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.’

What happens when you let multi-Platinum/Gold award-winning producer, composer, and guitarist Jesse Cook’s Spanish guitar off-leash with Algerian multi-instrumentalist Fethi Nadjem and some 808 trap beats? You get Cook’s newly-announced album, Libre — coming December 3^rd, 2021.

His 11th studio offering, the release receives its first preview with title-track single, “Libre” – give a listen here: https://ffm.to/librejessecook

“I wrote and recorded Libre during the pandemic when, like most people, I was longing for freedom,” Cook shares of the new project. “My music was my escape from the four walls that surrounded me, and the storm that was swirling outside.”

The inspiration came from a long summer-day drive with his 14-year old, Cook reveals. “My daughter entertained me with her favourite playlists, much of which were trap and 808-inspired. I loved them too, and a question was planted in my mind: ‘what would my music sound like mixed with those sounds?’”

Ripping guitar riffs, hot-as-hell horns, plus a torqued, musclebound rhythm section with firestarter vocals and the swagger of rhythm and blues masters delivering the goods with confidence and precision... These key ingredients combine and react for the Izzo Blues Coalition’s explosive new single, “Take It or Leave It”.

The song serves as the title-track for the Montreal-based band's forthcoming sophomore release; Take It or Leave It is set to land this Fall.

Check out “Take It or Leave It” on YouTube: izzobluescoalition.com/

Conceived and recorded during the heart of our global pandemic, Take It or Leave It was chosen as the new album title for not one, but two life and art-affirming reasons. “Thematically, the title track deals with the notion that we have no choice but to get up every morning and make the best of it,” band co-lead Tino Izzo says. “It’s a theme that resonates throughout the album and speaks to our pandemic experiences.

“Secondly, this collection of songs was conceived for the sheer pleasure of it.”

Study after study has shown that women have borne the brunt of stresses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Canadian singer-songwriter Carmen Braden’s new single “Menu” captures the sentiment.

Viscerally, at that.

Every man, woman and child in arms reach wants a piece of me
Like I’m the only bird in a house full of foxes,
chickadee chickadee

“Menu” is sparse and industrial, with dark synth and artfully disjointed beats. Braden speak-sings throughout; her voice, matter of fact.

“Scramble for the door/lock it down, lock me in,” she sings calmly. And that’s what so many of us, to one extent or another, have had to do over the course of the past year: take a deep breath and endure family confinement without going cuckoo, even though the possibility is quite definitely there.

“You’ve got me all carved up like a menu” is the song’s refrain, and early on she gives us an image of meat falling off the bone. “’Menu’ puts forward the idea that someone’s whole being is tied to another’s needs,” Braden said. “I’d say it’s about the grind of day-to-day life. The demands on your physical body, and on your energy, on your time.”

Stony Plain Records announces an October 22 release date for Pinky’s Blues, the new album from award-winning blues guitarist/singer Sue Foley. Featuring several Sue Foley originals, as well as songs from some of her favorite blues and roots artists, Pinky’s Blues was recorded at Fire Station Studios in San Marcos, Texas. Joining Sue Foley (guitar, vocals) for the recording sessions were Jon Penner (bass), Chris “Whipper” Layton (drums) and Mike Flanigin (Hammond B3 organ), who also produced the album.

Check out Sue Foley – Southern Men here on YouTube:

To support the release of her new disc, Foley will embark on an extensive tour schedule that includes both an official showcase at the upcoming September Americana Music Conference in Nashville, as well as a set at the Kessler Day Party Showcase during the conference.