Canadian pop punk rapper Hollow River delivers his version of a protest record with the unleashing of Quarantine Mixtape —  a concept EP and video trilogy release available now.

Check out Intro (Quarantine Mixtape)  by Hollow River here:

Balancing the fine line between personal and political themes, art quickly imitated life for the Boston- and Toronto-based artist.

Listen to “Tell Me I'm Fine” (Quarantine Mixtape) - Hollow River:

Canadian rock duo Eclecticus says Take Me Away with the release of their fourth and newest album and single, “Movin’ On”.

Rich and rife with all the makings of a stellar rock release — soaring vocals, driving riffs, haunting keys, and dynamic percussion — the savoury release was carefully crafted by the Toronto-based couple during the nation’s designated social isolation period this year.

“The album reflects the current environment,” Gar Reid shares. “We worked tirelessly in our studio to really convey a sound and feeling like you’re in the room with us.”

“For us, this was a very creative time,” co-front Tiina LeMay adds. “Considering the historical circumstances we are living in right now, I think many singer-songwriters have found they are inspired to write during this time.”

The making of Taking Me Away was written, performed, and produced by singer-songwriters Tiina LeMay and Gar Reid during the pandemic.

There are singer-songwriters, and there are troubadours. Singer-songwriters are sensitive, polished souls, sharing their journal entries with the world, whereas troubadours do their best just to stay out of jail. And in the wake of Ben de la Cour’s astonishing new record, Shadow Land, you can add his name to the top of the list of younger troubadours to whom this ever-so-occasionally poisoned chalice is being passed.

For a taste of this incredible artist’s music visit: Swan Dive

As a young phenomena, Canadian pop-R&B singer, dancer and actor Azym sings of a love best lost in his new single, “One and Only”.

“This is about a bad relationship that was toxic, indecisive, and hurtful,” Azym shares of the track’s meaning. “The couple push and pull each other in different directions and, in the end, only destroy it.

Check out: “One and Only” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/7pzmuCeBF84

“Obviously after a relationship ends, you feel kinda bad about it,” he continues of the song, which features Kalista Wilson as the muse. “In situations like this one in the song, though, it really is about realizing it’s better to have nothing at all than to stay in a relationship that’s not working.

“With a relationship that is as bad as the one in the song, it’s better to let go, move on, and grow.”

Jermaine Lawrence describes himself as an anomaly: an R&B artist as Mayne Champagne and producer then-known as Jimmy Jump or Jump with GRAMMY and Platinum-selling artist co-works to his credit, including placement on Drake’s sophomore mixtape Comeback Season, he’s been in and out of jail since his teen years. He also turned heads when the story of identifying his mother to police in relation to an acid attack on a three-year old boy hit the local news in 2015.

Now, it’s only ever about the music and, with his forthcoming debut EP Evoking Emotions on the horizon, Mayne Champagne leads with “Joanna” — a blend of both his old world and new.

Check out ‘Joanna’ here:

Edmonton’s alt-pop singer/songwriter Wallish weaves her incredible artistry around raw-truth, emotionally biting lyrics to make her new single, “The Last Time”.

“This song started with Troy Marshall coming to me with a new track he had composed,” the mind behind the music, Amy Wallish, recalls. “It was originally called ‘Abyss’ and it was pop-forward and trendy — everything I’m not, but I loved the edgy sound so I began writing.

Listen to “The Last Time” here: open.spotify.com/album/3yPljxU59ptAOCtwlux3Cr?highlight=spotify:track:4MSfxBiGBeQDL4LZSZsSlD

“Listening to it brought up feelings of being lost in space and disappearing into nothingness,” she continues. “The truth is, this feeling was something I was used to. I have never been a very stable person and, since late junior high, I was always very transient in my relationships. Then, I proceeded to go to five different high schools and move six different times between the ages of 18 and 21.”

GRAMMY Award-nominated vocalist, songwriter and producer Malika Tirolien delivers calls to “RISE” in this, her inspiring new genre-minting single.

“This song is the celebration of change through unity and revolution,” Tirolien says. “It is the realization that we are living a historical moment: the rise of humanity’s consciousness and power.”

Experience, listen and watch “Rise” here:

At first play, Tirolien’s soaring voice and conscious lyrics immediately set the stage for the Montreal-based artist’s forthcoming sophomore release — the second in her tetralogy marking the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water — HIGHER.

Born in Guadeloupe and now based in Montreal, Tirolien has garnered International attention throughout the last decade, including for her electrifying performance on Snarky Puppy’s GRAMMY Award-winning album Family Dinner for the track “I’m not the one.”

Canadian singer/songwriter, pianist, producer, artist, and JazzFM radio producer/host Laura Fernandez says it’s Okay, Alright in this, her stunning new album of deeply intimate lyrical sojourns — available now.

Listen to ‘Okay, Alright’ here: open.spotify.com/album/7sbK3QUpfYqfXuaZh0ujLD?si=pZoGxMlqTPS1tZ0auZHgwg

Blending pop, jazz and classical influences throughout the vibrant collection, Okay, Alright navigates Fernandez’s varied styles and grooves through an expert rhythm section, string accompaniment, guitar, trumpet, and mandolin — all corralled to create a sonic texture all her own. Shaped by a fluid, even feeling piano and a voice that’s richly warm and enigmatically expressive, the release will have audiences believing and reeling on every word she sings.

Watch the official video of “Breathe Life” here:

JUNO Award-winning reggae singer, songwriter, producer and social activist Kirk Diamond offers messages of unity and hope in this, his new single and video “Let It Be Done” — available now.

“‘Let It Be Done’ was written in light of the political climate and social unrest that has affected so many worldwide, myself included,” Diamond shares. “That’s directly, indirectly, or psychologically.”

Watch, listen and Experience ‘Let It Be Done’ here:

“You Know Me,” says Schomberg, ON-based pop/jazz artist Cynthia Tauro with the release of her newly minted single.

“This song is about those people who truly know you,” Tauro says, getting to the heart of the matter. “It’s about those people where there is no need to be anyone but yourself around them — they like you exactly as you are, flaws and all.

Listen to “You Know Me” here:

The sentiment felt similar while in the studio recording, she shares. “This song came easily in the studio... I was fortunate to work with two outstanding drummers — Larnell Lewis and Marito Marques — and, as soon as they heard the first couple of chords and my melody, they knew what the groove needed to be.

“It was so much fun to record and spend time in post-production with Marito exploring and creating for this one song.”

Chart-topping and award-nominated International dance-pop artist Cole Phoenix has the magic “Touch” with the release of her newest bop!

Check out “Touch” here:

“This is about holding onto someone and loving them for who they truly are,” she muses. “All guards down.

“When making music, you need to shed all masks and be genuine to truly connect, to ‘Touch’ your audience right,” she continues. “It’s a little… No, it’s a LOT like love.

“You have to release your inhibitions and realize you have more to gain and nothing to lose when you show for who you are — the real you. That’s the path to finding true love and forming touching music.”

Ottawa pop dynamo Andrew Cassara is set to “Shock” ears with the release of this, his new video — Part Two in a double release, available now! 

The track serves as prime preview to the Ottawa, Ontario-based artist’s forthcoming Fall 2020 release, Freak On Repeat (Deluxe Version).

“This is probably one of my all-time favourite songs I’ve written to this very day,” Cassara shares. “I’m always pushing myself to try writing and singing what feels right for the song while also pushing myself out of my comfort zone to try something new.

“‘Shock’ did just that for me.

“When I was writing it,” he continues, “funnily enough I couldn’t help but picture myself in the movie Grease in the role of ‘Danny’ singing this song… It’s a feel-good song, and its a creation I want people to get off their feet for, to dance to and have the time of their life with.

“There’s just this energy that rushes through me whenever I hear it.”

Watch ‘Shock’ on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIP548mEMAw

At over 100,000+ streams and climbing, Ottawa’s classic folk rockers Terrence & The High Flyers are groovin’ at their Butterfly Window wondering if “This Could Be The One” with the release of their newest album and single.

Check out “This Could Be the One” here:

“Butterfly Window started with a surplus of songs I’d been writing for another project,” Terrence says of the 12-track release. “I had this collection of tunes I was happy with, but didn’t quite fit the current band I was a part of.

“One day I decided I would try recording a number of them just for fun, and that I’d take the offcuts to my good friend Jasen Colson who lived just down the hill and across the highway from me here in the east end of Ottawa. We’d jam them out a couple of times and he would lay down some tracks on the kit, but ultimately these demos would go in a folder on my laptop and only see the light of day once in a blue moon.

Winnipeg’s James Cohen and the Prairie Roots Rockers have dipped into their archives once again to release a new video for their critically acclaimed single, “Dreaming My Life Away”.

Watch and listen here to “Dreaming My Life Away”

A pull from their self-titled 2011 12-track LP, the song follows the album’s master missive, along with this year’s earlier re-release, “These Long Nights.”

“The origins of these songs go back several years,” frontman and band namesake James Cohen considers. “The general themes are one of loneliness and isolation which, unfortunately, are sentiments many of us can relate to during these difficult times currently.”

First on the scene for their 2011 self-titled debut via Soccermom Records / Warner Music Canada, the album’s banner single “So Long Sweet Deception” charted for 16 weeks, hitting the Rock Top 50 along the way.

Canadian alt-folk pop singer/songwriter, poet and producer Imogen Joy summons a muse all her own with the release of her new single, “My Marianne”.

“This song is about dipping into different memories,” Joy says. “I say ‘do our little moments blur?’ and that’s exactly what the song is doing: blurring together the highs and lows of having a connection with someone, as well as the simultaneous burden and privilege it is to love someone.

Check out “My Marianne” here:

“I’d read this letter Leonard Cohen wrote to Marianne Ihlen as she was passing away,” the Toronto-based artist adds, recalling the song’s inspiration. “It was basically an ode to his muse and friend, and said he wasn’t far behind her.

Folk’d-Up Rocker Harry Hannah Makes a Stop in “Alberta” with Vivid New Single

Landing ahead of his forthcoming EP, The Wild Side, “Alberta” serves as a prime example of the Cobourg, Ontario artist’s adventurous and multi-faceted songwriting style. “I like to be very visual with my writing,” Hannah considers. “It helps me submerse into the artistic universe. I don’t know if it always comes across, but there’s usually a specific scene or setting that goes along with the timeline of the story in my songs.

Give a watch and listen to “Alberta” on YouTube here:

“I also try to connect those scenes when I’m writing a full project,” he continues, “but it’s up to the listener to interpret the song or message their own way. I want them to take what they want from it.

Canadian synth-pop post-punk art-rocker Deep Covers ushers you into their Dark World with the release of their new album and single “Repeater".

Give a watch and listen to “Repeater” here:

“There are albums in the annals of music history that are tied to and influenced by certain geographical locations,” Calgary, Alberta-based multi-instrumentalist (and man behind Deep Covers) Daniel Wilson says. “This is one of those albums.

“In September 2019, shortly after experiencing the beautiful and foreboding volcanic landscapes of Iceland, I returned home and began writing Dark World,” he continues, explaining the backstory behind the sophomore release. “The imagery of geological contrasts and alien terrain translated directly into my frothing organic analogue synthesizers.”

Canadian artist and producer Fredy V. and his powerhouse band The Foundation are back, unleashing their ‘modern funk’ meets ‘classic throwback’ NEW single, “One Step”.

The song holds a strong message, and lands ahead of Fredy V. & The Foundation’s forthcoming EP, One Step — set for release on October 30, 2020.

“It’s got a nostalgic mood while still remaining relevant through its lyrics,” Fredy V. says about “One Step.” “There’s an empowering message in there, too — the importance of taking a leap of faith towards your purpose.

Check out the YouTube here of “One Step”:

“It’s an anthem for aspiring performers, creatives and entrepreneurs.”

Multi-award nominated Canadian folk singer/songwriter Craig Cardiff details the special kind of unabashed bliss that accompanies summer romance with the release of his new single and video, “Emm & May”.

Watch and listen to “Emm & May” here on YouTube:

Calling on inspiration for everything from those first kisses to late-night bonfires, to lean-close hand holding and gazing up endlessly at the stars, “Emm & May” is a rambunctious, enveloping folk refrain about a budding love observed through the eyes of someone who loves to share a good story.

Motown-inspired surf-punksters Bad Buddy unleash the “Hunters” with the release of their newest single to land from this year’s self-titled breakthrough album.

Check out "Hunters" here:

“At the time of Bad Buddy’s inception, we were all thoroughly fermented in folk music,” Bad Buddy vocalist and guitarist Emily Bachynski recalls, most especially of their Edmonton, Alberta base. “The scene was dripping with it. I bought into this,” she continues. “I had been convinced that, if you were going to be a solo artist — especially a female artist — you just sort of had to play acoustic folk tunes until you choked.