Even if a guy has given his life to the blues, there are times when he just can’t resist the primal urge to rock out. Especially when his friends are there to egg him on. That’s where David Gogo finds himself on his new album, YEAH!—a dizzying compendium of career bests that pulses with the kind of energy that only comes from just the right combination of commitment and camaraderie.

Song like “One More Day” and “Moose Hall Brawl” have the raw, zealous abandon of a boys’ night out. And that’s the kind of prospect that gets all the more inviting when your boys happen to be some of the greatest players on the Canadian blues scene. Leadoff track “Diamond In The Rough” sets the tone in no uncertain terms, absolutely storming out of the gate with a fiery declaration of passion both musical and lyrical:

Cinzia Moniaci didn’t need Judy Garland to teach her there’s no place like home. Check out “Rome”—the latest single from her band, Cinzia and the Perfect Nines—on which the Italian-born L.A. transplant imparts the thrill of waking up to find herself in “the city alive,” with the “beauty all around” signaling she has landed in Paradise itself. And when the irresistible chorus hits, her nativist joy explodes into the kind of full-on boosterism that could land her a job with the tourism board:
Rome
Opening my mind
Coloring my soul
With its beauty never-ending
Always trending
Wakes me up inside
Makes me feel alive
And I can’t believe I get to call her home

JUNO Award winning, British Columbia-based Indie Blues duo A.W. Cardinal and Jasmine Colette, best known as Blue Moon Marquee, made huge strides with their highly lauded, critically acclaimed, award-winning album Scream, Holler & Howl. Now the energetic, high-octane tandem are back with a rollicking batch of ridiculously lively toe-tapping originals and covers with New Orleans Sessions.

Everybody needs a good cry once in a while. And if you’re really hardcore, you cry blood.

 Anoxia are very hardcore. On their “Tears, I Bleed,” powerhouse vocalist Chrystal James and her crew don’t just shed a few drops of type O negative from their ducts: They rain down a torrent of eye plasma that proves why they’re the pride of Baltimore’s post-industrial metal scene.

The song rams home its aggressively wounded sentiments with a piledriving, mechanistic feel that’s elevated by immaculate orchestration and arrangement. The key is James’ astounding voice, which segues effortlessly from a throaty moan to an operatic soar as she takes stock of a love affair that’s left nothing but devastation in its wake:

Three singles in, and Aline Garza can already lay a claim to being one of pop’s reigning queen of empowerment. Her January 2024 debut, “Day One,” was an ode to the fortifying nature of true friendship that became an instant classic, racking up 4.1 million views on Tik Tok and over 4 million on Instagram. She followed it up with the equally stirring “Superhero,” which put her squarely at the forefront of the anti-bullying movement. Now, with her new “Warrior,” the Austin, Texas, wunderkind draws an even keener bead on motivational guru-dom, treating the listening world to a priceless anthem that teaches the power of simple self-confidence to surmount the most overwhelming odds.

Events in one's life can be recalled vividly regardless of the distance from when it first happened. Ideally, one ends up with more pleasant, happy recollections than tragic ones, but tragic ones are also part of life. For The All Canadian Soundclash's vocalist Andrew Michelin, the gorgeous lead single "Tired" from the group's new four-song EP Nashville was inspired by a friend who was killed by a drunk driver when Michelin was in his early twenties.

"I wrote the song in about ten minutes when I was twenty-one sometime after my friend's funeral," Michelin, the lead vocalist of the Ottawa-based roots rock group, says. "It's only now that I had the chance to have it professionally recorded. I think my friend Heather is looking down on me. Proud of the song."

Forty-four years ago, they declared The Kings Are Here. Now Canada’s cherished rock legends are specifying exactly where “here” is: on the charts and rising.

This week, The Kings’ ridiculously compelling “Nowhere to Go But Gone” climbs to #42 on the Mediabase CHR Activator list—a nigh-on-miraculous showing for a Canadian classic-rock band on US radio. It’s a designation that shows the tune continues to spread like wildfire, receiving airplay in markets from Utah to Florida to Cape Cod. If this keeps up, the group might have to issue an official clarification that the title of their documentary, Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder, was meant with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

You can treat the future as a daunting mystery to shrink from, or as a challenge to run toward with arms outstretched. Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Scott Albert Johnson opts for the latter on his current single, “Invisible,” a moving exhortation to jettison one’s fear of the unknown and bravely shoulder on through uncertain times, and now on over 60 radio stations across North America.

In a compelling, worldly voice that pinpoints his hopefulness as anything but youthful naïveté, Johnson lets us know he’s standing on the cusp of … well, something … and has made up his mind to find out what’s on the other side.

[I’m] staring at the invisible
I’m going to find a way to see
I’m looking straight ahead into the eyes
Of who I’m going to be

Depending on your view, life can resemble a box of chocolates or a bowl of cherries. But life can also sometimes resemble a spinning top. Sometimes it's smooth and balanced. Other times it's remaining upright despite the occasional wobble and seemingly out of one's control. Regardless, it does end at some point. For Ottawa-based New Age artist Huguette Lavigne, such complexities of humanity are found in her contemplative new single "Spinners (La Toupie)." It's a song Lavigne approached with no preconceived notion.

Decades ago, the music industry was on solid footing with various international labels, emerging independent labels highlighting alternative acts and record stores in major cities and small towns across North America and beyond. Now, the industry has fragmented. With advanced technology any conceivable artist or song from any era is at your fingertips.

But is it for the better? Well, Ottawa indie pop rocker artist Hot Mud (also known as Muddy Matthew Watters) addresses the issue with his latest smart single, the acerbic, pointed, and satirical single "Nobody Listens To The Radio" from the artist's Pink Cloud Pop album.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/6TpRpDYqixdoJK6JPl0fi4

Canadian singer-songwriter Gracie Ella conveys a beautiful combination of soulful vocals, vulnerable songwriting, and a wide array of diverse influences in her music. Through her art, the Oakville, ON native wants more than anything to comfort listeners. On her latest single, “Skin,” Ella shares how confident she has become with herself and how she doesn’t desire anything but her own independence and invincibility.

When I’m uncomfortable
I remember where I’ve been and
When I fall
I know where I fit in
I’m invincible
I’m wearing all my sins
And I wanna let you know that
I’m comfortable in my own Skin

With producing and writing contributions from Jesse Singer and Chris Soper, Ella was able to write what she calls one of the most genuine songs she’s ever written

Marie-Thérèse is a unique, visionary, and independent artist from Dublin, Ireland. The exceptionally gifted songwriter, singer, musician and performer is aware the spark can hit at any time, so her vintage Silvertone guitar is rarely out of her reach.

 She is a passionate devotee of the legendary genius Prince, as her latest single reveals. It's a stunning cover and reinterpretation of "Strange Relationship," a deep cut from his 1987 album Sign o' the Times.

Listen on Spotify here:
open.spotify.com/track/7E6TFSr3eu40rVuZyIj8bx

Marie-Therese cherishes the unforgettable encounters she had with Prince, during which she thanked him personally "How could I ever really thank him for giving me the wildest soundtrack to my life” she says.

"Recording 'Strange Relationship' was my way of offering a follow-up thank you and releasing it on his birthday. It's such a beautiful, twisted love song, I love the raw honesty of Prince's lyrics, he was a genius lyricist" says Marie-Thérèse.

Everyone’s heard of having cold feet, but Winnipeg, MB-born, Nashville, TN-based country rocker Leanne Pearson decided to really play with that notion with her new single “Runaway Bride.”

“Runaway Bride” chronicles the many grooms and mishaps of one sly young lady in one head-bopping, twangy jam.

I’m a runaway bride, runnin’ all the time
Got my white boots on and I’m gone, long gone
Wedding dress trailing far behind
Church bells singing a goodbye song
Oh yeah I’d do anything
For a not so tiny, big carat shiny, diamond ring

Beer and Canada: They go together like … well, beer and anyplace else, really. Just more so.

That’s the celebratory spirit behind “Canadian Beer,” the rousing new single from Toronto-bred country rocker Eric Sage, out now through Slammin Media and distributed worldwide by Believe, that hoists a metaphoric cold one in tribute to the legendary national thirst. A genuine partier’s hymn, the song salutes the hard-working men and women who keep Canada together, and the world-class imbibing that’s both their pleasure and their due when the whistle blows.

Just like sea captains with their ships, musicians love to think of their instruments as women. Heck, B.B. King even named his Lucille. But few players have ever made the connection between an axe and a lover as overt as Chris Birkett does on his new single and the title track of his latest album “She’s My Guitar” —a hymn of devotion that's positively hot-blooded in its fretboard-caressing metaphors.

“Looking at her body every night/So clear and so bright, she treats me right” Birkett rhapsodizes, conjuring up an image of his perfect lover until we can practically see her ourselves. “Running my fingers through her strings/I know that everything will be all right”. He just loves that pearl-inlaid lady of his, and he wants the world to know it. “My guitar, she sings to me so true/ I can hear sweet melodies from you.”

It takes a special kind of talent to equate a doomed love affair with the dropout of an electronic signal. And that’s exactly what Baltimore, MD’s own Carbonstone are up to on their current single, the splintering relationship post-mortem “White Noise.” Like the poetic equivalent of a lightning round on The $100,000 Pyramid, the song sits us down and whisks us through a harrowing rundown of the category “Things That Break Up.” The top two answers? A failing radio transmission and a once-happy human coupling that’s likewise about to be lost forever.

Drawing from the vast emotional warehouse you’d expect of a band that describes their sound as “industrial alternative metal,” the song merges hard-hitting guitars with catchy vocal hooks and sweeping synths in a way that wrings the full emotional potential out of nu-metal’s melodic heaviness and the harsh alienation of electronica. His voice dripping with the kind of heart-on-sleeve lamentation this music was made for, lead singer/guitarist Corey James mourns a vanishing love connection that’s dissolving into static as morning turns to daybreak.

Combining classic rock sounds with modern pop melodies, “Showtime, Baby!” glistens with a sun-soaked sentimentality as Annabel delves into the duality between her desire for validation and her need for genuine connection.

In a statement about the new single, Annabel elaborates: "If life is a stage, am I always performing? This is a central question in 'Showtime, Baby!,' where I explore the tension between living authentically for myself and living to meet others' expectations. It addresses the fray of seeking approval and belonging while striving to be truly seen and understood for who I am. Ultimately, I've learned that prioritizing my own feelings and experiences is essential, as it's the only way to lead my every day with purpose and meaning and foster deep happiness."

Less than six months after bursting into the indie pop/rock scene, Hot Mud is ready to share his newfound zest for life with his sophomore album Pink Cloud Pop, set to release on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. The lead single, ‘Welcome to Humankind’, is out now, and asks “How often do you wonder what this life is all about?”

The catchy, upbeat song serves as a quirky anecdote that applies to everyone, regardless of where they are in their life’s journey. The poignant lyrics evoke the questioning and questing that Hot Mud has endured in his life so far, while also reminding the listener to “Fill your days with laughter/Cuz nothing really matters/And live happily ever after” because “Surprise/No one gets out alive.”

Son of James, the dynamic Vancouver-based band renowned for their unique blend of rock, soul, and traditional Chinese music, is proud to release a powerful cover of Queen's legendary anthem "We Will Rock You." This special release is dedicated to the Chinese Canadian Museum to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which came into effect on July 1, 1923.

Have you ever been jolted awake by a clap of thunder? Did it feel so close you were sure it was taking to you—if only you could figure out what it was trying to say? The Nepal-born, L.A.-based songwriter and recording artist known as SOHM believes he has the answer. And he’s sharing it on “Thunder,” his fiercely rocking new single that captures the window-rattling essence of a revelation from out of the blue.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that he’s let it capture him. Not content to merely describe the sound of thunder, SOHM lets the phenomenon speak for itself—introducing itself to the listener directly just like Beelzebub did in “Sympathy for the Devil,” but with far more benevolent intent.