Harmonic pop ensemble Minuscule returns with “Nice Guy”, a defiant anthem for empaths and romantics released May 2 via Catland Records. Soaring with five-part harmonies and rooted in deep emotional terrain, the track previews their much-anticipated sophomore album If Not Now, due out October 17, 2025.

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“I know my worth / I want a nice guy for me,” lead singer and songwriter Laurel Minnes insists on the closing refrain — a shimmering reclamation of compassion in a world that often rewards cruelty. Equal parts catchy and cathartic, “Nice Guy” doesn’t so much flip the toxic masculinity script as it rips it up and composts it into something stronger, more beautiful, and enduring.

The song’s origins are as warm and peculiar as the band’s ethos. “My mom, sisters, and I have this goofy voice we use for big dopey pets: ‘Ohhh what a Niiiice Gooouuuyyyy,’” Minnes recalls. “My niece picked it up, and while petting our old cat Roy Boy, she said it back to us — which somehow became this whole song about inherited language, expectations, and what we teach our kids about love.” From that quirky spark came a deeply autobiographical track reflecting on unhealthy relationships, manipulation, and how childhood instability can distort our sense of what’s “normal” in love.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/3NRlYmzEvmGanQ9wkX0AL0

Drawing from the musical minds of Minuscule’s powerhouse lineup — Tara Stanclik (vox/keys), Jill Smith (vox/bass), Catherine Leniarsky (vox/percussion), Taylor Hulley (drums), and Michael Saracino (vox/guitar) — “Nice Guy” is both lush and raw. It’s no surprise the group has collaborated with Juno- and Polaris-nominated artists from Great Lake Swimmers to Vile Creature, earning praise for their genre-defying arrangements. Minnes' earlier song “Great” won her Songwriter of the Year at the Niagara Music Awards and airplay on CBC’s Q. This new single takes their sonic ambition and vulnerability even further.

Recorded between Catland and WOW! Recording Studio (home to sessions for Sarah Harmer and Ron Sexsmith), “Nice Guy” features acoustic and bass by Joseph Stracuzzi, ghostly guitar swells from Saracino, and backing vocals by a choir of family and friends — including Minnes' own mother and sister. It’s a full-circle moment that brings the song’s message of healing and inherited growth to life.

Lyrically, it cuts deep:
“Her fam dynamics were unstable / she grew up hearing her parents cut each other down around the dinner table… / so she equated fighting with passion / now she's uneasy when it's quiet.”
It’s uncomfortable. It’s honest. And it lands like a hug and a hard truth all at once — a signature of Minuscule’s progressive, harmonic pop.

 Minuscule has enchanted festival stages nationwide — from Hillside to In The Soil, Paris Drinks to Sonic Glow — and 2025 promises more chances to catch them live. Upcoming tour dates include:

June 22 – Trail Mix Festival, The Exchange, Niagara Falls, ON
July 18–20 – Starbelly Jam Festival, Crawford Bay, BC
July 23 – 39 Days of July Festival, Duncan, BC
July 25–27 – Mission Folk Festival, Mission, BC
August 7 – Bluewater Park Bandshell, Wiarton, ON
September 13 – Supercrawl, Hamilton, ON

To the soft-hearted, the self-aware, the ones who keep showing up with kindness: “Nice Guy” is for you. As Minnes says, “Do not degrade yourself to abide by the misogynistic, alpha masculinity that rules much of our media today. You don’t need to change. We will heal. And we will be so thankful to find you, as you are.”

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