Songs of the Week: October 27 - November 02, 2025

“What Good?” by Arkells

After a couple weeks of teases, Arkells have given us the first hint of their upcoming album with “What Good?”

The new single is a classic, boisterous Arkells banger, which asks the question What good can come from the noise of modern day life. Though as frontman Max Kerman elaborates: “The song doesn’t pretend to have neat answers—but it points toward where meaning might still be found. The sun, the moon, the neon glow of your neighborhood bar. Things we can share, things that feel real.”

The album is due out next year, as the band promises more info (and tour dates) are to come, so for now check out the video below!

• Kirk

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“Airport” & “The Only Truth” by The Weather Station

Earlier this year, The Weather Station released the acclaimed album Humanhood, and is now back with a pair of new songs from that recording session with the rollicking “Airport” and the rich, gorgeous “Only The Truth”.

Tamara Linderman explains why the songs were omitted from the album, saying “There were so many strong songs I left off Humanhood because the album had such a narrative arc to adhere to. ‘Airport’ was one of them that I’m glad to release now. I’ve always hated airports; I find them so dehumanizing. This song tells a story of a person trying to mirror what is around them; that sort of shutting down, not caring, acting like you don’t care even when you really do. At the heart of it though is, of course, an intense longing, and a hope for something alive that feels like it can't be.”
And she describes “Only The Truth” as “one of my favourite songs from Humanhood and just didn’t make the tracklist at the very last moment, but it feels so relevant and connected with the record. It intersects with ‘Neon Signs,’ it expands on the same idea; that the truth is this sort of lumpen, complicated, organic thing. Falsehoods and lies glimmer, reach towards you, need you; but the truth ‘doesn’t care if you care / all it ever is is there.’”

Check out both new singles below, and make sure to check out Humanhood if you haven’t yet!

• Kirk

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“Human” by Hawksley Workman

Canada’s troubadour Hawksley Workman has announced his Canadian tour to support his latest EP, Fly Like An Ego and I couldn’t be more excited.

Hawksley’s live show has always been something fantastic to watch and one of my favourites to see, and his statements on what this tour is going to be has got me giddy…
“For the last UK solo run, I pushed myself to perform newer and more ‘forgotten’ songs. You can rehearse endlessly, but a song only finds its confidence in front of an audience. Mr. Lonely and I are now diving into rehearsals, adding a new big rock-club section and dusting off older duo pieces. We may even transform ourselves, from time to time, into a Dance-Rock Power Duo, and yes, the keytar will finally make an appearance.
On these two tours you can expect to hear some long-forgotten orphans, in particular the song ‘Striptease’, which is arguably my biggest hit in Canada, and a song I rarely play live. We are also planning on some extreme deep cuts like, ‘Above Ground Pool’, which has never been played live.  Expect some introspective moments and some exciting rockers too!”

I’m excited by all the tour chat, so check out the video for “Human” from the new EP, which features Canadian actor/comedian Chris Locke!

• Christine

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“Mountainside (acoustic)” by David Vertesi

I cannot believe it’s been fifteen years since David Vertesi released his debut solo album Cardiography. And to celebrate, he’s releasing a special acoustic reimagining of the whole thing.

Along with the announcement of the new album (and vinyl), Vertesi has released “Mountainside (acoustic)”, a stunning version of the already beautiful song.

Have a listen below, and you can check out a special live show on December 7th here in Vancouver at The Gallery @ Artech!

• Kirk

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“Giallo” by Rich Aucoin

The fourth and final season of SYNTHETIC, Rich Aucoin’s incredibly ambitious project, has finally arrived (mine came in the mail last week!).

To celebrate Rich released the video for the track “Giallo”, which was filmed by Malcolm Macmaster & Seth Daniel Willard and starring Florence Wallace & Malcolm Macmaster.

Season 4 comes with the most synthesizers used, compared with the following three seasons, and clocks in at 103 unique syths, and brings the total to 162, which blows my mind.

This might be my favourite of the four (I think I say that with every new release), and I’m excited to hear it on my record player finally!

• Christine

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“Breakaway” by Blue Jay Valley

How about being the youngest Canadian band to EVER sign to a record label!? Well that’s exactly what Blue Jay Valley did when they signed with the new label Fink City Records headed up by Vancouver punk rock legend Billy Bones (of Clampdown Record Press, the Vicious Cycles).

With an average age of 11, the band is comprised of Noa (lead vocals, age 11), Josh (guitar, age 12), Obi (drums, age 11), and brothers Mikey (lead guitar, age 12) and Alex (bass, age 10).

They are following up their debut EP, We Like To Rock, with their new one Breakaway on November 15th with a show at Green Auto.
Check out the title track below!

• Christine

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“Slanted” by Shad

Speaking of album releases, Shad’s latest Start Anew is finally out!
Been excited to get the whole package since he released the first single “Bars and BBQs” and I cannot wait to hear some of the new stuff live when he rolls into town for a show on January 17th at the Hollywood Theatre.

With the album, Shad also released the single “Slanted” with a video directed by Justin Broadbent (who also did the album artwork). Of the track Shad says: “"Slanted" is a song about the proverbial slippery slope. Or the proverbial frog in boiling water. Whatever metaphor you want to use to describe how things can slide in the wrong direction while we fail to notice. It's hard work to perceive the slope before it's too late and restore balance. But it's often the main task at hand.”

Now excuse me, I’m off to listen to this one front to back…

• Christine

Songs of the Week: November 18 - 24, 2024

“E-E-Y-O-R-E (That's Me!)” by Frog Eyes

Vancouver’s Frog Eyes are back with a brand new single called “E-E-Y-O-R-E (That's Me!)”

The song features the frantic pace and distinct vocals from Carey Mercer that we know & love, with the band explaining: “"E-E-Y-O-R-E" has that riff that happens in the middle and end of the song, and it’s rare, and I like it. When we play it live, our keyboard player Shyla will often look at my guitar with enthusiasm and encouragement. The song itself is a bit about loneliness, fear, isolation, the irony that we all are simultaneously bombarded with these isolating emotions, but unable to bust out of these individual spheres. Eeyore: our collective familiar, our beloved daemon.”

You can check out the fun video, directed by Derek Janzen, below!

• Kirk

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“Peace Of Mind (Morning)” by Leif Vollebekk

I needed a pretty, acoustic song this morning with the grey outside and Leif Vollebekk delivered it.
“Peace Of Mind” is a re-recording from his new album Revelation (no relation to us) and the man himself says of the song: “there’s something about a mountain that always makes you feel at ease. It can inspire the stillness you need to find yourself.”

Leif is on tour right now and will be swinging through Vancouver in February for two shows at The Pearl.

• Christine

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“Window” by The Weather Station

As we get closer to the release of Humanhood, the next album from The Weather Station, we’re treated with another tease in the way of the latest single, “Window”.

The anthemic new song from Toronto’s Tamara Lindeman is accompanied by a video directed by Philippe Léonard, and features Lindeman’s performance of the song projected out the window of a moving van onto trees, forest, and passing signs. Lindeman says the video was “filmed on the island of Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs, Quebec late one night with battery powered projector, with many attempts to get that one perfect take. Philippe’s note to me was ‘you are the window.’”

As well as the single, she announced a huge tour for next year, starting in January in the UK, and winding back to Canada, including a show here in Vancouver on May 16th at the Hollywood Theatre!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: September 30 - October 06, 2023

“A Day In The Life” by Shad

Holy crap we have a whole new EP from Shad!

Four brand new songs from the EP Reel Speakers were released last week. Of how it came to be, Shad says:
“Last summer, I decided to write, record, and release a two (or three) verse freestyle every week for 10 weeks on Instagram. I did it as a creative exercise, a fun way to connect with community, and also a tribute to some of my favourite beats for Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. Those freestyles sparked a collaboration with the super dope producer and artist 14KT, a longtime favourite that I connected with in-person in 2019 at the DJ Jazzy Jeff’s incredible Playlist Retreat. What began with KT crafting a beat for one of those freestyles spiraled up into this project.”

You can listen and download to the whole EP on Bandcamp by clicking here, and I chose “A Day In The Life” for this week’s song based on the line about taking naps (which made me laugh). Give them all a listen!

• Chrsitine

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“Baby” by Basia Bulat

Oh boy, this just jumped to the top of my most anticipated albums for next year so far. Last week, Basia Bulat announced her newest album, Basia’s Palace, as well as the first single, “Baby”.

The new song is a fun, upbeat tune that spotlights the Montreal singer’s amazing voice, with Basia explaining,
“I wrote this song many years ago but never could get the lyrics and performance quite right. I wanted to try it again after becoming a parent–it’s about how we can’t control how or when we’re going to evolve even when we desperately want to. We keep making the same mistakes until we notice a pattern repeating, and even then, change is hard when we have to fully surrender to it. Could I make that predicament something I wanted to dance to? Could I sing the lyrics with joy instead of the sorrow I was channeling in the past? Nothing in my life has made me want to evolve faster, better, stronger than parenthood and the universe keeps throwing that desire back at me with a laugh and a wink, reminding me that things take time and to just love myself for being human. So this song from my past I couldn’t let go of finally made it onto a record–after all the times I tried to get it right I knew I finally had ‘the take’ when my daughter kept asking to hear it again.”

Basia’s Palace is out on February 21 of next year, via Secret City Records, and you can check out the amazing one-take video below (someone remind me of this when the next Prism Prize for music videos rolls around!)

• Kirk

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“Neon Signs” by The Weather Station

And another addition to my most anticipated for 2025 is the upcoming Humanhood from The Weather Station!

Toronto’s Tamara Lindeman announced the new album for The Weather Station with the instantly-captivating lead single “Neon Lights”, of which she says,
“I wrote ‘Neon Signs’ at a moment of feeling confused, upside down, at that moment when even desire falls away, and dissociation cuts you loose from a story that while wrong, still held things together. The song came with multiple strands entwined; the way that something that is not true seems to have more energetic intensity than something that is, the confusion of being bombarded with advertising at a moment of climate emergency, the confusion of relationships where coercion is wrapped in the language of love. Ultimately though, isn’t it all the same feeling?”

Humanhood drops January 17 on Next Door Records, and you can watch the video, directed by Lindeman, below!

• Kirk

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“Jocelyn” by The Beaches

Totally forgot to post this one last week!

The Beaches released a new track titled “Jocelyn” dedicated to their fans, and revolving around their new-found audience.

“We wanted to write about the experience of feeling undeserving of all the reverence that was being thrown away after 'Blame My Ex' did so well. All of us in the band are just a bunch of messy girls, and we felt strange about the way that some people were putting us on pedestals,” says singer Jordan Miller.

“Blame My Ex” co-writter Lowell kept singing the name “Jocelyn” and the band decided to seek out a fan with the same name. “We kind of wrote it about this brilliant young woman, and about the experience we were going through, feeling uncomfortable and undeserving of Jocelyn's adulation.”

• Christine

Songs of the Week: February 28 - March 06, 2022

“Reckoning” by Arkells

You thought just because Arkells put out an album six months ago they were going to slow down? Nope. Aside from an extensive tour planned, including playing this year’s Juno Awards, the boys from Hamilton are releasing yet another album, aptly titled Blink Twice.

“Reckoning” is the first taste of the new album that is somewhat of a companion album to Blink Once, with frontman Max Kerman saying “The title of Blink Once was born from the song “Reckoning,” and lyrics “blink twice, there’s gonna be a reckoning. If you listen to the outro track of Blink Once - “Last Night I Heard Em’ Sing” - we hint that there’s more coming. Kind of like a post-credits scene in a movie. “Reckoning” is the beginning of what’s next.”

Crank the volume on this Monday morning (or… whenever you happen to be reading this) and enjoy.

• Kirk

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“To Talk About” by The Weather Station

Speaking of “companion albums” and “quick turnarounds”, last week we got another tease of the newest album from The Weather Station, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars.

Out this coming Friday, the album is a companion to last year’s Ignorance (which was just nominated for a Juno!) with songs that were written at the same time and deal with a lot of the same emotions and themes: disconnection & conflict, love, birds, and climate feelings.

The latest song is the absolutely gorgeous “To Talk About”, featuring Tamara Lindeman’s incredible vocals tempered by a soft piano, and joined by Ryan Driver.

• Kirk

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“Out of Nowhere” by Anyway Gang

When your super group band has 4 lead singers, it’s always fun to see who is taking the lead next. In the case of Anyway Gang’s new single “Out Of Nowhere”, that’d be the one and only Sam Roberts.

The second most exciting part of the press release was the tease that the band would be announcing tour dates on March 11th - so be on the lookout for those!

By the way, I could only watch the video for about 3 seconds before I immediately got motion sick, so it’s a mystery to me - but hopefully you can enjoy it.

• Christine

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“Matilda” by PUP

I honestly don’t even want to write anything about this track because PUP’s lead singer Stefan did it best:

“Matilda is the name of my favourite guitar. She was a gift from my friend Ryan, after watching me accidentally break the only guitar I owned in the middle of a long tour,” says Backbock. “I had no money to buy a replacement, and Ryan’s act of kindness is up there on my list of ‘nicest things anyone’s ever done for me’. I played Matilda nonstop for 7 years at every PUP show, even when my bandmates started complaining that she sounded like shit. As the band got bigger, the pressure to sound better was building and so I bought a ‘good’ guitar and played Matilda less and less. Before I knew it I hadn’t played her in over a year. I wrote this song based on this intense feeling of guilt and sadness and shame and nostalgia and regret, watching her rot away in a corner. I love this guitar and I love Ryan and wanted to do right by them, and I felt like I’d failed them both. I convinced the band that Matilda deserved one last rip on a PUP record, and I played her during the bridge of this song. It sounds so shitty. But good shitty. Great shitty. For me, it was the most joyful and cathartic moment in the entire making of this record.”

PUP has added new tour dates, but the Vancouver one hasn’t been rescheduled yet - I’m eyeing April 7th as it is right before 2 Victoria shows. Cross your fingers!

• Christine

Songs of the Week: January 24 - 30, 2022

“Endless Time” by The Weather Station

Remember that brief window of time when everything seemed to be starting to settle down and we could do things again? In that window I was lucky to catch The Weather Station perform a live show, where she teased some brand new songs.

Now we have news of an upcoming album, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars, which is a companion piece to last year’s Ignorance. Tamara Lindeman says “When I wrote Ignorance, it was a time of intense creativity, and I wrote more songs than I ever had in my life. The songs destined to be on the album were clear from the beginning, but as I continued down my writing path, songs kept appearing that had no place on the album I envisioned. Songs that were simple, pure; almost naive. Songs that spoke to many of the same questions and realities as Ignorance, but in a more internal, thoughtful way. So I began to envision How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars, a quiet, strange album of ballads. I imagined it not as a followup to Ignorance, but rather as a companion piece; the moon to its sun.”

The album is out March 4, and you can check out the first single “Endless Time” below!

• Kirk

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“Hayloft II” by Mother Mother

Why aren’t there more song sequels?

After the surprise recent breakout of their song “Hayloft”, Mother Mother first released a brand new video for the song, and then decided it was time to revisit the characters of the narrative. Singer Ryan Guldemond says, “We have learned more about the story of ‘Hayloft’ through our fans that we ever could have unearthed ourselves. We began to ask, is there more to this story? And the resounding answer seemed to be ‘yes!’ It was an ambitious task to try to do justice to a story, and to characters, that have grown far beyond the initial intention of the song. We hope that the sequel in both song and video form honor and live up to what our incredible fans have helped ‘Hayloft’ to become.”

The first “Hayloft” remains one of my favourite Mother Mother songs, and the sequel definitely does it justice. Check it out below!

• Kirk

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“Small Talk” by Dear Rouge

After a few single releases, Dear Rouge finally has a release date for their new album!

Spirit will be coming out on April 8th, and of it the band says it is: “the most vulnerable and raw side of Danielle’s inner thoughts, and the line being thrown from these questions and deep reckonings within oneself, urging you to grab hold and hang on for dear life.”

“Small Talk”, the latest single released last week, is about looking for authentic connections in today’s world. I can get behind that!

• Christine

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“It’s Too Quiet” by Begonia

Another single from Winnipeg’s Begonia was released this week - which hopefully means she’s building up to a new album!

“It’s Too Quiet” is about the beginning of relationships when lots is still uncertain - it’s about when “you just want to be around someone all the time but aren't sure how they feel about you, so you second guess every text and every phone call before finally just being vulnerable (AH!) and letting the other person know how you feel.”

In March, Begonia is heading out on tour in the States, with a stop at SXSW - and let’s hope things get better here so we can see her in Vancouver once again.

• Christine

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“What’s Wrong With Changing?” by Wallis Bird

One of my favourite things about the Vancouver Folk Music Festival is the workshops, especially going to a workshop where I know one of the acts and then immediately being enamoured by one I hadn’t heard of.

That’s exactly what happened a couple years ago when I went to see Skye Wallace, and came out a new fan of Ireland’s Wallis Bird. So I was happy to see she had a new album on its way, Hands (Nine and a Half Songs for Nine and a Half Fingers).

Out on May 27th, the title references Wallis’ own hand, and was announced with a pair of songs, “What’s Wrong With Changing” and “Pretty Lies”.

The first (which you can check out below) is a raucous track about the inevitability of change, and the need to adapt.

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: September 27 - October 03, 2021

“Black Averageness” by Shad

This new banger from Shad is one of those songs of him that you need to put on repeat in order to get all the amazing references/lines.

While “Black Averageness” has cheeky Canadian Tire and Swiss Chalet mentions, the song as a whole is about being okay with just being human. This theme -and losing touch with our humanity as a whole - are found throughout the rest of his new album TAO. The record was released on October 1st, and definitely deserves attention from your earholes

• Christine

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“Better Now” by The Weather Station

It’s been a heck of a year for The Weather Station. Between TV appearances and Polaris Short Lists and everything in between, it’s almost hard to remember that Tamara Lindeman’s latest album Ignorance only came out at the start of the year.

But she’s not slowing down at all; with some tour dates looming (including here in Vancouver at the Hollywood Theatre on Nov 12), Lindeman just announced the release of a brand new DELUXE version of Ignorance. The two-LP version will include the original album, as well as live & piano versions of some songs, plus two brand new songs!

Check out the first of those songs, “Better Now”, below and stream the album on your platform of choice. OR mark November 19 on the calendar for the physical release.

• Kirk

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“Rose Coloured Ear Drums” by Big Kill

After months of teasing, we’re finally getting our first taste of Big Kill. Rising from the ashes of We Are The City, Cayne McKenzie and Andrew Huculiak launched the first single from their new project Big Kill last week. And “Rose Coloured Ear Drums” lives up to every promise they’ve made, an incredibly infectious “destructive pop” tune.

You can grab the song — as well as a few others — on Big Kill Future, which they’re promising is not an EP, but an album with more songs to come! Listen to those new songs here, or check out the INCREDIBLE video for “Rose Coloured Ear Drums” below.

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: Feb 01 - 07, 2021

“Parking Lot” by The Weather Station

Not only did The Weather Station release her brand new album, Ignorance, last Friday, but also a new video for “Parking Lot”. With vulnerable vocals and heartbreaking lyrics juxtaposed with the dancey beat, if you like this song then you’re going to love the rest of the album (it’s really good). - Kirk

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“Take Me Home” by Shred Kelly

To kick off their latest “virtual tour”, Shred Kelly dropped a brand new video for last year’s “Take Me Home” from their album Like A Rising Sun. The video is touching look at band member Tim Newton’s late father Bud, and one of the most creative “lyric videos” I’ve seen. Check it out, and then join Shred Kelly online every Saturday for the rest of the month. - Kirk

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“Pre Post-Period Blues” by Bad Waitress

I don’t think anything I write about “Pre Post-Period Blues” by Bad Waitress will be better than what Guitarist Katelyn Molgard said in the press release, so I’m just going to put in exactly what they had to say:
“It’s like this: you got yer friggin hormones, your cramps, you forgot to eat, but you need to take Advil, then yer like, "bitch, now my stomach hurts!" and then you get so mad yer like "WHYYYYY?!?"So you slam back a few and then you’re way more drunk than you’d normally be so like, you say some shit to someone and then now yer yelling and THEN some dude’s like “are you on your period?” And so then you turn into a werewolf and eat everyone. Ya know?”
- Kirk

3am Playlist #41 - Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2016 Preview

Tomorrow marks the first day of the 39th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival in Jericho Beach Park!

The lineup this year includes acts from Vancouver, Canada, and around the globe, so I've narrowed down a few of them into a preview playlist for you.

Check out some of the artists below, and plan your days accordingly, as there are tons of workshops and concerts on the smaller stages, and big acts on the main stage at night.