Northern Cree, and fulled by fast paced beats with complex basslines, all brining the Halluci Nation’s classic sound into the present and beyond.

Just, wow. These songs are so good, and I can’t wait to hear this whole project start to finish!

• Christine