Speaking to the deep human desire of connecting with others, and how good it feels to let loose from it all, the timeliest of timely anthems has arrived from Ottawa rockers Taming Sari: “Crazy”.

Taming Sari’s signature splashy guitar work and thunderous drums guide the listener through a supercharged anthem to inspire hope in the post-pandemic. Bringing us back to when life seemed more straightforward, “Crazy” is about the inherent connection we all feel towards one another, and how surreal it can feel to lose touch with our need to just enjoy life.

One listen to “Crazy” tells you everything you need to know about Taming Sari’s musical influences, and Toronto’s iconic Polson Pier set the backdrop for the band to channel the rock gods on a beautiful summer day and lay down a couple of blazing new tracks.

Check out “Crazy” here:

2021 has been a busy year for up-and-coming pop-trap artist Mattmac so far. After tucking an Album Of The Year Award into his belt from the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards, he’s also received an Indigenous Artist of the Year nomination at this year’s BreakOut West Festival’s Western Canadian Music Awards.

Among it all, Mattmac has debuted this, his latest single, “Status” to his dedicated and expanding cluster of listeners.

Check out “Status” here: mattmacmusic.com/

Something that makes Mattmac’s music so unique is his ability to incorporate other genres into his pop music productions. While Mattmac has a tendency to focus on pop-trap music, it hasn’t kept him from incorporating elements of the rock and metal genres into his productions, with “Status” being no exception.

The Nylon Admirals are at the helm of the ship of life, ready to grab it by the wheel and sail through the stormy darkness and back into the light. That is the feeling instilled by the cinematic mood of their new single, “Morgunsár,” as it shepherds the listener from a dark, dramatic beginning through several distinct themes — all towards a bright, upbeat climax.

Check out “Morgunsár” here:

Blending pounding rhythms, ethereal vocals, hypnotic guitar riffs, and tension building strings, “Morgunsár'' has everything necessary to at least be a profound hype track, if not an excellent cinematic feature. Available now, the song makes it easy to see why The Nylon Admirals describe their sound as "electronic music for thrill seekers."

With each song a piece of art unto itself, J-Pop indie sensation Shihori’s aptly titled new album, Mutation cleverly surmises her uncanny ability to fuse her eclecticism in music into a fluid think piece.

At 15-tracks strong, and available now, the dynamic debut LP features new single, “Under the Skin.” With her exquisite vocals clear, pristine, and with a touch of lilt that lands like the beauty of precious glass, Shihori shines on the track — its layered harmonies creating mesmerizing, siren-esque hooks that grab you from inside and refuse to let you go.

Check  out “Under the Skin” here:

Weaving intricate melodies with pop culture edge, Shihori fluently mashes the harmonies with exciting instrumentation. Where she excels is her ability to lure you in and captivate you long enough to keep you around till the next track.

When it comes to being an international delight, Rupert (Ojiji) Harvey is no stranger to being recognized. Which is why it’s no surprise you and me are here gushing over this multi-award winning reggae staple’s newest release, “Blazing Iron”.

Check out “Blazing Iron” here”

Rupert (Ojiji) Harvey wears many hats: as a solo recording artist, as well as the founder of legendary Canadian Funk Band, Crack of Dawn, and also world-renowned reggae outfit, Messenjah. Harvey ran so that Canadian reggae could walk; for more than four decades, and counting, he has been a pillar for the reggae music scene in Canada.

In his most personal work to date — and a dynamic and layered fusion of his signature Americana sound and anything-but-conventional classic rock sensibilities — Champaign, Illinois veteran recording artist John Aulabaugh’s fourth studio album, Sweet As You, has arrived.

Watch the up close and personal session for “A Reason” here:

Aulabaugh’s creative vision for the release is realized with musical collaborations with artists encountered throughout his songwriting career; Sweet as You began taking shape in the final months of 2016 after working on his first solo album with long-time studio musician and master session keyboardist Rami Jaffee (Wallflowers, Foo Fighters, Sound City Players).

Scott Cook isn’t afraid to thank the ‘pin’ in a hazy, lo-fi electric guitar riff kind of way; available now, his new single “The Pin in My Grenade” extends gratitude to his ‘better half’ for keeping him from exploding.

The indie musician from the heart of Quebec is a classically trained artist, holding a PhD in classical music theory. Taking a spin through rock and jazz over most of his extensive career, Cook turned his sights on a solo offering during the pandemic of 2020. This ultimately became his forthcoming eponymous six-song EP — set to drop October 2021 — with “The Pin in My Grenade” as its third track release.

Watch “The Pin in My Grenade” here:

Trends come and go. Fads fire up and fizzle out. Technology advances. The times are always changing, and so is the soundtrack. Therefore, if reinvention is key to the unstoppable tide of progress, then multi-award winning Canadian jazz singer-songwriter Ori Dagan is right on top of a big new wave with his inspired reimagining of the ‘80s synth-pop classic, “Video Killed the Radio Star”.

A duet with multi-award winning Canadian dance music vocalist Simone Denny, Dagan’s new single is much more than a jazzy take on tech. The update on The Buggles’ 1979 one-hit-wonder swings back in time to marry the big band ‘40s to the electronic ‘80s, giving birth to a bit of 21st century musical magic.

“I was looking for a tune to do this with when all of a sudden ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ came on in a department store,” recalls Dagan.  “I just thought, Eureka! Perfect!

“I love this song for being so prophetic, catchy and just plain fun.”

Check out “Video Killed The Radio Star” here:

We all have that box of letters and photographs commemorating a special, yet difficult relationship; whether it's pushed to the back of a closet, or exists only in the back of the mind, Canadian singer and actress and voice of beloved animations, Michelle Creber’s new single, “Like It Never Happened,” tells the tale of one of those fraught and almost-forgotten relationships — and its available now.

“Letters and cards
Remnants of
An era that I
Failed to hide from myself”

That’s how “Like It Never Happened” opens…

Watch and experience “Like It Never Happened” here:

A harrowing tale of a love so potent, it becomes dangerous, charismatic rocker Laszlo Jones roams the darker side of romance with provocative new single, “Out Of My Head”. Check it out here:
https://youtu.be/DzDBJITpiZ

Openly exploring the turbulent nature of losing love — all within moments of poignant reflection, principally communicated through the lyrics — the latest single off Jones’ hallucinatory new EP, Beyond The Door, demonstrates the unshackled approach to music that flourishes within the well-travelled artist.

“When I ride through stormy weather, I remember how it used to be
How you used to hold my temper, how you made it all right for me
There’s no way I could forget the way you kept away my regrets
When you held me
When you touched me
When you gave me the world I wanted”

The indelible, but tenuous bond between the natural and human worlds is being tested like never before with unprecedented loss and change. And singer-songwriter Kele Fleming has distilled her grief over this, and relationships, into a musical merger of hope and healing in this, her new single, “Where the Rivers Meet”

Check out “Where the Rivers Meet” here:

The sixth single to be released from Kele (pronounced Kelly) Fleming’s fourth solo album, The Song I’ll Write For My Whole Life, “Where the Rivers Meet” is a touchstone for the multi-layered senses of grief and loss that thread their way through the album.

Continuing to break barriers and make waves within the rock and alt-pop world, Delyn Grey boldly stakes claim to her passions and purpose on this, her new single, “Set Me Free”.

Watch and listen to “Set Me Free” here:

“This song is a release; it’s relief and empowerment,” she shares of the track. “It’s ‘moving forward’ and ‘getting it done.’”

It’s a sentiment that hits close to home for the Bif Naked-managed singer, songwriter, and production powerhouse. Eschewing traditional love-and-heartbreak themes rife within the genres, Grey combines modern-day R&B and electronic vibes with edgier rock elements reminiscent of grunge’s earlier starts.

With electricity surging from the moment Canadian rockers Dali Van Gogh’s new single first hits your ear, “Little Hell” is here – check it out here:

“Little Hell” is the latest song presented through the band’s unique sonic framework, The Testimony — a collection of songs more cerebral than your average rock ballad.

Thanks to Isaac Kent’s liberating guitar expertise that is so naturally arranged, audiences are immediately entranced by the high octane track rife with determination and persistence through fire and brimstone, start to finish. From there, the thunderous drum-work of Johnny Moore effortlessly accompanies Lance Hicks’ deceptively catchy bassline to render the backbone of this fiery track. The searing vocals of newly promoted frontwoman Rachelle Moreau round out this blessing to the rock gods.

Christina Martin is a powerhouse musician, songsmith, and performer hailing from the windswept East Coast of Canada. Her music dances effortlessly through Pop, Rock, Folk and Americana traditions but stays deftly unchained by any one label, refusing to be pigeon-holed and unafraid to dip into stranger waters. From her Austin-inflected 2002 debut Pretty Things, through more rousing rocky climbs such as 2015’s It’ll Be Alright, to the sweeping cinematic dreamscape of 2018’s Impossible to Hold, Martin is an artist who is constantly shifting, and constantly evolving. Through it all runs a backbone of raw honesty about the human condition. Be they personal confessions or narrative tales, each song is lovingly crafted, and hits in the heart like a well-thrown punch. With a brand new album on the way, promising to be more sweeping and orchestral than ever before, Christina Martin is going from strength to strength.

The singer, songwriter and storm-maker Christina Martin is back, releasing lead single “Stay with Me” from her upcoming eighth studio album Storm, slated for a Fall 2022 launch.

What does it mean to be a “Shantyman”? Much less know what he may do with his time? His life? Leave it to Canadian Celtic folk-rocker Séan McCann to spin the yarn that’ll provide all the answers in this, his new single.

Check out ‘Shantyman’s Life’ on YouTube here:

Depending upon which side of the Atlantic your ancestors come from, a “Shantyman” is either a simple sailor, or a lumberjack, who leads his fellow labourers in song. Listen to Newfoundland’s McCann, and his new acoustic fable of the same name, and find yourself as both lost in the woods or at sea with an album chock full of anecdotes, and spirited arrangements.

Canadian indie rocker, Derby-enthusiast, and Roller Skating extraordinaire Siobamm faces off with another synth-infused rock anthem in searing new single, “Pick Yr Poison”.

The Toronto-based Roller Derby athlete focused her attention on music during the global pandemic, giving her a chance to marry her love for creating with her passion for skating. The two coming together in phenomenal fashion, Siobamm becomes them both: the champion of a grossly underrated sport, and a stand-out voice in a crowd of indie musicians clamoring to be a part of the scene.

And she weaves the two seamlessly.

Check out the really cool video on YouTube here:

Fresh off her recent EP, Gloom Patrol, “Pick Your Poison” sees Siobamm wrestle with love lost, and a woman scorned. Hell hath no fury, they say, and for this music maven, revenge is a dish best served cold.

Just like candy or cake, that feeling of everything being ‘just right’ when you’re with that special someone is simple and sweet, and Toronto-based rapper and singer-songwriter same as me celebrates that pure and uncomplicated joy with her aptly-titled new single “Just Right” — available now.

An easy-flow pop jam replete with beats, snaps, gorgeous vocal harmonies, and a little bit of rap, “Just Right” turns the female gaze on someone spotted on the street.

I was walking down the street
And I was like ooh child
You the one I really gotta meet
Cuz my eyes can’t get enough
Of what I’m seeing
Looking like a sweet treat
Bubble gum candy

But instead of turning into a leering catcall, the song turns sincere and sweet: “But I won’t chew you up and spit you out/I’ll blow bubbles and you pop them out.” It’s an uplifting song, for a time when the world needs a break from the pain.

Check out ‘same as me’ on YouTube:

Great highs can be accompanied by great lows, and Edmonton, AB-based artist JusJrdn — an impassioned creator who wears his life’s trials and tribulations unabashedly on his sleeve — is here to talk about them, flexing his magnetic zest for life alongside some equally infectious rhythms in this, his newest single, “Ur Luv”.

“Ur Luv” is part and parcel of JusJrdn’s newest project, the Olympus album. Bringing his now-trademark “insane high-energy” to the recording studio, JusJrdn reflects on new love after a rough trip to rock bottom. “In May of 2018, as I was preparing to tour Europe, it all fell apart,” he recalls. “Some business deals went chaotic… My girlfriend left... And I faced the challenge of running my personal training company, F.R.E.E. Fitness.”

Watch and listen to “Ur Luv” on YouTube here:

While the calendar may say 2021, Canadian band Bad Skin haul hints of being a 90s punk parcel, drawing from their 70s forefathers, and giving The Runaways an actual run for their money. What Shirley Manson and Brody Dalle invoked, what Courtney Love concocted, and even the gauntlet Hayley Williams threw down, Bad Skin surmises on their sophomore EP release, Live Fast Die Punk.

The banger “Grey Day” was a fitting lead off to the new year, delivered in epic punk fashion: bursting out of speakers and chaining you to a flippant nod to the past — all with a promise that punk is fast forward moving inside the guitar licks of Gen Z.

“Grey Day” is menacing. It’s loud. It’s charging. Its cascading “oh – oh – oh” chorus coerces you to chant along, and its heavy bass, pounding electric, and pulsating punk percussion is everything diehards of the genre have come to love.

Check out “Grey Day” on YouTube here:

If you thought Halifax, NS-based country rock band Hot Mondy couldn’t pull any more aces out of their sleeve this season, you are sorely mistaken. Featuring the all-star cast of musicians you have come to know and love, the Halifax-based band’s newest single “Desert Moonlight” — available now — creates an illustrious image of vagabonds and bagmen working under the cover of darkness.

Featuring five friends who have a passion for outlaw country music, Hot Mondy recently debuted single “Pale Embers” and, while the track created an emotional and dramatic picture of the final strings that tend to keep fading love together, “Desert Moonlight” steers Hot Mondy in a different direction.

‘I make the drop, take my brick of cash.
Back on the road to make another dash.’