“Rain” by Shad

Super exciting week in Shad-land! There’s a new music video for the song “Rain” off his latest album Start Anew and he’s about to embark on a tour supporting the record and celebrating 20 years of music.

First up, the video for “Rain” (which features my favourite line from the album “Don’t need to reign like a royal, we just need rain on the soil”) was filmed by Sam Tudor while they were both up in the Yukon for the Dawson City Music Festival.

Of the song Shad says: ““Rain” feels pretty light on its feet but it’s actually a deep one for me because the inspiration goes back to a couple years before I even made my first album: I saw a vision of a man with an ocean within himself that needed to rain down and nourish the land, or else it threatened to drown him from the inside out. I interpreted the vision as a simple metaphor for the importance of releasing our creative self-expression. And also a reminder that the purpose is always service!”

This Saturday, Shad kicks off his tour here in Vancouver at the Hollywood Theatre and I can’t wait to hear all the new music live!

Christine

“Horizontal Rain” by Total Fucking Darkness

Total Fucking Darkness has been giving us a steady drip of new music over the last year, and they’re kicking off the new year with some “Horizontal Rain”.

The new track is as gritty as it is hypnotic, with the band saying it’s “a throwback to the grimy bare-bulbed basement illegal raves that your mum and dad told you about when you were little. This is party music for troubled times, little ones. Have you looked around recently? Let yourself go.”

TFD is the “long incubated and (arguably) the mildly problematic musical brainchild” of Torquil Campbell (from Stars), Stephen Ramsay (of Young Galaxy) and Tom McFall ( who’s worked with U2, REM, and Bloc Party), and here’s hoping they continue dropping tracks all year long.

Kirk

“At All” by Status/Non-Status

Anishinaabe musician and artist Adam Sturgeon has been involved in so many projects over the years, from the collective WHOOP-Szo (which became Status/Non-Status) to joining forces with Daniel Monkman of Zoon to create the Polaris shortlisted record by OMBIIGIZI.

Now Status/Non-Status is back with a new album titled Big Changes, which features new players and tons of guests, including on the first single “At All” which has contributions from Zoon, as well as Kevin Drew.

Sturgeon says the track is a: “self explanatory examination. I was starting to feel really disillusioned at the time of writing this song. Confused about the state of music and the complex world we are living in; the grind to make each day work. I decided to disappear, bunker down at home, stay in, write songs about it and invite my friends over to visit and play along. I wrote over 40 songs and this was one of the first to come out of me."
From this description and the one of the album itself, it seems extremely fitting for the times we’re living in, and I can’t wait to hear more of what this album has in store.

Christine

“Cuckoo” by Larkk

A month ahead of her debut album, we got the latest single from Larkk, the solo project of Dear Rouge’s Danielle McTaggart.

“Cuckoo” is a sweeping song that starts dark and moody before swelling to a grand, orchestral swell, and definitely my favourite of the singles released so far.

I’m looking forward to hearing more when Cinders drops on February 13!

Kirk

“Weather Girl” by Fleur Electra

The Toronto (via Saskatchewan) dream pop singer Fleur Electra has announced a brand new EP, along side the new single, “Weather Girl”.

The track is a sweet and uplifting song about friendship, with Anna Klein saying it “is one, if not the, truest of love songs I’ve ever written. It’s about my platonic love for my best friend, and the story of us. It’s a charming, pure-hearted tune heavily inspired by yacht rock and my inner child. This song has an essence of youth, and nostalgic demeanor. It’s imaginative in its visual imagery, and so accurately represents the way I feel about the one-of-a-kind relationship that we share. Additionally, it was important to me to create an atmosphere where people might feel free to let their own inner child wander into a moment of blissful sentiment.”

Have a listen below, and check out the new EP, Strike the Match, when it’s out on February 27.

Kirk