Life is short, and in its haste, we must revel. The essence of youth is the here and now, a truth that Trey Joshua captures in his latest single, “Fine To Me.” Check it out on YouTube here:

The 21-year-old artist from Toronto spawned the song in unconventional conditions, an outburst of creativity coming over him and his producer friend Ricky Tovey as the two found themselves with a group of friends at a camp in Muskoka. In the midst of the debauchery, the friends forged a summer bop that sells shoulders to sway.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/artist/62e2igMj9fCJ9AWn3Tr9mk

Vancouver musician Tissa Rahim has released her latest track, “Before Someone Else Does,”, bringing the Persian Powerhouse to the forefront of the Soul/RnB scene. It’s a mild departure from Rahim’s typical RnB sound, but she maintains her powerhouse vocals and emotional performance while explaining to her theoretical partner that he’s had his final warning.

“Ain’t asking for too much need to measure up
Or this love won’t feel like love
Try a little harder baby
Before someone else does”

“Before Someone Else Does” marks the first release in the collaboration between Rahim and Alvin Brendan, who began writing together during the pandemic. Like other musicians around the world, the two had trouble finding opportunities to perform together, so they turned to an alternate outlet for their creativity. Check it out on YouTube here: youtube.com/watch?v=5BaLmjuDgBg&feature=youtu.be

From time to time, everyone imagines – fantasizes even – about dropping out of society and living far, far away from it all. Montreal-based pop rocker LG Breton gives voice to that urge in his fun, quirky new single “Going Off The Grid”. Check it out On YouTube here:

Part head-bopping power-pop, part folky introspection, and sung in half-sing, half-talk, “Going Off The Grid” sonically reflects the unconventionality of its subject matter. After all, everyone craves solitude every once in a while, but not everyone permanently leaves the city for a shack in the woods.

Award-winning roots singer/guitarist JW-Jones new solo album, Everything Now, is out now on Solid Blues Records, distributed by Stony Plain. Joining him on the new disc are special guests Jimmie Vaughan, The Texas Horns, Rob McNelley, Stanton Moore and Gordie Johnson of Canadian roots monsters, Big Sugar, among others. JW penned the entire album with fellow Canadian legends Dick Cooper and Johnson (who also produced).

“I am incredibly proud of these songs, and this music,” says Jones. “It is 100% original roots and blues with a variety of grooves, feels, and personal lyrics. This is a snapshot of who I am as a person, and where I am as an artist today.”

Check out “Keeping Me Up” on YouTube here:

From its opening explosive fiddle riff, to its driving dance-floor chorus, the award-winning Derina Harvey Band has created a dazzling ball of Celtic rock in its latest single 'Waves of Home' from the new album of the same name. Due for release on May 19th, this new single arrives with powerful sweet vocals from frontwoman Derina Harvey, accompanied by a raucous fiddle, solid instrumental backing and a stomping beat. This single doesn't pull any punches right from the get-go.

Check out the YouTube channel here: youtube.com/@derinaharveyband3469

With the Derina Harvey Band being described as if Great Big Sea has upped their rock game and recruited Adele on vocals, you know exactly what to expect before you listen. This band and their music is full of high energy that leaves audiences out of breath and hollering from their seats at every show.

Coming off the musically powerful and evocative single “Breathe,” Las Vegas-based modern rock band CRASHING WAYWARD—vocalist Peter Summit, guitarists Stacey David Blades and David Harris, bassist Carl Raether, and drummer Shon McKee— share the music video for their new single “Closer” ahead of its May 19 digital release. Powered by Summit’s striking voice, multiple guitar textures and gripping fast-paced rhythm, the song “speaks to relationships—specifically unhealthy, addictive romantic relationships,” explains Summit. “It focuses on the obsession someone might have and also to the awareness that this might not be the right place for that person.” Watch the video, which captures the band’s onstage dynamism,HERE. 

We’ve witnessed and heard testimonies from countless musicians who were forced to struggle—financially and artistically—through the lockdowns of the pandemic. For some who have survived, there’s been the silver lining of a shift in perspective. Many artists dug deep in isolation and discovered the solution to long-elusive mysteries. Some let go of the tried-and-true and instead explored new means of expression.

While we’re hopefully emerging from the final Covid surge, it’s a welcome that an artist like Christine Jensen is opening ears to the magic of reflection on her long, turbulent days and months locked down.

Check out “Like In Love” on YouTube here: youtube.com/channel/UCZkEVXiQ3gfBmewaKVaWqtA

Chester Doom is a rock & roll juggernaut that knows how to bring the house down! These lifelong musicians are on a mission to prove that rock & roll is alive and kicking harder than ever before by mixing equal parts punk rock attitude and Southern rock soul and drawing inspiration from the classic rock gods like Led Zeppelin, Rush, Guns N’ Roses, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as modern icons like Tool and Linkin Park.

Check out "Not Far Behind" on YouTube here:

We live in a world that increasingly celebrates youth and beauty in snapshots and doctors’ reality to taste, all while ignoring the value to be found in people and things with age, history and experience. Accomplished Guelph, ON-based blues/roots singer-songwriter David Deacon is eschewing instant aesthetics with his provocative new single “California Has No Winter”, released in tandem with his new album “Four”.

Check out “California Has No Winter” on YouTube here:

If you're trying to start over, it can be easier said than done. Sometimes, it feels like you've had to pick up the pieces and start again many times before things improve. London, ON’s Emo-Americana Charile Weber and The Glorious Failures capture this discouragement in their new single, "I Will Be Better Than This". In May 2023, the band will release their newest album "Gold Never Stays".

Check out Charlie Weber And The Glorious Failures on BandCamp here: charlieweber.bandcamp.com/album/gold-never-stays

A light acoustic guitar opens the song before tranquil vocals from lead singer Charlie Weber comes in. From there, the song's honest lyrics grip the listener using a sailing ship as a metaphor for going on a brand-new journey.

"Where it is that we’re going
Cos the seas I’ve weathered seem rather rough
But not as rough as those who anchor to the shores
Hoping that the tide wont pick them up"

Just like our closest loved ones, music is a dedicated companion. It will always be there for us as a savior, a confidant and a provider of solace and comfort. Multi-honoured Canadian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist André Bisson knows this truth as well as anyone and built his latest release around that premise of providing safe harbour. “Shake”, the soulful lead single from Bisson’s forthcoming 10th album, is available now.

Check out “Shake” on YouTube here:

 André Bisson certainly puts the ‘pro’ in prolific as he prepares to release his 10th album of original material since 2009, “Latchford”, later this year. That’s 10 albums over a span of just 14 years! Leading the charge of singles ahead of the new full-length collection, “Shake” sets the groove around some gutsy subject matter for the Hamilton-based, Bruce Mines, Ontario-born artist.

When you take the bold step of naming a song “Good Vibes”, you must live up to that title. The multi-talented singer, dancer and actor Ana Pac does that and more with her new single, a positively perfect banger released just in time for summer. Check it out on YouTube here:

“Good Vibes” continues Ana’s focus of writing and performing songs focused on positivity and acceptance. Her previous singles, “Down in My Whip”, “This is….” and “Blast Off (Light Years and Beyond)” were inspirational messages that encouraged listeners to pay attention to their inner voices, to have the courage to follow their dreams despite the obstacles and nay-sayers.

With its bouncy dance pop beat, “Good Vibes” kicks the inspiration up to an entirely new level. It’s all about attitude, about making the choice to create your own sunshine.

Altered By Mom is an alt-rock/indie duo from Toronto that combine a knack for infectious melodies and classic songwriting with a quirky sense of humour and a tongue-in-cheek post-grunge aesthetic. They sound like Alanis Morissette, Oliva Rodrigo, and Sloan chowing down on a party sub in the security line at YYZ.

Check out “Waiting On A Sign That’s Already There”

“Reality,” the newest single from Montreal-based trio Turbine, alters the perception of the tangible human dimension as we know it. Check it out on YouTube here:

 “When we started working on the ‘Reality’ track, we were looking for a track that would close our show and reach a sort of climax with a peak of intensity,” the trio reflected. 

Through advanced scratching techniques and fueled bass builds, the trio invents a new liquid reality, complete with a vocalist interspersing “reality” throughout the two-and-a-half-minute run time. Turbine’s passion lies within the scope of turntablism and saturated beats. While they don’t categorize themselves as DJs, instead a band that thrives during live performances, they do acknowledge their innate ability to create a new world through scratching and spinning. 

Much like its name, “Pixie Dust,” the new song from Ottawa-based pianist and composer Huguette Lavigne, is shimmering and transfixing, putting the listener under a hypnotic spell.

Check it out on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/5FuAEg8R239jAPy1afM6Dr

A wholly instrumental piano piece from her new album Jazzed Up Dreams, “Pixie Dust” manages to be both bright and haunting at the same time, evoking both optimism and an ache for bygone days.

When she wrote it, Lavigne imagined an enchanted forest, a mental or spiritual place to retreat from the many difficult demands on our time, resources, and attention in today’s increasingly difficult epoch.

“First, you find yourself on a mysterious path as you enter a strange, lush, and hypnotic green forest,” Lavigne invites us to imagine. “Then, you let yourself slip into enchantment, illusion, and the supernatural. With a sprinkling of golden, glitter-like fairy dust, you are mesmerized. Keep your eyes open for the green-goddess fairy at the end, you may even think that anything is possible.”

There are times in all relationships when you drive each other crazy. Maybe someone drinks or smokes a little too much or complains about their weight but bulldozes junk food every night. But despite their annoying and frustrating habits, we don’t leave. This is the theme of North Battleford, SK’s alt-folk artist Jackie K’s “We Can’t Quit,” the fifth track off of first full-length album, She’s A Story.

In a first for them in their relationship, Jackie K and her husband, Tom Kroczynski, wrote “We Can’t Quit” last summer. A difficult couple of years inspired the couple to put together a country duet track that symbolized their enduring commitment to one another. Check it out on YouTube:

Everyone has days where they want to give up. Throw in some mental-health struggles and heavy grief, and that urge to just leave just gets stronger. But long-time Vancouver rockers Econoline Crush have the antidote to that urge with their driving, pulsing, fiery new single “No Quitter” from their forthcoming album When The Devil Drives. 

Check out “No Quitter” on YouTube here:

The two-time JUNO Award nominees have also announced a west coast Canadian tour, kicking off on June 1 at Powell River, BC and ending on June 24 in Vancouver, BC

 Full of heavy fuzz, a pounding beat, and a soaring, billowy chorus, “No Quitter” is an electrifying earworm full of lifeforce. It starts out with a dreary downbeat mood:

Water can be a source of calm and healing for many people, and singer-songwriter Don Ross is no exception. In fact, looking out his window at St. Margaret’s Bay, and rowing across it on a skiff with his dog, were the things that kept him most balanced and centered during the pandemic. In celebration, he composed his aptly-titled new album Water along with its optimistic single “Seabright” – Check it out on YouTube here:

 An instrumental acoustic guitar piece, “Seabright” wraps the listener in warm sunny tones along with finger-picking that evokes shimmering waters and the cascading of oars. You can almost feel the wind whipping your hair, too, with its joyous whimsy and playful rhythm.

The Wandering Off, a dynamic rock duo from Calgary, Alberta comprised of husband-and-wife, Emily, and Kyle Corner, have released their third single "Knick Of Time" from their debut, self-titled album – check it out on YouTube here:

 This electric, newly released energy-driven track by The Wandering Off is the third single from their 12-song self-titled record, released in conjunction with the full album. Knick of Time, which tackles the subject of mental health, is a big, loud rock song written from the heart and is the first track on the album, setting the tone for the rest of the record.

Indie folk meets dark pop as singer-songwriter Silka Weil takes us on another personal journey with her new single 'Time'. Out now, Time' is the third single from her new self-titled EP. With success and international radio play from her debut single 'Capsized' which was well-received by critics and listeners alike, and her second single, 'Unsatisfied' continuing Weil's unique folk-pop style. Weil's third single, 'Time', completes the trio of folk-pop delights expected from the talented Canadian singer-songwriter.

Check it out on YouTube here:

Featuring 90s nostalgia and ethereal instrumentation, Weil winds effortlessly through the song with an eclectic mix of sounds that takes us to the darker side of pop. Stepping away from bubblegum and bounce, Weil presents a low-fi, melodic pop affair that nods to artists like PJ Harvey and Mazzy Star.