Songs of the Week: May 12 - 18, 2025

May 20, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Yvonne” by Foxwarren

I am so sad that I have to wait until December for Foxwarren to finally make their return to Vancouver (December 4th at the Vogue), but I’m so excited that their new record, 2, will be released next week on May 30th!

The second track released from the upcoming album is “Yvonne” - a “compulsory study of love’s strange spell” and the bands says “Yvonne, the woman scanning the beach each morning for buried treasure, deserves a love song too”.
The song starts with sounds of a shoreline - waves and seagulls and builds to add drums, harmonies and strings.
It’s a gorgeous little track and is accompanied by an equally beautiful video by artist Meghan Fenske.

Christine

“baby blue frigidaire mini fridge” by Ada Lea

Ada Lea (aka Montreal’s Alexandra Levy) has announced her latest album, when i paint my masterpiece, and dropped a brand new song called “baby blue frigidaire mini fridge”

The lead single is a lilting love song which highlights Levy’s soft vocals, as she reflects on the inspirations: “The Chantal Akerman film where the camera moves in slow circular pans around her apartment. Then what if the frame quickly zooms out as far as it could possibly go? And in that wide pull back, what we recognize as universal is still ‘this chair, this window, this mountain view.’ Then, move out again, even further. What we are left with—three things: ‘our old time souls, this old time moon.’ Two things, I mean.”

when i paint my masterpiece is out August 8 on Next Door Records and you can check out the video for “baby blue frigidaire mini fridge” below!

Kirk

“Gospel” by Chinese Medicine

On Friday, Toronto’s Chinese Medicine released their sophomore EP, The Trans Agenda.

The album starts off hard, fast, and heavy with “Gospel” — taking aim at the church’s hypocrisy — and doesn’t let up from there. Frontwoman Juno Hailey says of the new EP, “I was inspired to write after growing tired of hearing accusations that we’re pushing some ‘evil agenda’ onto children. The only thing trans people have ever pushed is radical self-love. This album is meant to highlight the hypocrisy of it all. This album for me at least, holds all the emotions of my transition, anger, sadness, joy, etc. I hope it provides that same sense of catharsis to the listeners, as it gives me.”

“The Trans Agenda” (which was initially announced on March 31st in celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility) is out now on Twin Fang Records!

Kirk

“Mental Mentality” by Pig Pen

I’ve been waiting for this song since Pig Pen announced their existence in March!

The super group includes Matty Matheson (Vocals), Wade MacNeil of alexisonfire (Guitar / Vocals), Daniel Romano (Guitar), Ian Romano (Drums), and Tommy Major (Bass).

While most people would recognize Matty from either his cooking videos or his role on The Bear, I actually went to high school with him and spent many a time in a mosh pit at shows in Niagara - so seeing him on stage is so awesome and feels full circle.

The band has announced their album will be released

Christine

Songs of the Week: March 24 - 30, 2025

March 31, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Make Way For Waves” by Amy Millan

Last week Amy Millan shared another tease of her upcoming solo album with the latest song, “Make Way For Waves”

The beautiful, twitchy song was the first collaboration between Millan and the album’s co-writer/co-producer Jay McCarrol (of Nirvana the Band the Show fame), and Amy says:

“This song has a very special place in my heart. It’s the first song Jay and I collaborated on and was initially titled ‘gentle beginnings.’ It is the song that launched our relationship and the making of this album. The first verse was an old Stars demo sitting in a hard drive cemetery. I never forgot it and my attachment to the sentiment of the verse lyrics. I sent what I had to Jay and told him it needed a chorus and obviously a second verse. A few weeks later, he sent the song back completed and with this punch in the gut chorus that made me fall out of my chair. We were off. Lyrically I was seeking to articulate how difficult patches in life can influence you to blow it all up or throw in the towel. I was clinging to the idea that with some patience and reflection maybe calmer waters eventually return like the cycle of the moon. Mourning time passing is a right of passage, and the forlorn can make a beautiful hook. Trying not to let fear find a home in my heart.”

Amy’s new album I Went To Find You comes out May 30 on Last Gang Records, and you can check out the gorgeous hand-drawn animated video by Gaia Alari below!

Kirk

“Get Dumber” by PUP

My favourite part of the video for this song is when the saxophone lights up a mini saxophone weed pipe.

Honestly I’d love to just leave it at that, but I’ll tell you more about PUP’s new single “Get Dumber”.
The track will appear on the band’s upcoming album Who Will Look After The Dogs? which is out in just over a month on May 2nd.

The song features band bud and collaborator Jeff Rosenstock and has a hilarious story behind it that singer Stefan Babcock relates below:
“I wrote ‘Get Dumber’ in Jeff’s basement. I was house sitting for him while he was on tour. I recorded the first demo for it on his guitar using his mics and his computer. Maybe because the ghost of Jeff was in the room with me, I always imagined our voices on this song together, so I was very happy when he agreed to sing on it.
We recorded the vocals together, in the same room, facing each other. What that means is, we both had to nail it at the same time because we couldn’t really cut between takes. On the first take, he forgot a line in the second verse and said “ahhhhhh, lyrics” instead. I couldn’t finish the take because I was laughing too hard. Anyway, he practiced singing the correct lyrics but then we decided those lyrics kinda sucked and he should just stick to “ahhhh lyrics” because it’s funny and the song is called Get Dumber.”

And, like all PUP videos, this one is worth the watch.

Christine

“Take It Easy” by Total Fucking Darkness

Speaking of side projects from members of Stars, Total Fucking Darkness dropped their latest single, a thumping rave anthem antithetically called “Take It Easy”.

And you know what, I love everything about this blurb in the press release, so I want to just copy it verbatim:

Written in real-time, “Take It Easy” was born from pure spite. Torquil Campbell (a man who once played a badger in a cartoon) wrote the lyrics while listening to the track for the first time—a feat that continues to baffle even his bandmates, Stephen Ramsay (tall and just on this side of handsome) and Tom McFall (English studio genius and synthesist whose engineering credits include the likes of REM, Bloc Party, Twin Shadow, Regina Spektor). And then, of course, there are the sheep.

Still no word on an album from the trio, but if you’re in Montreal you can attend the inaugural Total Fucking Darkness party on May 29th at Newspeak.

Kirk

“Listen2me” by Foxwarren

Having new Foxwarren land in my inbox was unexpected and super exciting!

Foxwarren (which is made up of Andy Shauf, Avery Kissick and Darryl Kissick, Dallas Bryson, and Colin Nealis) announced that their new record, 2, will be released on May 30th!

The first track “Listen2me” had be swaying and bobbing along from the first few notes, and warranted an immediate re-listen (I see the irony with the song title).

In addition to the song, you'll really want to see the video produced for it (created by Winston Hacking) as it involves actual miniature sets and stop-motion animation cut outs!

Christine

Song of the Day: November 9, 2018 - "Everything Apart" by Foxwarren

November 09, 2018 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day

New Andy Shauf! Well, kinda! While he was recording his album The Party, Andy teamed up with childhood friends to form Foxwarren and they’ve just announced new music.

Not only do we get a single, and a video, but also a release date for the new self-titled album, which will drop on November 30th!

I held my breath for a good portion of this video below (done by the kickass team at Ft. Langley Productions), which is almost like a short film in itself. Won’t spoil it, just watch!