Songs of the Week: October 20 - 26, 2025

“Jim Cuddy Dress” by Jenn Grant

Last week Jenn Grant released beautiful ode to her late mother with the new song “Jim Cuddy Dress”. It’s the first single from her new album, Queen of the Strait, which is out early next year, and I’ll just let Jenn tell the story behind the song:

“This single coming out today feels very serendipitous because it would have been my mother's 76th birthday, and this song is a tribute to her.

This is the story of when we met Jim Cuddy at the JUNOs back in 2012. She was wearing a dress that we'd picked out together. It was actually chosen not only for its colour and fabric but because it also helped to conceal the swelling in her stomach and liver from the metastatic breast cancer.

I grew up listening to Blue Rodeo in the house, and my mother, like so many Canadians, was such a big fan of Jim Cuddy.

So when I saw him standing there in the lobby on his own, I decided it would be ok to introduce ourselves. What a strange and magical moment now that I think back on it. When I took their photo, it was the last time I saw her sparkly blue eyes shining bright. Jim, who is now a very dear friend, didn't know how much that moment meant, or even that she was sick, but I think the flight home might have been the thing that pushed her over the edge. She died 3 weeks later. Just before she left us, she said she'd like to be laid to rest in the 'Jim Cuddy Dress'.

So this song is about the last time we saw her, said goodbye in that moment, like it was a movie, in a little funeral home in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. On that day, it was just my brother Daniel (Grant), my husband Danny (Ledwell) and our dog Charlie that mom and I shared. Charlie and I danced as Danny played Beach Boys songs on the organ, my mother in her dress, still beautiful as ever. This was 'the make-believe funeral'.”

• Kirk

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“Feels So Good” by Bahamas

It feels like Bahamas just announced his newest album, My Second 𝖡̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝗍̶ Last Album, and now it’s already out!

The album’s release was accompanied by the latest single, “Feels So Good”, a chill groove that’s about balancing discipline and indulgence and the internal struggle not to give in to impulses.

Have a listen below, and pick up (what is hopefully not) My Second 𝖡̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝗍̶ Last Album now!

• Kirk

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“Southern Star” feat. AURORA by Leif Vollebekk

Super cool news our of the Leif Vollebekk front!
The musician released a new version of his song “Southern Star” featuring Norwegian artist AURORA this week, and with it another announcement - a short film.

Also to be titled Southern Star and featuring both Voleebekk and Aurora as characters, Leif concieved the idea around his album Revelation:
“Revelation always reminded me of a dream sequence, the songs felt like a little movie, and I wanted to see that movie. AURORA and I had been fans of each other’s music for years and kept talking about finding the right way to collaborate. When I mentioned I couldn’t find a lead actor for a film I was working on, she simply said, ‘I’ll do it. Come to Norway.’ Two weeks later, we were filming. I can’t thank her enough for what she brought to it - her radiant presence, her generosity, and that unmistakable voice.”

No details yet on a release date for this, but Leif heads out on tour in November for the next several months, so it might be a bit.

• Christine

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Songs of the Week: February 19 - 25, 2024

“No Safe + Sound” by July Talk

A year after the release of their album Remeber Never Before, July Talk are back with a deluxe edition! The new version of the album features two new songs, including “No Safe + Sound”, produced by Kevin Drew.

According to Leah Fay Goldstein, the new song is “a series of promises. It is about greeting uncertain and imperfect futures with a willingness to show up and keep trying. The nagging divine and communal pressure that urges us to never lose hope is as mundane and as vital as the blood in our veins. You don’t tell your heart to pump or your lungs to breathe, they just do it. Yes there will be suffering, yes there will be valid reasons for fear, but there will always also be love. Love is the cure, love is the greatest assurance of all. Love is how we got here. Love is why we stay.”

The Deluxe album also features three live recordings from their 2023 tour, “After This,” “Human Side,” and “I Am Water", as well as a ‘piano version’ of “When You Stop”. Keep an eye out for it on March 8th!

• Kirk

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“Hello Everyone (Ceasefire Now)” by Jenn Grant

Last week Jenn Grant released “Hello everyone (Ceasefire Now)” alongside an incredible group of over 35 musicians from across Canada, Ireland and Australia.

The song was co-written with Daniel Ledwell, and features Aquakultre, Justin Rutledge, Mo Kenney, Sarah Slean, Terra Lightfoot, The Once, and Tim Chaisson, among many, many others.

You can pick up the song on Bandcamp, with 100% of proceeds going to Palestinian Red Crescent Society (as well as see a full list of everyone involved).

• Kirk

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“Dancing For The Soldiers” by Adrian Glynn

Adrian Glynn (whose folk group The Fugitives was nominated for a JUNO in 2022) is about to release a new solo album (tomorrow!) titled You’re Just A Place That I Know.

The new work is based around his family heritage, and keeps his dark-folk sound, but uses the addition of traditional Ukrainian instruments and a Ukranian-Canadian Choir.

Glynn says:  “After speaking with my Aunt Genya,  the story-keeper of my Ukrainian side of the family, a couple years ago, I began composing a song-cycle that follows the details of my grandparents’ narrative, including: my Baba, at 16, being forced by Germans from her Carpathian village into forced labour a thousand kilometers away; my Dido folk-dancing to win cigarettes from impressed Allied soldiers in a refugee camp; my Baba invoking the words of poet Taras Shevchenko to lay her husband to rest after their long life together in Montreal; and lastly, to my own final visit with my Baba in her room at Royal Vic hospital, her memories now a mosaic of dementia as we flipped through an old photo album together”. 

“This album is not about modern Ukraine, but certainly the current and horrific existential threat to my ancestral homeland spurred me to to tell this story of my grandparents’ flight from war to settle somewhere unfamiliar. A story that is all too true for Ukrainians today, 80 years on”.

Take a listen to one of the new songs, “Dancing For The Soldiers”, below.

• Christine

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“Bruised” by BOBBI

A few years ago, Vancouver musician Kaylee Johnston picked up, moved to London (England, not Ontario) and started making music under the name BOBBI.

New she’s back with a brand new song “Bruised”, which was mere weeks before her life -- and the entire world -- was upended in 2020. It’s a haunting electro-pop tune about ‘spiritual narcissism’, and is the first new single off her EP, coming out later this year.

The song was written with Model 86, and you can check out the video directed by Adem Boutlidja below!

• Kirk

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“She Told Me Where To Go” by Old Man Luedecke

Last week Old Man Luedecke released the title track from his new album She Told Me Where To Go.

The album was produced by Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas) and sees OML putting down the signature banjo for it. Don’t be worried though, as you’ll hear in the track below, the new music is hella fun.

He’s heading out on the road for a string of dates with Matt Anderson, and his own tour, and while there’s no Vancouver date yet, you bet I’ll be keeping an eye out!

• Christine

Songs of the Week: October 23 - 29, 2023

“Dark Angel” by Rose Cousins, Jill Barber, and Jenn Grant

Can you think of a better trio of Canadian singers than Rose Cousins, Jill Barber, and Jenn Grant? Neither could Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy.

Barber explains that she was backstage at a Blue Rodeo show last spring with Grant, when “Jim Cuddy turned to us and suggested that, along with Rose Cousins, we should form a trio... like a Canadian version of the Dolly Parton, Linda Rondstadt and Emmylou Harris ‘Trio’. The next thing we knew we were sending Rose a video message saying: ‘we're doing this, because Jim said so’.”

So of course, their first single is a gorgeous & haunting cover of “Dark Angel”, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of Five Days In July.

Hopefully we hear more from the trio in the future, but for now, check out the cover below!

• Kirk

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“Halloween Store” by Andy Shauf

Phewf! We got this one in under the wire…couldn’t leave out “Halloween Store” by Andy Shauf the day before Halloween!

It’s a fun, and chaotic, little song, and now it has a fun, and chaotic, little video to go along with it.

I hope you all have your costumes for tomorrow - I have to get back to work on mine.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

• Christine

Songs of the Week: April 24 - 30, 2023

“Replacements” by Chromeo (feat. La Roux)

Starting your Monday morning off with the Funklordz, Chromeo, is never a bad thing.
“Replacements” ft. La Roux (who made an appearance during their Coachella set recently) is the latest release from the duo, who seem to be amping up to a new album release.

The end of the press release said “More from Chromeo is imminent” and they have announced a tour, with a stop at the Vogue Theatre on September 26th.
Have a funky day!

• Christine

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“All Of This Time” by Jenn Grant (feat. Bahamas)

Jenn Grant recently gave us another glimpse at her upcoming album, which is full of collaborations with some of Canada’s finest musicians.

“All of the Time” is latest single, a beautiful tune that Grant wrote with Bahamas.
Jenn says: “So wonderful to spend an afternoon working up this little ditty with Bahamas. I will never forget coming up with that chorus together in our little studio singing in harmony. His voice felt like a big ship taking me out to sea. Watching him play guitar, and then casually stroll over to the piano to add little bits of music here and there was mesmerizing. He thought he was just tickling the ivories, playing a few notes here and there for fun. We kept everything.”
And Bahamas adds: “So great to spend an afternoon with JG and sing together. I think this song officially qualifies as a ‘ditty.’ Wish we had more time to write a bridge but the guys upstairs at corporate had us working to a tight deadline. Hope you enjoy the results!”

Champagne Problems is out June 21st, and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the collabs, which include Basia Bulat, Dan Mangan, Kevin Drew, Slow Leaves, Joel Plaskett, Tim Baker, Hannah Georgas & Amy Millan, and more!

• Kirk

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“Beautiful View” by Hannah Georgas

I’ll tell you what’s a beautiful view…the sight of new music from Hannah Georgas in my inbox!
“Beautiful View” is the second release from Georgas after “This Too Shall Pass” off of the album that is due to come out this summer.
Of the song she says it is “about seeing the beauty in the things we can take for granted. It’s about having perspective and recognizing the things we often overlook. It’s about enjoying the moment, even if it’s not a breathtaking high or grand achievement. Instead of sweating the small stuff I’m trying to be more present and thankful. Zooming out and seeing things from that perspective isn't always easy and it's all definitely still a work in progress for me.”
I cannot wait for more music, the album itself, and then hopefully some tour date announcements!

• Christine

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“Your Favourite Place” by Noble Oak

It’s funny that get to write about this new track “Your Favourite Place” by Noble Oak, because I ran into the man himself this week while we were both at work!

In addition to the new track, Noble Oak is announcing that his new album When It Finds You will be released on July 8th. The new tune, which I find incredibly ear-worm-y, is a song about finding optimism and “the desire to return to a place of comfort”.

No show announcements yet, but I might have got the inside scoop, so stay tuned!

• Christine

Songs of the Week: February 20 - 26, 2023

“Moonlight Stay Above” and “When The Storm Has Passed”
by Great Lake Swimmers

I know there was a global pandemic, but it still feels like FOREVER since we’ve heard from the Great Lake Swimmers, but that changes now!
Not one, but two songs, “Moonlight Stay Above” and “When The Storm Has Passed”, from the Ontario band.
The new album promises feelings of "doubt, followed by discovery. Demos that ended up as finished tracks. New beginnings, rear-view reflections, and ruminations on the fluidity of time.”
Uncertain Country will be released on April 23rd, but in the meantime enjoy to two releases below.

• Christine

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“How I Loved You” by Jenn Grant (feat. Amy Millan)

The upcoming Jenn Grant album is going to be a who’s who of some of the best musicians in Canada.

Aside from Grant herself (obviously) the album includes collaborations with Kim Harris, Aquakultre, Basia Bulat, Bahamas, Dan Mangan, Kevin Drew, Ria Mae, Josh Qaumariaq, Slow Leaves, Joel Plaskett, Tim Baker, and Hannah Georgas & Amy Millan, as heard in the new single, “How I Loved You”.

Grant says “I have been thinking a lot about the idea of heartbreak lately, and how we try to cover up the pain and the joy that led to it just to feel nothing at all. And that maybe it is better to feel everything rather than nothing. Maybe we do not need to forget, and we just need to feel. Because it is the reason humans are together on this earth. To fall in love, to break apart, to feel, cry, grieve, and grow stronger. This is what love is to me. This song is going to break your heart as it did mine.”
With Amy adding, “Prepare for listening to “How I Loved You” by being alone. This way you may cry like you have to, want to and need to for as long as you can remember. Then you can listen to it 17-1700 times consecutively and cry a little more. That’s what happened to me anyway.”

Check out the video (directed by Kevin Drew!) below and mark June 21st for the release of Champagne Problems.

• Kirk

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“Once Upon A Time In Montréal” by Murray A. Lightburn

As we inch closer to the release of Murray A. Lightburn’s newest solo album, we get another glimpse, this time with the title track, “Once Upon A Time In Montréal”. The new single features Murray’s voice soaring, while building to an incredible sax solo from Frank Lozano.

Lightburn has joked the album is an audio version of a biopic, heavily inspired by the passing of his father, and on the title track he notes “After getting an education in Jamaica and England, my mom got a job in Montreal as a nurse. My father was living in New York. They had dated back in Belize and reconnected years later in New York. My father didn’t really want to leave for Montreal, but he did. And it was hard for him: the harsh winters, the language barrier, the colour of his skin. He was a skilled musician but that was barely going to keep the lights on — never mind feed a growing family. His lack of formal education, and his lack of French, limited his opportunities. Nevertheless, he just wanted to be with her. So he figured out a way, and that’s what his life was mostly about, I think — what I’ve deduced. Maybe there’s way more to it and that’s the romantic version, but it’s a version at least I can understand. Nothing else computes. My parents stayed married for 56 years.”

Once Upon A Time In Montréal is out March 31 on Dangerbird Records, and if one of my most anticipated albums of the year so far!

• Kirk

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“Pure” by Rich Aucoin

Rich Aucoin continues his synthwave journey this week, with a new look at the second of his four part album series.

The first album, Synthetic: Season 1, was recently nominated for a JUNO award under Best Electronic Album. The follow up — appropriately titled Synthetic: Season 2 — has been teased with a few singles, including last week’s new release, “Pure”, a six minute masterclass in synth.

Rich also announced a run of North American dates, including here in Vancouver on June 1st at the Fox Cabaret!

• Kirk

Song of the Day: May 5, 2019 - "Raven" by Jenn Grant

Just last week, Jenn Grant gave us a tease of her upcoming album Love, Inevitable, due out at the end of the month.

“Raven” is a power-pop gem, and Grant says the song “came from a place of trying to find my own power when I was crowded with self-doubt. For me, it’s about taking a step into the unknown and learning to trust yourself. It’s about making a choice to let go of the idea that you needed something or someone, and finally stepping into your freedom.”

Check the video (directed by her husband Daniel Ledwell) below, and keep May 25th clear, cos she’ll be doing a show at Fortune!