Each week, staff from CBC Music, Radio 2, 3 and Sonica collect songs they just can't get out of their heads, and make a case for why you should listen, too. Press play below and you may just find your new favourite track.
Let us know in the comments what catches your ear, or if you have new song suggestions.
Great Lake Swimmers, 'Zero in the City'
This week we’re premiering a brand new track from Great Lake Swimmers, which comes via the band’s forthcoming April album release, A Forest of Arms. Check out the tour dates in support of the new album right here.
The fresh sounds of Great Lake Swimmers evoke thoughts of walking endlessly through a city alone, obsessing over something lost (whether it be a lover, friend or just something you once had). The uplifting chord progression of "Zero in the City" cannot mask the underlying sadness of the song — a feat only the best songwriters can achieve. — Nicolle Weeks
Will Butler, 'Anna'
Arcade Fire's Will Butler is a one-man buzz dynamo. As with his work in Arcade Fire or last year's Oscar-nominated soundtrack to Her , Butler's solo project is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. He keeps the anticipation high with the new video for "Anna." Come for the sing-along hooks, stay for the bizarre dancing. — Mike Miner
Death Cab for Cutie, 'Kintsugi'
In this day and age, four years is pretty much regarded as the maximum amount of time you can go without releasing new material. Luckily for fans of Death Cab for Cutie, that time has come to an end with the release of Kintsugi, coming out March 31. Of note: this will be the third band releasing an album recently that's inspired by the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with precious metals like gold and silver. Both Hey Rosetta! (Second Sight) and Rural Alberta Advantage (Mended With Gold) released albums last year under the same concept.
— Matt Fisher
By Divine Right, 'Just Can't Get Enough' (Depeche Mode cover)
By Divine Right has been making music since the 1980s, and the band's going back to that era with this next record: a track-by-track cover of the U.S. version of Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell. "Speak & Spell was one of the few records from the early '80s that I still listen to," says the band's José Contreras. The record should be out in April on Headless Owl Records. — Dave White
Aqua Alta, 'Epic Sweep'
Self-described as "undersea dream-pop," the music Aqua Alta's making really is the soundscape to my dreams. Made up of Jenn Grant, Charles Austin (the Super Friendz) and Graeme Campbell (Buck 65), the trio has been making music for a couple years now. The track "Epic Sweep" was just nominated for an East Coast Music Award, and it’s the perfect place to start. — Holly Gordon
Operators, 'Ecstasy in My House'
Canadian indie mainstay Dan Boeckner (Divine Fits, Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade) turned heads last summer when his latest buzzed-about musical outlet, Operators, offered up a short collection of sultry tracks simply titled EP1. (The debut single, "True," was the perfect soundtrack to spending sticky summer nights in the back of dark clubs.) Boeckner hinted that many more songs were born out of those studio sessions, which haven't seen the light of day — until now. "Ecstasy in My House" is another late-night companion, full of frantic synths and rumbling rhythms powerful enough to wrench you out of the house on a Friday night in February to dance as feverishly as you did this summer. Give in. — Emma Godmere
John River, 'Hope City III'
If you’re not familiar with Mississauga, Ontario-based MC John River, now would be a good time to get to know him. A couple years ago, he released an absolutely brilliant mixtape called The Calm. On his new song, "Hope City II," River delivers, moving back and forth between total cocky confidence and deep self-doubt with a raw, emotional, grab-you-by-the-lapels-and-shake-you intensity. — Chris Dart
Editor's note: strong language warning, NSFW.
Donovan Woods, 'That Hotel'
Donovan Woods is an artist that's really important to the Radio 2 Morning show. We were the first to play his music — and, since then, he's been nominated for a Juno, wowed and silenced packed audiences and, maybe most impressively, spent some time in Nashville writings songs for the likes of Keith Urban and Tim McGraw. Woods came to our show through a CD that our mutual friend Ed gave me, and I just loved it. It was raw, honest music, and every song we played became someone's favourite song. So we were worried that Woods was doing so well writing hits in Nashville that we wouldn't hear from him again, at least not on his own. But then last week Donovan tweeted out this new song, one he pitched around Nashville before keeping it for himself. Still raw, still powerful — this could easily be your next favourite song.
— Tom Power
Hayden, 'Nowhere We Cannot Go'
He's back. One of Canada's greatest songwriters, Hayden Desser — a.k.a. Hayden — has announced a new record, Hey Love, coming March 24 on Arts & Crafts. What we get on the first track off the record, "Nowhere We Cannot Go," is a noticeably fuller sound that we're not used to hearing from him. I wouldn't necessarily use the word polished, but it's the kind of song that fills your headphones in the greatest possible way. Dig the track? Hear it on CBC Music: Sonica.
— Matt Fisher
The King Khan & BBQ Show, 'Illuminations'
After five long years, the King Khan & BBQ Show duo is releasing a new album, Bad News Boys, in late February. The latest track they've released from the album features the same great rollicking harmonies, '50s hooks, brawling guitars and foot-tapping rhythms for which they're known. Easily one of my favourite acts to see live, I can't wait to hear these new tracks performed in the high-energy, raucously sweaty shows that get talked about for days after. — Samantha Smith
Rihanna with Kanye West and Paul McCartney, 'Fourfiveseconds'
This song is the last thing you would expect to hear from any of the artists mentioned above, let alone all three of them at once. It's a country song, mixed with the tiniest bit of gospel, about getting ready to "wild out" on the weekend. Rihanna's voice, free from the confines of Auto-Tune, cracks more than a little bit, while Kanye, albeit in a heavily Auto-Tuned voice, declares his new outlook on life: "Woke up an optimist." And we don't actually hear McCartney, but trust that's him on acoustic guitar. To be honest, the whole thing is a bit messy, but I think that's what I like about it most. It feels honest. — Jesse Kinos-Goodin
Hozier, 'Problem' (Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea cover)
Hozier, the Irishman who took us to church every hour on the hour on every radio station across the world in 2014, shows that he has a sense of humour with his cover of Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea's poppy "Problem." The soul-infused cover also integrates a little bit of Warren G's "Regulate," because why not? Hozier proves that he can make any song listenable with this one. — NW
by Holly Gordon via Electronic RSS
No comments:
Post a Comment