Listen to our Songs You Need to Hear stream
Each week, staff from CBC Music, Radio 2, 3, Sonica, CBC Hamilton and Whitehorse 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 discover new songs for your listening list.
Let us know in the comments what catches your ear or if you have new song suggestions.
Kristi Lane Sinclair, 'To Dream'
Sinclair's voice seems to travel up from the bottom of the ocean, darkness crawling, straining, climbing toward the light. It's never more distinctive or powerful than on "To Dream," the moody and devastating track from her aptly titled new record, Dark Matters, which you can listen to in full on Sinclair's CBC Music artist page and check out this Q&A via CBC Aboriginal. — Andrea Warner (@_AndreaWarner)
Kristi Lane Sinclair
"To Dream"
Elbow, 'What Time Do You Call This?'
You don't hire Elbow to soundtrack the happy ending to your film. However, if there's a moment where your love story seems lost, the Manchurian quintet is your surest bet. And this new song — nodding to some of the band's earlier work — will be featured in the new Simon Pegg rom-com, Man Up. The Mercury Prize winners specialize in devastation, in examining the spaces between the happy times, punching into the cracks of human relationships. Singer Guy Garvey might be the finest lyricist of his generation, and when he croons verses like "So then I'll find your face/ shining out of the crowd/ love is just a word/ great friends didn't mention," one can imagine a sad Pegg, standing in the rain, pining for the one that got away. And you can also be sure that there probably won't be any lines quite that good in the film. — Brad Frenette (@BradFrenette)
Tora, 'Jaigantic'
Keep an eye out for this young Australian band. Fusing Bon Iver's melancholy with cutting-edge electronic production and impressive vocal harmonies, Tora is turning heads with a live show clean enough to be a record. The band recently visited Canada for the first time, but in case you missed Tora at Canadian Music Week, you can enjoy the textural and cinematic expanse of this most recent video, "Jaigantic." — Eric Haynes (@CBCMcGill)
A$AP Rocky feat. Miguel, Rod Stewart and Mark Ronson, 'Everyday'
The new track from the Harlem rapper's upcoming album, At. Long. Last. A$AP, is an exercise in name-dropping, something the "fashion killa" knows all too well. The dark, brooding track opens with a sample from Rod Stewart's "In a Broken Dream," complete with the church organ, then hands over the hook to Miguel, whose sultry delivery manages to outdo the original. With a lush, languid beat from "Uptown Funk" mastermind Mark Ronson, this is quintessential bedroom music, through and through. — Jesse Kinos-Goodin (@JesseKG)
Editor’s note: strong language warning, NSFW.
Young Benjamins, 'Beware of Me'
Saskatoon’s Young Benjamins have released their first new material in nearly two years, and it’s a catchy, melodic warning of a song called "Beware of Me." The four-piece — made up of Neusha Mofazzali, Vaero Poulin, Brynn Krysa and Tyson Goodyear — is built on diverse musical roots, letting the members' Canadian, U.K., Fransaskois and Persian identities inform their sound. Listening to the way Poulin’s violin weaves in and out of the guitars and drums, it’s clear the four are a cohesive unit. — Holly Gordon (@hollygowritely)
Best Coast, 'Feeling OK'
California Nights is the third album from L.A.-based duo Best Coast. Singer-songwriter Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno channel the sound and feel of '90s guitar rock on the new record, a bit more accessible than their first two angst-ridden releases. — Dave White, CBC Whitehorse (@YukonRadioDave)
Colin Cowan & the Elastic Stars, 'I'll Masquerade It'
A short, sweet, summer's coming kind of tune, Cowan's new song (from his new record, Spring Myths, out May 22) gets an equally blissed-out and mind-expanding video that's a glorious, weird, vibrantly coloured trip back to the '70s. — AW
Blimp Rock, 'Let’s All Stay in Tonight'
This track from Ontario's Blimp Rock is an anthem for introverts and people who are too lazy to put on pants. The tune is the musical equivalent of choosing Netflix and your couch over going out, and the video is worth watching just for the back-alley salesman shilling potato chips at the end. — Adam Carter, CBC Hamilton (@AdamCarterCBC)
The Almighty Rhombus, 'Down South'
The Almighty Rhombus is one of the key bands in Sudbury, Ontario's burgeoning indie scene. But what's really going to put Sudbury on the map is hosting the Monster Olympics. The new video for their Searchlight entry, "Down South," was shot in and around town, including the final Monster Olympics showdown at Laurentian University between the purple-skinned protagonist and his zipper-mouthed nemesis. Turns out they're both horrible creatures. — Mike Miner (@mikeminer)
Tipsy Oxcart, 'Tipska'
"Tipska" by Brooklyn-based, Balkan-inspired Tipsy Oxcart is the sound of shoes being kicked off and heels being kicked up deep into the dancing at a funky wedding. It sounds like sweat and squats and slow grinds. It, quite simply, sounds good. — Judith Lynch (@CBCJudith)
Tipska
Son Lux, 'Change is Everything'
"This moment: change is everything," are the first lyrics Son Lux frontman Ryan Lott sings on the trio’s new video, which is an apt line for the stop-motion animation that took two straight weeks of frame-by-frame shooting to complete. "Change is Everything" is from Son Lux’s upcoming album, Bones, with the video conceived and produced by The Made Shop. The only props are a foam white board and map pins, but the stop-motion is beautifully complicated. NPR’s All Songs Considered has more on the making-of here. — HG
Surfer Blood, 'I Can't Explain'
Surfer Blood's third studio album, 1000 Palms, is out today, and it's worth every syllable of hype that it has gotten so far. It has Surfer Blood's signature surf rock sway, but this album focuses more on the haunting harmonies the band can carry from verse to chorus effortlessly. Surfer Blood's first single, "I Can't Explain," is a great example of what to expect from this album: impromptu jams, beautiful harmonies and music that makes you want to get your tickets now to see their next three or four shows. Just after announcing this album was coming, original guitarist Thomas Fekete had to leave the band after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The band has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with his medical bills. — Kerry Martin
Sabella, 'Loving Like This'
The debut track from English singer-songwriter Sabella is a song of heartache and nostalgia, an account of a love and loss that seems far beyond the years of someone who's 19. The lyrics are poetic and full of imagery, and Sabella's soulful vocals are backed by a subtle yet expressive saxophone, weaving together '80s R&B and beats with a modern, downtempo electro-pop. It is a catchy and cathartic soundtrack to a post-break-up haze. — Joan Chung (@notjoanchung)
Little Boots, 'Better in the Morning'
You might remember synth-pop Brit Little Boots from her 2009 hit, "New in Town." After releasing a housier album in 2013, Little Boots returns this summer with her third album, Working Girl. The first single off the album, "Better in the Morning," is just as catchy as her previous hits, with a similar, playful, video-game feel to her melodies. — Nicolle Weeks (@nikkerized)
Oh Wonder, 'Livewire'
We wrote about London, England’s Oh Wonder (a.k.a. Anthony and Josephine) earlier this year, and are still a bit smitten. The duo is releasing one song a month for a year, with "Livewire" as their May track. The piano really holds the melody together, with little electronic lifts throughout. "Oh won’t you be my livewire?" ask Anthony and Josephine. How can you say no? — HG
by Holly Gordon via Electronic RSS
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