Songs of the Week: May 20 - 26, 2024

“Rainy Day Janey” by Joel Plaskett

An appropriately titled song for the soggy weather Vancouver’s been having lately!
“Rainy Day Janey” is the new track by Joel Plaskett from the freshly announced new album One Real Reveal.

The album was recorded solo on a 4-track cassette machine, and the tour he just announced (One Real Reveal On Wheels - say that 3 times fast) will be just as intimate with Joel performing solo. [In Vancouver on September 20th at St James Hall, by the way.]

Cozy up with some tea and listen along to the new track below.

• Christine

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“Momentum” by Skye Wallace

Skye Wallace doesn’t care what people think anymore.

But more specifically, Skye says that the line in her latest single “Momentum” “doesn’t mean I don’t care - it’s just a reminder to act from a place of self fulfillment rather than the approval of others - it’s a zero-sum game.”

The frenetic tune is the latest release of her collaboration with the legendary Hawksley Workman — though was actually the first they wrote together — and appropriately enough for the mane, keeps up the same energy as the others.

No word yet on a new album, but Wallace has been playing a string of secret shows in Toronto recently, and will be back to the west coast in a few weeks, including a show here in Vancouver at Green Auto on June 12th!

• Kirk

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“Moondog” by Leif Vollebekk

Leif Vollebekk just announced his brand-new album, Revelation, which is set to be released on September 27, and along with it we got a new single “Moondog”.

According to the press release, the songwriting on this record was “inspired by an exploration that began with Carl Jung’s I Ching and continued into the science of alchemy and the mystery of the divine. The final result is at once organic, earthy and celestial, with themes of nature -- water, astral constellations, mortality – woven into a meditation on living in an ever-changing present laced with existential doubt, the search for a higher power.”

Well then! I can’t wait to hear the rest of the record! According to Lief “Moondog” was a “meditation on love” and with it is a scenic video filmed in Norway. Check it out below.

• Christine

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“Frozen” by WAASH

Last year, Vancouver songwriter Andrew Bishop unveiled his latest project WAASH with a self-titled EP, but now we’re getting a taste of the upcoming full length with “Frozen”

The new single is an upbeat, 80’s influenced pop tune, and is a “statement on putting up boundaries as a form of self-care”.

No word yet on a release date, but the (also) self-titled fell length will be out soon on Light Organ Records.

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: May 13 -19, 2024

“After A While” by Michael Bernard Fitzgerald

Calgary musician Michael Bernard Fitzgerald has announced that his latest full-length album, Horizon Lines, will be released on September 27th.
With the announcement comes the first single “After A While”, and of it MBF says:

"I think ‘After a While’ does a good job of encapsulating what things feel like these days. The pressure seems to be up post-pandemic and I think we’re also all a little drained. Long stretches of time seem to race by, I’m sure that’s maybe just the way things are with a big family and packed schedules, but I think it’s also a shared experience as we’re all working at finding our way again. This track mixes a few musical elements that I love: direct, calm, focused, effect-sparse vocals, a droning acoustic that feels welcoming and sustained, big, moving drums, eventide synth sounds and very present (sometimes edgy) organ bass."

There are some tour dates set for August, but nothing in Vancouver as of yet, but hopefully we’ll hear soon!

• Christine

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“For The Long Run” by Major Love

To celebrate the release of their new album, Major Love has dropped their latest single, “For The Long Run”.

The song is a slow-burner that builds to a big finish, and Colleen Brown explains: “During lockdowns, I think we were all experiencing some form of longing. A lot of us felt really isolated - maybe we were single and hadn’t touched another human in a year. Some of us were in bubbles or family units, but felt totally alienated from them. It wasn’t just physical isolation - but also the sense that humanity was splintering, along with a shared sense of reality and belonging. Many of us were losing people to conspiracy theories, seeing people we love suddenly spouting hateful rhetoric. And then some of those people would try to turn it around on us, accusing us of the same thing… it can break your brain, if you don’t have deep moral conviction behind your beliefs.
To me this feels more relevant than ever, right now, at this moment. I truly believe we are at the flashpoint that will determine whether humanity survives in the long term. We have a couple of years to avoid irreversible ecological collapse, which we have been rushing headlong towards, and we also have students and protesters around the world being shut down, attacked, and arrested for protesting war crimes. These things are 100% related. Propping up a colonial empire is the same principle as spraying your garden with Roundup: as long as we insist on control and domination of ourselves and our environment, we are doomed as a species. This moment, right now, is our opportunity to change that, to change our trajectory. That’s what this song is really about, and that’s the feeling we are trying to capture in the music.”

Live, Laugh, Major Love is out now, and you can catch the band live in Vancouver at The Lido on May 23rd!

• Kirk

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“Famous” by The Royal Foundry

The Royal Foundry have been putting out some really catchy tunes in the last little while!

“Famous” is the first single that is following up their last album, I Give Up, and it’s got everything you’d want in a song: chant-a-long chorus, driving guitars and fun lyrics.
The band says the song is about “living in your dreams wishing they were your reality” and waking up and having it all without doing the work.

Can’t wait for more!

• Christine

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“All This Living” by The Secret Beach

The Secret Beach is described as “an ever-shifting group of musicians and co-conspirators orbiting around the songs and voice of Prairie-based songwriter Micah Erenberg”

Last week, Erenberg (& friends) released “All This Living”, their newest single which Micah says is about “not giving up on your dreams. Even if you wish you could have gotten certain things done earlier, it’s never too late to get them done now. That goes for anything, be it in your career, personal life, health, spirituality or otherwise. Don’t let yourself be defined by the person you were. Embrace the person you can be.”

The breezy, catchy tune is of the upcoming album, our August 23, called We Were Born Here, What's Your Excuse? (and you know I’ll always appreciate a Simpsons reference in music — even if it is from season 16)

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: May 06 - 12, 2024

“Back For The Funeral” by Donovan Woods

Donovan Woods has announced that he will be releasing a new album on July 12th titled Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now.
He has also put out dates for a massive tour to support the album, with a stop in Vancouver on October 5th at The Centre.

On top of all that, there’s a second single from the album called “Back For The Funeral” that he co-wrote with Lori McKenna and Matt Nathanson.
The song takes “place in a small town, a group of friends who haven’t seen each other in years return to memorialize a schoolmate after they overdosed on pills”.

It’s a very sad and dark song, but with Donovan’s sweet vocals carrying the lyrics it tugs at your heart-strings.

• Christine

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“When You’re Outside” by Ducks Ltd.

Coming hot off the heels of their newest album Harm’s Way, Ducks Ltd. have released a brand new single.

“When You’re Outside” was recorded during the same session as the album, and the incredibly catchy bop features Julia Steiner (or Ratboys) and Margaret McCarthy (or Moontype) joining singer Tom McGreevy on harmonies.

Take a peek at the video below!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: April 29 - May 05, 2024

“Get To You” by Begonia

Begonia has to be one of the hardest working people in Canadian music right now. It’s been a little over a year since her Polaris short-listed album Powder Blue, and she’s already set for her next release, The Open Swim EP.

The first single off the EP is “Get To You”, featuring Alexa Dirks’ powerful voice over a groovy R&B beat. Alexa says “this song is about trying to get through to someone you can't seem to get through to. When you feel like you're constantly showing someone who you are and they can't or don't want to see it.”

The Open Swim EP is out July 17 on Birthday Cake Records, and was co-written & produced by Begonia & Marcus Paquin, with contributions from her frequent collaborators and producer duo, deadmen!

• Kirk

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“Talking” by The Darcys

The Darcys just feel like summer to me, and I’m extremely excited that they’ve announced their next album! No official date yet, but if the new single “Talking” is any indicator, I know I’m going to enjoy Rendered Feelings.

The track was on a recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy (may this show never go away so more indie bands can get their music on it!), and the band joked that “watching the episode taught us how to remove a fence pole from another human’s body without using anesthetic.”

Listen to the sweet track that feels like a hazy summer afternoon below, and then go stream it a few hundred times for them!

• Christine

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“Harsh” by BOBBI

As we creep closer to the release of her EP, BOBBI has released the title track, “Harsh”

The new single is a haunting song, and BOBBI says “This is the first song I ever produced by myself. It’s the sum of all the lessons I learned while creating this body of work. I went through a lot personally while this project came together, and this song kind of felt like the punctuation to a very tumultuous time.”

Harsh is out May 24th, and you can stream the title track HERE, or check out a gorgeous live version below!

• Kirk

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“Nothing To Report” by Fold Paper

You’re going to want to crank it for the brand new song from Fold Paper.

“Nothing To Report” features ripping guitars and pounding drums, with raw vocals from singer Chell Osuntade, for an energetic post-punk tune that immediately hooked me.

“Nothing to Report” is the first single from the band after signing to Royal Mountain Records, and you can check out the video below!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: April 22 - 28, 2024

“Good People” by The Harpoonist

You may know Shawn Hall as one half of the blues-rock duo The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, but now The Harpoonist is striking off on his own with the help of some “Good People”

Produced by the legendary Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, the new song is the first single off his debut solo record, Did We Come Here To Dance. Hall says ‘“Good People” hit me like a brick to the head at my dining room table about a year ago, sort of like a mantra of some kind. I had this dizzying nature whirling around in me - it’s a call to action, in its simplest form asking “did we come here to dance or come here to die?”’

The album drops at an as-yet-unspecified date this summer, but you can watch the video below!

• Kirk

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“Subtitles” by Limblifter

After a big health scare for lead singer Ryan Dahle, Limblifter is heading back out on the road to tour their latest LP Little Payne.

Ryan has fully recovered from having open-heart surgery, and says that "after not playing guitar for a solid year, I have a renewed sense of joy that the instrument brings me. I hear it differently, I understand it in a different way. I definitely have a new appreciation for the fact that I can kinda sing and kinda play this instrument, and that I’ve written all these songs and made these recordings. It seems so basic but when you sink that much of your life into something it tends to pay off even if it’s just personal and private.”

The band will perform at Green Auto this Sunday in Vancouver - tickets can be found here.

• Christine

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“Roadtrip” by Thunder Queens

Last week the London (Ontario) trio Thunder Queens released their debut full-length album, Strike One, and are going on a “Roadtrip” to celebrate.

The high energy song is aptly named, with grungy melodies that deserve a spot on any playlist for your summer drives. And the video builds on that fun, following the trio on their own adventure.

Check out the video below, and you can pick up the new album Strike One now!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: April 15 - 21, 2024

“Find New Ways” by Dan Mangan

I am taking this song before Kirk does! (You can tell them about your Haunting playlist if you want though!)

Even more new music from Vancouver’s Dan Mangan this week, with the new single titled “Find New Way's” which is all about Dan “haunting his wife should he happen to die first”.

It might sound morbid, but it’s very sweet. Of it Dan says:
“The idea that even death can’t help our relationship from evolving and unfolding in new and unexpected ways. Lustful love is part of the journey, but most of a life together is actually about friendship. It’s about having a person. And not just staying with that person because you said you would, but finding new ways to appreciate their contribution to your life."

Mangan has announced some summer festival shows already, but hopefully there are some local shows announced soon!

• Christine

[Kirk note: the Haunting playlist Christine alluded to was from a tweet where I wanted to start a playlist with this song and “I Died So I Could Haunt You” by Stars, and build it from there]

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“Nic At the Museum” by Unessential Oils

The first time I heard an Unessential Oils song, I had CBC Radio 3 on in the background, and immediately sopped what I was doing when I recognised the distinctive voice of Plants and Animals singer Warren Spicer.

“Nic at the Museum” is the latest single from his new project, which is inspired by P&A bandmate Nic Basque, and his habit of visiting local museums while on tour.

Spicer says: “I can remember working on this song and realizing that I was writing a song about him, and accepting that it was simply about him going to museums and looking at art. Strange idea. However, with the performance of the band and singers the song took on a transcendental quality. All of a sudden, I was no longer sure what the song was about, all I understood was the feeling that it was giving me.”

Watch the video below (which features the titular Nic) and catch the self-titled debut album, when it’s out May 31 on Secret City Records.

• Kirk

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“I'm So F*cking Happy” by Blonde Diamond

The title of the brand new Blonde Diamond song could also describe how I felt when I saw new music from the Vancouver band!

“I'm So F*cking Happy” is the latest single from the group, a punchy synth-pop tune that is definitely a contender for this year’s ‘song of the summer’.

Hopefully this means a new album is on its way sooner rather than later!

• Kirk

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“Crisis Management” by Imposer

Sometimes timing in life is just weird.

A couple weeks ago, I randomly found myself wondering what happened to Calgary band Jane Vain & the Dark Matter. Then a few days later, their Facebook page drops an announcement of a new project from frontperson Jamie Fooks: Imposer.

The new band pairs Fooks with Ryan Sadler, and the first single is “Crisis Management” an indie-pop earworm that belies slightly darker lyrics.

Have a listen below, and hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon!

• Kirk

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“Sweet” by Grizzly Coast

Toronto’s Grizzly Coast released a brand new song last week, the sentimental “Sweet”.

The dreamy song is, appropriately enough, inspired by a dream Alannah Kavanagh had. It was about someone she knew as a teenager, which “got her thinking about how you don't have to be in touch with someone to remember them fondly.”

Close your eyes and have a listen!

• Kirk

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“nikâwîs” by ASKO

You may know Marek Tyler from nêhiyawak or WAYFINDING (among other bands), but last week he announced the upcoming, self-titled album for his latest project ASKO.

The latest song is called “nikâwîs” and Tyler says, “nikâwîs (aunt) câpân Harper told a story about family responsibilities. This summer, we lost our late aunt on Mom's side. As our uncle explains, to help our mom's sister take the next step, we refer to her not by name but by kâkî-kahwîsiyan (our late aunt on mom's side). Mom noted that after someone's passing, we don't refer to individuals by their name at all because kinship terms are used regularly. But nowadays, people will, after one year, preface the person's name with 'late-…' Two years ago, kâkî-kahwîsiyan shared her story of dancing Fancy with me. She said, ‘When I danced, I tried to carve through the air like an eagle.’ This song is for the aunties and nieces and their courage to dance, to be seen, be okimâw (the boss).”

You can find “nikâwîs” on the self-titled album, when it’s out on September 9 via Dine Alone Records!

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: April 08 - 14, 2024

“The Banks of the Lough Erne” feat. Erin Rae by The Deep Dark Woods

We have another new track from Broadside Ballads Vol. III, the upcoming album from The Deep Dark Woods.

The song “The Banks of the Lough Erne” is their take on an Irish emigration song - which goes by many names: “Rambling Irishman”, “Lough Erne”, “New York Bay”, and “An Irishman From Monaghan”, just to cite a few.

Of the song, frontman Ryan Boldt say he “first heard it by the beautiful Irish singer Dolores Keane and her group De Danann. I thought Erin Rae, one of my favourite current singers going, would do a wonderful job singing the song, making it sound less Irish and more American. Our voices work very well together and I hope we can make more music together in the future.”

• Christine

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“Exhale” by iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ

This past Friday, iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ released her much-anticipated album nīna, and with it dropped a new video for the breathtaking album-closer, “Exhale”.

The whole album is deeply personal & autobiographical, with iskwē sharing about "the song: “I needed to remind myself that I am vibrant, that I hold life in me. I am an artist, a creative, confident and soft. I needed to remind myself that I hold love in my being. It was time I remembered these pieces in me which had been dormant for some time. So now I start again, to rebloom. To be reborn. To look at myself in the mirror and exhale. It’s time for me to breathe out…”

You can check out the video for “Exhale” below — directed by iskwē herself — and pick up the new album nīna in all the usual places!

• Kirk

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“Pull Yourself Together” by Basement Revolver

Also released this past Friday (it was a busy day for albums!) was the new, deluxe version of Basement Revolver’s sophomore LP, Embody.

Embody (Expanded) features a pair of new songs to go with the original 2022 release, including “Pull Yourself Together”, a dreamy song about songwriter Chrisy Hurn’s experience with really bad panic attacks at parties.

They say, “It makes me sad for baby Chrisy who was afraid that everyone was judging them or thinking negative thoughts towards them or their body. It has taken a lot of work to get to a place where I don’t panic in party-like settings anymore.”

• Kirk

Songs of the Week: April 01 - 07, 2024

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” by The Dirty Nil

When a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” lands in your inbox and there’s a full solar eclipse happening today, you GOTTA put it in the Songs Of The Week!

The Dirty Nil’s frontman Luke Bentham says “We were asked to play (drummer) Kyle’s brother’s wedding as the house band and readily agreed. There was a list of dream covers and this one we laughed at but then learned. From the first time we did it in the jam space, I knew we had a good one. It was probably the highlight of our wedding set and we decided to record it for posterity. Special shoutout to (bassist) Sam’s amazingly high singing on this one. I find it very difficult to not sing the expletives present in the ‘Old School’ version of the song.”

I 100% get it, the version from Old School is probably my favourite cover of it, and they really could have easily thrown in the cursing on this one.

• Christine

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“Big Star” by Bend Sinister

Just ahead of their new album, Bend Sinister is giving us one last tease — or make that, two last teases.

Over the last few months, the Vancouver rockers have been releasing singles by the pair, and last week they dropped the latest: “Big Star”, along with “Gotta Get Ready”.

The video for “Big Star” was recorded live at Tyrant Studios, where they had an intimate show last year (and I definitely tried to spot myself in the quick flashes of the audience).

Mostly Great Things is out at the end of this week, April 12!

• Kirk

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“The New Joys” by Joel Plaskett

This may be a first for 3AM…spoken word poetry!

Joel Plaskett released his first spoken word poem "The New Joys" to coincide with National Poetry Month.
On how it came about, Joel says: “The New Joys is a poem I wrote a while back that we recorded in 2023 at the Carleton in Halifax with Bill Stevenson improvising gracefully on the Wurlitzer keyboard. Trying to pin down what it is about is a bit like trying to tell a teenager what to wear, but as a visual, imagine a seesaw with ‘the past’ sitting on one side and ‘the future’ on the other.  In the middle is someone trying to get the attention of their better half without completely losing their balance."

Here are the words written out, so you can follow along:

Words upon words, hooks into hooks
Can’t undo, can’t run through, can’t uncook the books
What’s old where nothing’s new?
So we hold our breath
Hit the wall
Half the time we fall
Other times we hang our heads
Blame it on our parents, their parents
This country, these threads
Or the first two words, after the title of course
Lay nothing on The New Joys

• Christine

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“Devil Talking” by David Myles

David Myles wants you to ignore the angel on your shoulder in his latest single, “Devil Talking”.

The title track to his upcoming album is a fantastically catchy ‘rock 'n' soul’ tune, that’s sure to get you moving, especially on the weekends. Myles explains, “Being too tight doesn’t work for me. I love letting off a little steam and having a good time on the weekends; it's often when I feel the most alive. But I'm also well aware of the shortcomings of doing that too much. Why are the things that can ultimately harm me so irresistible? Is this the Devil talking? 'Cause it sure feels good.”

Check out the groovin’ video below, and you can hear the whole album, Devil Talking, when it’s out on May 24.

• Kirk

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“Love changes everything I” by Dirty Three

I don’t think I can say anything better than the first chunk of the press release for the new song from Dirty Three, so I’m just gonna copy that verbatim:

Emerging once again from the unending waves crashing upon our fragile time-craft (adrift on the eternal ocean, and taking on water), Dirty Three are a) back, b) tangled in seaweed, rank with saltwater and possessed of three rather ominous thousand-mile stares (at least!), and c) not wasting another minute — as nothing is guaranteed.

The trio of Warren Ellis, Mick Turner, and Jim White have been long-time collaborators with people like Nick Cave, Cat Power, and, PJ Harvey, but now they’re back for the first Dirty Three album in over a decade!

Full of their familiar chaotic energy, “Love changes everything I” is the first single, and opening track, on the upcoming album, Love Changes Everything. Check it out below, and make sure to mark June 28 for the album’s release!

• Kirk