Songs of the Week: September 22 - 28, 2025

“The Bridge” by Bahamas

This week Bahamas announced a new album titled My Second Last Album (I sure hope it’s not!) and released the first track from it, “The Bridge”.

His previous album Bootcut saw Afie lean into country music, and if this new track is any indication, we’re getting back to classic Bahamas sound. Featuring light flute and catchy bass licks, the dreamy tune is accompanied by an equally dreamy video featuring his family walking and frolicking along the water together.

The new album will be released on October 24th and I cannot wait to hear the rest of the music!

• Christine

---

“Rusty Mountain” by Neko Case

Neko Case released her new album, Neon Grey Midnight Green, last Friday and ahead of that gave one last tease with “Rusty Mountain”.

The new single is a gorgeous, sprawling song with Case’s iconic voice joined by swirling strings, as she insists “We all deserve better than some love song.”

Neon Grey Midnight Green is available now everywhere, and this week Case embarks on a massive North American tour, which includes a show here at the Vogue on November 13!

• Kirk

---

“Skin Of My Teeth” by The Strumbellas

The Stumbellas new song “Skin Of My Teeth” follows up the singles “Hard Lines” and “Maybe It’s Me” from their recently announced new EP Burning Bridges Into Dust (due October 24).

The band’s Dave Ritter says: “‘Skin of My Teeth’ is about how it feels to hold tight to a dream. Obstacles, doubts, and disappointments make you want to quit. They make your dreams feel heavy, or worse, ridiculous, like everyone can see that you’re a fool to keep trying. But hope clings like a spider’s thread, and as the creeping keys and spy-movie guitars break into the chorus, we feel the grit and determination that convinces you never to give up.”

The band is hitting the road to celebrate the new album starting in November, and the Vancouver stop is on December 7th at the Commodore Ballroom.

• Christine

---

“Burn After Reading” by Dust Cwaine

Speaking of new album released last week, Vancouver’s Dust Cwaine released their latest Twin Lakes, and celebrated with a new video for “Burn After Reading”

The song follows the album’s theme of thoughtful, introspective lyrics informed by Cwain’s past, paired with incredibly catchy music; the chorus for this one will be stuck in your head all day.

Check out the video below, directed by Cole Schmidt, and make sure to catch the Dust Cwain album release party this Thursday (Oct 2) at the Fox Cabaret!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: July 14 - 20, 2025

“Getting Over You” by Johnny 99

While we await Johnny 99’s follow up album sometime later this year, we’ve been gifted another single titled “Getting Over You”.
It’s a softer, gentler song than the previous upbeat twangs we hear on tracks like “I Wanna Go With My Boots On”, and it works well with the thought behind the tune…

Johnny says: “Getting over someone is a season. I think many people are uncomfortable with this. Most want these hard feelings and hard times to be over as quickly as possible, not only when it's happening to them but also when it's happening to their friends and loved ones—‘Let’s just get back to normal.’ But getting over someone is a process. It can be fumbling and it can be difficult, sad, and long.”

Hopefully with this release, we’re getting closer to that full album date!

• Christine

---

“Farmhouse” by Georgia Harmer

With her new album creeping closer, Georgia Harmer has shared another new song with the heartfelt ode, “Farmhouse”.

The single showcases her gorgeous and soft vocals, with Harmer saying, “I wrote ‘Farmhouse’ as an apology love-letter to an old friend at a time when we were out of touch. It's about wanting to feel as close as we did when we were younger, when time together was abundant and uninterrupted. I wrote it to remind her of the importance of our friendship, and also to understand and translate the natural ebb and flow of a long-term relationship, weathering time and distance.”

Have a listen below, and look for Eye Of The Storm when it’s released on August 15th via Arts & Crafts. You can also catch Georgia Harmer across Canada when her tour kicks off on Oct 30, including a Vancouver show here at the Biltmore on November 22nd!

• Kirk
  

---

“Birds On A Wire” by Thunder Queens

The London, ON trio Thunder Queens dropped a rockin’ new song last week with “Birds on a Wire”.

A high energy, pop-punk-tinged tune, the band explains “We wrote this song about things a lot of people can relate to, like feeling underestimated, boxed in, and frustrated, and about the rush that comes with breaking free. Our favourite line is ‘blew out the candles of doubt for her trail full of fire’ because it’s about that turning point where you start moving forward.”

Hit play below, and crank it up!

• Kirk

---

“Growing Out My Hair” by CJ Wiley

In honour of International Non-Binary People’s Day (which was July 14th) CJ Wiley has released a new video for their catchy bop “Growing Out My Hair”

The song is off their album So Brand New, released earlier this year, and Wiley says it represents “the moment I decided I didn’t owe anyone androgyny to be valid as a non-binary person. It’s about rejecting gender performance and expectations, and finally embracing my identity with a kind of self-love and certainty I never thought I’d have. This song is a love letter to anyone who needs it—a reminder that trans and non-binary people deserve joy, space, and representation. This is my non-binary anthem.”

Check out the video featuring a number of new do’s for the Toronto singer below!

• Kirk

---

“Hard Lines” by The Strumbellas

The Strumbellas are back with new music! “Hard Lines” is the first new track from the band since their 2024 record Part Time Believer.

“Hard Lines” is upbeat, danceable, with catchy oo-oo-oo’s that I can hear crowds singing back at them at live shows, but the lyrics speak of burnout, disconnection and I think where the two sides meet is with the line: “I’m trying to live it up while I’m numb inside”.

The band’s pianist and vocalist David Ritter says: “Hard Lines is about picking your way through the rubble of contemporary life and the hope that we can build things together again.”

• Christine

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

---

“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

---

“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

---

“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: 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

---

“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

---

“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

---

“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

Song of the Day: April 4, 2019 - "I'll Wait" by The Strumbellas

The Strumbellas had a pretty great week.

First, their new album Rattlesnake was released, and the single we’re featuring today, “I’ll Wait” was used by the Blue Jays for their opening day montage, and just last night, they were on Late Night with Seth Myers performing “Salvation”!

Not too shabby Strumbellas. Excited to see what’s next, and if there’s a Vancouver tour date in the near future.

Song of the Day: March 12, 2019 - "Running Scared (Desert Song)" by The Strumbellas

While we wait for their new album Rattlesnake (out March 29), The Strumbellas are giving us another tease by way of a new song!

“Running Scared (Desert Song)” is “actually the song that inspired the artwork for the album. We love playing it because it makes us feel like we’re in the middle of the desert,” says singer Simon Ward. “This is one of the songs that came together the fastest and the studio was fun because we got to experiment with lots of weird instruments”.

Song of the Day: December 9, 2018 - "Salvation" by The Strumbellas

The Strumbellas just keep getting bigger and more grandiose, and their new single just solidifies that fact.

“Salvation” is a surprisingly cheery turn from the band, lyrically, and lead singer/guitarist Simon Ward says the band’s “whole dream has been to make cool, small-town music with just a fun, poppy feeling. Every record we do, we get closer to that. Salvation is exactly what we wanted to do, what we were hoping to get out of this song and record: fun, poppy songs that are sad and weird.”

It’s exactly the kind of pick-me-up you need on a Sunday like this.

Song Of The Day: August 29, 2015 - "Spirits" The Strumbellas

When I saw The Strumbellas play the Vancouver Folk Music Festival last month, they played a few new songs in their set. Two in particular stood out; one was "Shovels and Dirt" (which you can conveniently watch them perform at the CBC Music Festival in Toronto), and the other was this tune, "Spirits". 

It's a powerful and chilling song, and really makes me eager to hear the new album.