Life as an artist can be desolate and dire, but it can also come with ample moments of joy and happiness in simple things and making connections. Those thoughts about the highs and lows and rolling with the punches are perfectly captured in Winnipeg indie rock group Empaths In Retrograde's debut album The Great. It's an honest collection of genre-defying material speaking to vices and virtues using infectious, intriguing melodies and hooks, and incredibly accurate but gritty lyrical vignettes highlighted by the single "She Comes to the City."

"'She Comes to the City" is about the sacrifices one must make for the things we love," the band says of the single which brings to mind some eclectic collage of The Strokes and critically acclaimed Canadian group Constantines. "Written about a tumultuous long-distance relationship from January 2024, it was saved by guitarist Ryan Whiskey’s (Ryan Purdy's) insistence on its survival. His buzzy guitars compliment the catchy singalong hook of the chorus to create our best attempt at a song of the summer (as no one likes driving in a Winnipeg winter)."