Brimming with romantic emotion and biting observations about the state of the union, Bruce Sudano’s EP Spirals Vol. 2: Time and the Space In Between -- set for digital and streaming release via Onerpm on Oct. 23 -- marks the Los Angeles singer-songwriter’s second release of 2020 on his Purple Heart Recording Co. label.

Check out Bruce Sudano “Keep Doin' What You're Doin'” here:

The seven-song collection succeeds Spirals Vol. 1: Not a Straight Line to Be Found by just six months. The new collection was produced by Steve Addabbo (Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Jeff Buckley) at Shelter Island Sound in New York, Randy Ray Mitchell (Billy Bob Thornton) at Akadak Studio in Los Angeles, and Mike Montali (lead vocalist of Hollis Brown) at the Creamery Studios in Brooklyn.

International indie rocker Alan Zreczny and his band bluefront confront the often harrowing reverberations of emotional, new single “Aftershocks”.

Watch the video “Aftershocks” here:

The title track from bluefront’s 2019 sophomore album release, the song “was written after I watched a news report about an earthquake and its aftershocks,” Zreczny lays plainly. “It started a process of thinking about the correlation to emotional aftershocks, like the flash of a memory where the whole thing would sort-of hit again.

“The song is my small way to address my own aftershocks and being ‘ready’ to handle them when they come,” he continues. “I realized that the aftershocks could actually feel worse than the shock or the event itself. In essence, I had already made it past the initial blow but now, on top of reliving that, I’m upset with myself because I’m thinking about it again, and it's affecting me in the same way.

International award-winning multimedia artist, culture producer, and social entrepreneur Zahed Sultan has reimagined a 70s disco classic with a personal connection in this, his new release — “Layl”.

Watch the video of “Layl” here:

Originally "Do You Love Me,” a famous Lebanese song from the 70s by the Bendaly Family, the track has been reframed as a cinematic piece and placed in a more melancholic and somber space.

Featuring spirally vocals, deep synths, and rich textures from the violin, Sultan’s spin lends the gem greater meaning through its haunting music video. “I expanded on its themes of love and loss,” he shares. “It felt particularly fitting in light of the tragic explosion in Beirut, and the crippling of its creative community.”

Canadian folk and roots duo Tomato/Tomato are all about the groove when it comes to their newest track, “Better at Leaving”.

The track is the next to land from their forthcoming album, It’ll Come Around, set for release this November 20th, and features funky drums, bass, and stereo guitars. Motown-inspired strings for good measure keep the song delivering good vibes beginning to end.

Check out “Better at Leaving” on YouTube here:

“When we began writing for the album, we weren’t quite sure what direction we would be heading,” John McLaggan shares. “We were, though, feeling strong pulls back to our roots.”

One of Canada’s most prolific guitarists Steve Hill is taking audiences along on his Desert Trip with the release of his latest album, and single “Rain”. 

A multi-talented instrumentalist with a JUNO, eight Maple Blues Awards and well over 2,500 live concerts notched on his axe, it was a previous solo sojourn into the dusty, dusky wide open that would inspire and transpire into most of this year’s release.

“In the fall of 2016, I went to California with some friends to attend the Desert Trip Festival in Coachella,” Hill recalls. “I had an amazing time while I was there and decided to hang around LA a little longer.

“After a couple of days in the city, I felt an urge to move and a need to explore,” he continues. “I rented a camper van and criss-crossed the state for about three weeks.

“I bought a guitar, too, and wrote some tunes at night while camping in Death Valley, Big Sur, Yosemite, San Rafael, and many other wild places.

Topping more than 2+ Million plays across platforms, award-winning Toronto’s electro chill-pop artist Mauve delivers a rush of synth-pop grooves in her newest single, “Right”.

“I wanted this song to bring out the feeling like you’re under the glimmering lights at a party,” she muses. “Even if it’s a self-isolation party…”

Watch and enjoy “Right” here:

“There’s a lot of uncertainty going on in the world this year, but the message from this song is all about that person who is a much-needed balm to those stresses,” she continues. “‘Right’ reflects the freedom and fun of not having to go about the serious stuff alone because this person is by your side, and gleeful intoxication in connecting with that special someone as they help you see the better things in life.”

lt country-rock artist Matthew Burkhart is basking in the warmth of Slow Burn, the Canadian artist’s debut album is available now.

“I’m the only one in my family with a musical bone,” Burkhart offers. “I had to be making noise at all times. Music has always helped me channel my streams of consciousness and tell stories.”

Having taken his turn playing in bands and performing live, the choice to embark on a solo offering was both a creative necessity and fitting step for the multi-talented singer/songwriter. It came together quickly, too — the seeds and sparks of each song aligning just right.

“I wrote Slow Burn during my two-week quarantine in mid-March,” Burkhart recalls of the album’s initial process. “I had taken a trip with my family down to Scottsdale, Arizona over March Break which was right as the pandemic really started raging; it was strange seeing that happen in real-time in a foreign country.

“The day after we arrived back in Toronto, the borders closed,” he continues. “I received word about having to quarantine and, all of a sudden, had two weeks of solitude to write about everything.”

Canadian alt-rock Americana artists Bryce Clifford & Brother Superior have set a deadline in “Tomorrow We Break Up With Ourselves” — the latest single off their forthcoming album, Rebounder.

The video features freshly digitized VHS clips of Clifford skateboarding with his brother and friends in the 90’s. Watch it here:

With added influences of post-punk, blues and old-school soul woven in, the band’s newly minted third album sews in a bow the frontman’s storied 10-year sojourn to Austin, Texas and back.

“The journey of creating Rebounder starts in Austin, Texas,” Clifford recalls. “There, I’d been in a new relationship I was excited about when, out of the blue, it disintegrated in one night. Literally.

Every university campus worth its salt has long-fabled legends of yore and, for the alum of University of British Columbia that indisputable status goes to Bent Roads Tavern.

This year, the storied Canadian collective mined their previously unreleased archives to remaster, reimagine and reissue their previous works. The result is The Legend of Bent Roads Tavern, Volumes 1 - 5 — with Volume 5 and stand-out single “Rainstorm” freshly released now!

Check out “Rainstorm” on YouTube here:

First formed in November 2001, Bent Roads Tavern packed local venues like The Gallery, The Pit Pub, Koerner’s Pub, and more to sell-out crowds. They were fixtures on the scene and a fitting representation to an entire class’ — and their own — most formative and explorative years.

Canadian pop dynamo Andrew Cassara ushers and envelops listeners deep into his dazzling world with the release of his newest album, Freak On Repeat (Deluxe Version), concert video, and single “Gimme More Bass”.

Watch and experience  Andrew Cassara - Freak on Repeat (The Full Live-Stream Concert here:

“Gimme More Bass is one of those songs that kind of surprised me,” Cassara shares. “It happened so quickly; at the beginning it was just a melody that was really catchy and it felt like in the blink of an eye it came to life.

Listen to “Gimme More Bass” here:

Saint John, New Brunswick folk and roots duo Tomato/Tomato have been “Chasing Rainbows” when it comes to their new single.

The track is the first to land from their forthcoming album, It’ll Come Around, set for release this November 20th, and was penned on a picture-perfect morning with their daughter Lucy. “It was a sunny Saturday, and we were reflecting on some vivid childhood memories,” John and Lisa McLaggan share of the song’s creation process.

Check out “Chasing Rainbows” here:

“When we began writing for the album, we weren’t quite sure what direction we would be heading,” John continues. “We were, though, feeling strong pulls back to our roots.”

With more than 100,000+ streams on Spotify combined, multi-award winning Toronto-based artists Heather Christine and Matt Zaddy have connected their life partnership into a formal musical one to release the debut single, “This Too Shall Pass” as folk duo River North.

“This song began as a poem written by my parents, who are both writers,” Heather shares. “They wrote it to express their emotions during the start of the lockdown when an entire generation was essentially isolated for fear of what the virus could do to older adults.”

Watch and experience “This Too Shall Pass” here:

“Their words inspired us to express what we’ve been thinking and feeling during these strange times,” Matt adds. “We wrote ‘This Too Shall Pass’ as a beacon of hope, and to remind us that many things have come before us — and passed. That we will make it through this together,” they agree.

Canadian grunge alt-rockers NeoNera reevaluate society’s misguided “Saviour” complex in this, their new single and video release.

The Ottawa-based three-piece that is Dylan Gunnell, Evan McCluskey, and Stephanie Leger are on a dedicated mission to dismantle the world’s toxic cocktail of conceit, artificiality, perfection and celebrity worship through a heady combination of progressive percussion, driving bass, manic riffs and prescient lyrics.

“Saviour” is no exception as the band unveils a song about “men who believe women need to be saved both from society and from themselves,” Gunnell explains. “The superhero in the video is a man who wants to save, help and support women, but fails because he doesn’t understand them.

“Unfortunately, he’s most men.”

Watch and experience “Saviour” here:

When it comes to the Canadian electronic music scene, there are indisputable legends among us. One just so happens to be the inimitable and iconic Melleefresh and her newest album release, Invincible — available now!

The newly minted knock-out LP is teeming start to finish with alluring tracks that gracefully gravitate to that space between dance pop and classic house — a space the acclaimed dance music diva has arguably owned since stepping onto the scene in the early ‘90s.

Watch Melleefresh / Let's Do It Together here:

Speaking of the space between, Invincible is not without the very mischievous moments Melleefresh is known for, while a step back reveals powerful, inspiring themes of togetherness, unity, positivity, and a brighter future; it’s an album offering that’s found the prolific chanteuse at her most self-assured and hopeful.

Toronto Electropop R&B artist Jordana of Earth has channeled her intuitively sensual and deeply introspective style into this, her newest single “Motions”.

Check out “Motions” here:

“I wrote ‘Motions’ when I felt like I was falling for someone,” Jordana of Earth reveals of the track’s inspiration and seeming muse. “I wasn’t sure, though, if I was feeling true feelings of love, or just getting caught up in the excitement of a new person and convincing myself that it was something real.”

‘hold on, wait, in a way I feel like I’m just moving through all of the motions, and that this ain’t true’

“That line is meant to really illustrate a moment where I catch myself before I get too carried away,” she continues. “The song is, in this way, very self-aware, and I paint this picture that my self-awareness and doubt is some sort of gate, wall, or barrier.

Life can change in an instant. That saying has never been more relevant than it is today. In the blink of an eye, our world has been turned upside-down and forever changed by pandemic and protest, political upheaval and climate change, racism and revolution. Thankfully, there are glimmers of light in the darkness: Neighbours who help each other. Activists who campaign for change. And artists who unite us with timely, touching works, like Francine Honey's new double single "2020 Vision” and “Can't Press Reset”.

Check out “Can't Press Reset” here:

"’2020 Vision’ is a song about what was supposed to happen in 2020," the Ontario-based singer-songwriter explains, while "’Can't Press Reset’ is a song that summarizes what has actually happened in 2020 and a transformational call to action.”

Watch ’2020 Vision’ here:

Saint John, NB folk artist Austin Eatman delivers a new video for his breakthrough single “Walking Paranoia,” the latest from his debut album Broken Radio.

The video is a live pull from Eatman’s EP release party at Peppers Pub and quickly confirms why the Saint John, New Brunswick-based artist has been a fast-rising fixture on the local scene; his distinct alt folk style rich with melody and charm draw from the likes of his inspiration from John Prine to Jack White, while remaining decidedly all his own.

“‘Walking Paranoia’ is one of my personal   favourites from the album,” Eatman shares of the introductory six-track EP. “This album started out as a wedding… Well, that is to say it started as a wedding invitation.

Check out ‘Walking Paranoia’ live here:

For their latest release, Canadian world music collective Sultans of String set out to raise awareness of the nearly 26 million+ refugees currently stateless and away from their homes in a project centred around the positive contributions of new immigrants. The result was Refuge, and its title track, the award-winning “Refuge” featuring Edmar Castaneda.

Experience “Refuge” here:

The song just won Folk Music Ontario’s Songs From The Heart Award — Instrumental, and is raising funds for the band’s campaign to aid the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Canada.

The single spotlights the work of the astonishing Colombian harpist known for reinventing the instrument the world over, and celebrated for his improvisation and dynamic counterpoints created in the track. “It’s a great vibe, the whole tune,” Castaneda says. “It fits right with the harp, so I’m happy to be a part of this.

Award-nominated alt-pop / contemporary rocker and producer PaulStar is living his ‘Best Life’ after a mission to “Find Myself” with the release of his introspective and astute new single and same-titled album.

Watch “Find Myself” here:

“This song is about spiraling through dark times, and how you need to find that balance in life,” he shares. “I’m happy to say that music has helped my broken heart heal and that, no matter what obstacle you may face, you just need to keep going. “‘Sacrifice’ is very relatable,” PaulStar continues. “The message is to keep going, no matter what is trying to hold you back, whereas ‘Shine Brighter’ is a song about haters and ignoring what they say or think about what you’re doing.

Winnipeg’s alt rock-pop outfit Glassreel draw a line in the sand of inter-attached habits and newfound independence with the release of their new single, “Ride Along”.

“At its core, ‘Ride Along’ is a song about codependency,” Kelly Beaton details. “It’s a song about falling back on a shared past in order to justify present relationships.”

“I view the lyrics as a message to a weak-willed past self,” songwriter Graumann shares. “It’s a reminder to go for it rather than letting the people around you control your life. This message is tempered with a reminder in the bridge to not be too hard on oneself — ‘ride along / it’s okay.’”

Check out the video and the message of “Ride Along” here: