Songs of the Week: February 17 - 23, 2025

February 24, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Save My Life” by Hawksley Workman

New Hawksley Music Alert!

Was pleasantly surprised and equally happy to see that Hawksley Workman has new music coming! Also excited to see that the first track released, “Save My Life”, had a video with none other than Mounties bandmate Steve Bays in the directors chair. That’s fitting as he also co-wrote and co-produced the song - busy man!

Hawksley said the song is “confident, optimistic, and everything we need right now. We wrote this with a sense of urgency.”

Get ready to have the whistling part of it stuck in your head - this one’s an ear worm!

Christine

“Daylight” by Basia Bulat

Last Friday, Basia Bulat released her newest album, Basia’s Palace, and dropped the brand new single to celebrate.

“Daylight” is as lush and gorgeous as the rest of the album, with Basia explaining: “I wrote so much of this album in the middle of the night, when it felt like the world of dreams and the ‘real world’ were finding moments to meet. I realized how much I had separated the two and wanted to invite that space between them to get smaller. This song became a way to remind myself to ‘consciously’ invite that energy in more, and evolved into a meditation on showing compassion to yourself through exploring your dreams.”

You can pick up the album now, and watch out for Basia Bulat on tour starting next month, with a stop here in Vancouver at the Hollywood Theatre on April 30th!

Kirk

Songs of the Week: February 10 - 16, 2025

February 18, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Wire Walks” by Amy Millan

It’s been 15 years(!!) since the last solo release from Amy Millan, but now the Stars co-founder has teased a brand new album with the first single, “Wire Walks”.

Anchored by her unmatched voice, the new song is a beautiful, lilting tune, with Amy explaining: “Getting older is a trip. You assume you’re gonna grow out of feeling like you might fall down a hole any minute, but for me the feeling continues to hover,” continuing to so say, “I reference Stars’ ‘Ageless Beauty’ here with the lyric ‘I lied when I said that time would catch your head.’ I thought when I was younger time would mend all wounds, but I was wrong, it does not. Turns out they stick around! So what I have learned with my sage years is to stop trying to dodge and outrun the hard feelings. Embrace the difficult bits, the footprint that made me what I am. When outrunning isn’t working, I might need to lean into what I’ve always been.”

You can check out the etherial video below — Luca Tarantini — and pick up the new album I Went To Find You when it’s out on May 30, via Last Gang Records.

Kirk

“Hallways” by PUP

Toronto’s PUP have announced that their next album, Who Will Look After The Dogs, will be released on May 2nd.

Lead singer Stefan Babcock says the song “Hallways” was the first song he wrote for the new album which has the lyric that ended up being the album title.
“Within days of announcing our last album, coincidentally titled The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND, my life unexpectedly imploded. I wrote the lyrics for 'Hallways' while all that was going on. It was a weird fucking week," says Babcock. "The title of our new record, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, is what I wrote at the top of the page, the very first thing written for this album. I think it’s devastating, but in a ‘holy shit this is overdramatic’ kinda way. At least in context of the line that comes before it. That’s what makes it funny to us. That overblown stuff we all say in our dark moments can be hilarious once you've cooled off a bit. I don’t know if anyone else thinks it’s funny, but sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself. It's the only way out of the abyss. Trust me.”

I cannot wait to here more from one of my favourite bands! And you definitely need to watch the accompanying video for “Hallways” below - which sees the band becoming one with furniture and appliances.

Christine

“Listening Party” by Odds & Limblifter

Ahead of their co-headlining show at the Commodore this week, Odds and Limblifter have gotten together for a brand new single, “Listening Party”.

It’s exactly what you would hope & expect from the pair of 90s alt-rock powerhouses, who describe the collab as “in the spirit of Max Webster and Rush creating "Battle Scar,” two crack bands are forged into one.” and say the song is “a dedication to the raw symphony of the natural world — a breezy manifestation of friendship, music, and the great outdoors.”

Have a listen below, or pick up the Limited Edition Square Shaped Flexi 7" from Limblifter’s bandcamp, and make sure you’re at the Commodore this Friday night!

Kirk

“Oulalala” by Omega Mighty

Ear-worm Alert!

This track landed in my inbox on Valentine’s Day (convenient, as it’s a love song) and I’ve been humming “Oulalala” for the last several days.

Omega Mighty says her new pop track “is for the lovers…the ones who believe in love, or desire to be loved but also want to keep the relationship fun and exciting. It's a cheeky flirtatious bop, but it's also an empowerment song with a reminder to go for what you want!"

Gotta love love!

Christine

Songs of the Week: February 03 - 09, 2025

February 10, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Can We Be Still” by Georgia Harmer

Georgia Harmer is back with her first new single since her debut album Stay In Touch in 2022.

“Can We Be Still” is a chill tune that highlights her incredible voice, and Harmer explains the song is “about lifelong best-friendship and striving to protect it from the inevitable changes that come with time. It’s about having a shared vision of the future and a desire to preserve it, to see the plan for ever-lasting closeness through.”

You can watch the video below (directed by Talvi Faustmann at Rosedale Heights School Of The Arts in Toronto) and keep an ear our for more to come!

Kirk

“10 Feet Tall” by Current Swell

I needed a beachy-vibe track on this cold February morning!

Victoria staple Current Swell is back with a new single, “10 Feet Tall”, from their upcoming EP Peacekeeper.

Of it they say it’s “an anthemic ode to youthful freedom and resilience [that] embodies the unshakable confidence that comes from being surrounded by the right energy and mindset.”

The band is about to head out on tour next month with a stop in Vancouver at the Commodore Ballroom on March 21st and then they’re off to the UK!

Christine

“Television, a Ghost in My Head” by Frog Eyes

We’re less than a month away from the new album from Frog Eyes, and getting the latest tease with the lead track, “Television, a Ghost in My Head”

The frenetic song comes with a video shot by singer Carey Mercer of a seal lounging near a ferry dock in Vancouver, with Mercer explaining:

“A ferry harbour is a bit like airport-space: all energies and commerce centered around that which is departing or arriving, but outside of the reductive human conception of the space, there is another galaxy of personalities and endeavours. My buddy the seal was really hamming it up, like they knew I had a record coming out and that I would sit on a rock and capture their silly energies, like they were ready for their close-up, as they say. So I filmed two vids, delighting in the comic energy and the various intrigues and characters floating in and out of my screen, and then sent them to Derek (Janzen - long-time visual collaborator), who sweetly agreed to line them up and place my words at the bottom of the screen.”

Have a watch below, and mark March 7th on your calendars for when new album The Open Up comes out!

Kirk

“Bang Bang Bang” by Fake Shark

Fake Shark is back with a new one and it’s… a banger.
See what I did there? Because the song is called “Bang Bang Bang”? You get it.

The funky bass, drums and shaker, and call-and-repeat gives me me total Cake vibes and I LOVE IT.

The band say it' “is a song about knowing you’re being talked about behind your back. It’s a helpless feeling, but also kind of freeing. You can find out who are your real people, so in this sense, it’s not a sad song, it’s a positive party song.”

Christine

“You Don’t Know Me” by BAWAH

Last week, BAWAH (formerly known as MAUVEY) released the first part of an incredibly ambitious project, MAUVEY TO A BAWAH — a four-part album series, a film series spanning 48 episodes, and a 48-chapter book.

Spanning the entire year, BAWAH will have new releases every week: new music on Fridays, new episodes on Mondays, and new book chapters on Wednesdays.

All 48 songs will tie in to a film episode, woven into a larger narrative that is “as much about reclaiming his past as it is about forging a future”. The film is directed by award-winning Andrew Huculiak (who you may musically know from We Are The City or Big Kill, or theatrically from Violent and Ash) and shot by long-time collaborator Joseph Schweers (Amazing Factory).

You can watch the first episode (titled Push Ups and a Bathroom Mirror) below, as well as listening to “You Don’t Know Me”, the first single from Part One of the series, MAUVEY TO A BAWAH: THE FIRST 13, which is out May 1st.

Kirk

Songs of the Week: January 27 - February 02, 2025

February 03, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Desolation Boys” by Total Fucking Darkness

Total Fucking Darkness is the collaboration of long-time friends Torquil Campbell (of Stars & Memphis fame) and Stephen Ramsay (who you know from Young Galaxy), and now they’re joined by Tom McFall (whose engineering credits include REM, Bloc Party, Twin Shadow, Regina Spektor, among many others).

Last week they dropped their latest song, a twitchy, synth-pop dance number called “Desolation Boys”, and I don’t know if I can describe it any better than the press release:

Written in the final hours of a grueling [72-hour] session, new track, “Desolation Boys” showcases TFD’s menu to thrilling effect: Maximum Creative Violence Immediately. The song features a mix of savant-like lyrical spontaneity and a raw vocal take where Campbell can faintly be heard yelling, “go fuck yourself,” mid-chorus. Who is he instructing? Probably himself.

Check out the ‘Tom's Workout Video Remix’ of “Desolation Boys” below, and they’ve teased some live performances later this year!

Kirk

“When The Night Feels My Song” ft. Frank Turner by Bedouin Soundclash

Bedouin Soundclash recently announced a new headlining tour across Canada (with a stop here in Vancouver at the Commodore Ballroom on March 22) and with it released reimagining of their hit single “When The Night Feels My Song”.

They enlisted the help of Frank Turner (as well as another version done by The Interrupters, and Jesse Royal) to take the now 20-year-old tune. Of the original Frank says it:“is such a perfect song. It soundtracked many years of my youth, always the last song of the night in the indie clubs I used to haunt, a sweet and sad celebration of life’s journey. To be singing it 20 years later is a joy and an honour.”

Christine

“Undone” by Nick Faye

Okay, first of all, I love the artwork for Nick Faye’s new single, “Undone” (which is by Graeme Zirk)

Second of all, who can’t relate* to ills of online dating? Faye wrote the song after being canceled on or ghosted for six out of seven consecutive dates, and elaborates: “Dating can be really fun, and I made some really special memories while getting to know a lot of great people I met online or in person. But sometimes people can be really cruel on the internet or disrespectful towards others' time, attention, and energy. This song was written when I was feeling tired and worn out from a particularly brutal period of online dating.”

Have a listen below!

*if you can’t relate, I don’t want to hear it.

Kirk

“Golden Hour” by FEATURETTE

Last week Toronto’s FEATURETTE released their third full-length album PANIC PILLS and their first with their newest member Marc Koecher.

To mark this they released the video for the track “Golden Hour”, which was written about a near-death experience lead singer Lexie Jay had in a car accident.
Of the song the band says: “this song lives in those timeless pinnacle moments that flash before your eyes like when one has a near-death experience. Drawn from lived experience, the track starts slowly, luxuriating on the ‘golden hour’ moments you cling to before impact, slowly descending into a faster pace that rips you into reality, going a hundred miles per hour and flooded with adrenaline.”

The video for the track is also remarkable - with the band and DOP Lindsey Blane traveling to Iceland to film on black sand beaches, expansive fjords, and in the culmination of the video - a rave in an ice cave! Check it out.

Christine

“Danger Girl” by Shiv and the Carvers

I’m a sucker for a good Scott Pilgrim reference, so I immediately liked the new video from Shiv and the Carvers for their latest tune “Danger Girl”

The song is pop-punk banger, and singer Shiv Scott shares, “Danger Girl is a queer love song about falling in love with a woman that you know is going to break your heart. The “Danger” is the gamble of getting your heart broken, but knowing that it's worth every bit of pain. I was very inspired by Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag”, Blink-182’s “Josie”, and other 90s/2000s songs about women who are out of the singer’s league."

The video features a cameo from Bif Naked, as well as a load of references to (and locations from) both the Scott Pilgrim books and the adaptation film!

Spot them all for yourself, and mark down March 14 for the release of their next EP, Tell Me You Love Me Again.

Kirk

Songs of the Week: January 20 - 26, 2025

January 27, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Good Dream” and “Stowaway” by Mae Martin

You might know Mae Martin from their standup; their podcast Handsome with Tig Notaro and Fortune Feimster; their show Feel Good; or drawing pineapples, throwing balls, and just generally crushing it on series 15 of Taskmaster. But last week they announced their debut album I’m A TV.

The album announcement came with a pair of chill, hazy singles “Good Dream” and “Stowaway” which, along with the rest of the album, were produced by Jason Couse and Wes Marskell (of The Darcys)!

Mae shares, “I've been writing songs since I was a teenager, with no intention of ever sharing them. But it took moving to LA a couple of years ago and really having some time to sit alone in a rented apartment to reconnect with that Toronto teen. I didn't realize how badly I wanted to sit with an acoustic guitar by myself and get to say what I wanted to say without the pressure to find a punchline. Then, filling out the sounds with a band, collaborating with friends, I just leaned into warmth and simplicity and tried to learn this new medium as best I could and trust my gut. All that matters to me is that the album feels like an authentic extension of everything I write and do. No matter the medium I've been trying to say the same thing my whole life, and I kind of hope I never figure out how to say it perfectly because the joy is in trying to express it.”

You can check out the lyrics videos for both songs below, and pick up I’m A TV when it’s out February 27!

Kirk

“Migration Song” by Tariq

The highly anticipated (especially by me) new EP, Scroll Before You Sleep, from Tariq is finally out!
Of the release Tariq says: “It’s less of a command or a suggestion, more of a warning. Keep scrolling, see what happens. Our phone addiction keeps us up at night. It’s impossible to relinquish our devices and when we finally do, they sit beside us on the nightstand, buzzing, alerting, demanding to be looked at and engaged with. When they finally shut up, they start doing their most unsettling activity of all, listening. They eavesdrop on our desires, hunger, fears, our tastes in music, fashion, and lovers. They make decisions about our lives and then at night, they sell it all back to us in ads and subscriptions and as we scroll, we pay. We pay and we rarely sleep.”

After the first two of the three tracks on Scroll Before You Sleep, the final song “Migration Song” has been released as well. On what the track focuses on Tariq says “Lately we hear a lot of news reports about people—call them migrants, refugees, immigrants, etc.—putting themselves in great danger in order to flee injustice, persecution, war. And as they do, there is pushback from others who want to keep the outsiders out. Move on, they sing to the outsiders, move on.”

Christine

“Work Song” by Housewife

Over the last year or so, we’ve had a steady stream of singles from Toronto’s Housewife, and now we’re finally getting news of a new EP!

Girl Of The Hour drops March 7th and the news comes with yet another new track, the high energy, anthemic “Work Song”.

Brighid Fry describes the new single as “about feeling unsatisfied with yourself and where you’re going. I have really high expectations of myself but also have really unhealthy habits and so oscillate between being a workaholic and being burnt out. I wanted to poke fun at myself, while still processing it as a valid issue in my life. This song is for anyone else out there with executive functioning issues who sometimes feel like a hot mess.”

Check out the video below!

Kirk

“Eddie Vedder” (Steve Bays Remix) by The Matinee

And finally, here’s a remix of the latest release from The Matinee “Eddie Vedder” by the one and only Steve Bays.

Christine

Songs of the Week: January 13 - 19, 2025

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

“Keep It Coming” by Two Hours Traffic

Holy crap there’s new Two Hours Traffic!!!

Over a decade ago, the PEI band played what was to be their last concert, and while they have come out of ‘retirement’ and played sporadic shows over the past few years, I was definitely not expecting new music from them.

But last week they dropped “Keep It Coming”, a classic THT jam that will instantly get stuck in your head. According to the band, the song was written during a pretty tough year when ‘keep it coming’ became “a bit of a mantra, as well as a reminder not to worry about every little thing in the future and to trust that you will be able to deal with whatever comes your way,” says guitarist Andy MacDonald, with singer Liam Corcoran adding that the song has “the kind of arrangement we’ve tried to develop over the years, with lots of empty space on the recording and a focus on the groove and the rhythms. Our friend Dan Griffin (Teen Ravine) added keys and synths which ended up being the glue that made the recording really work.”

You can check out the lyric video below, and true to the title, the band has promised more to come!

Kirk

“I See The Same Things” by Frog Eyes

Vancouver’s Frog Eyes have dropped another new single, “I See The Same Things”, ahead of the release of their upcoming album The Open Up, which is set to come out on March 7th.

Of the song “taps into a central theme for the band of eschewing digital trappings and convenience culture, and when feeling enclosed by an increasingly fever-paced world, they turn toward their reverence for warm tones, historical rich reverie and storytelling art spaces, like The Western Front in Vancouver.”

Guitarist and singer Carey Mercer continues: “The concept for the video is to show Shyla, our keyboard player, digitizing and archiving performance-art pieces that mostly took place on the top floor in the Luxe Hall. The video then shows us playing in the Luxe Hall. It’s a conversation, as all art is, with the art of the city that you live in. We are all just doing the same things, day in, day out, it’s how the art gets made, I think.”

Christine

“Disco Polo” by Basia Bulat

We’re about a month away from Basia’s Palace, the new album from Basia Bulat, and last week we got our latest taste with the third single, “Disco Polo”.

The gorgeous song is named after a genre of Polish dance music, beloved by Basia’s late father, and honours her parent’s musician influence on her life. Bulat elaborates, “This is an homage to what I feel like is the two sides of my musical lineage–my mother was a classically trained piano and guitar teacher, and my father’s favourite genre was Disco Polo. About the only thing we could all agree on was the oldies radio station that was the peacemaker of our home when I was a child. I wanted to write something that felt like a folk tale about those genres and how they still influence me after all this time–even now every time I sit down at the piano all those different musical worlds swirl around each other and try to dance together in my mind.”

You can check out the fantastic video below, directed by Nora Rosenthal, and pick up Basia’s Palace when it’s out February 21 on Secret City Records.

Kirk

“Time Waited” by My Morning Jacket

It’s been a few years since we’ve heard from Kentucky’s My Morning Jacket, but they recently announced their tenth(!) studio album, along with the brand new single, “Time Wasted”

The new tune is perfectly chill and literally dreamy, as Jim James explains: “I made a loop of that piano intro and listened as I went for a walk, and all these melodies started coming to me. For a long time, I didn’t have lyrics, but then I had a dream where I was in a café and a song was playing, and the lyrics to that song became the lyrics to ‘Time Waited’ – the melodies just fit perfectly. And the lyrics are about how flexible time is, how we can bend and warp time, especially if we are following our hearts, the universe and time itself can flow to work with us.”

The new album, simple titles is, drops on March 21 and you can check out “Time Waited” below!

Kirk

Songs of the Week: January 06 - 12, 2025

January 13, 2025 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Paranoid” by PUP

It’s hard to believe that PUP hasn’t released a new single in two years!

The band recently began their tour with Sum 41 (and had a show in Vancouver on Saturday) and to celebrate put the new track “Paranoid” out into the world.

Lead singer Stefan Babcock says of the new single: “My favourite part of this song is the breakdown 1:45 in. It's the heaviest moment in the song, Zack and Steve are going so hard, I'm yelling about all this sad stuff that's going on with me, and Nestor is just playing the melody from ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ on the bass. It cracks me up every time I hear it. So fucking funny. It's a very PUP moment."

Hopefully this is a sign of more music to come from the boys!

Christine

“Bologna” by Destroyer (feat. Fiver)

Destroyer is back with a brand new single, “Bologna”!

The new song is a first for the band, with frontman Dan Bejar deciding to take a backseat for the song’s narrative, supporting Fiver’s Simone Schmidt and her expressive vocals.

Dan explains, “I haven’t written many songs like “Bologna.” I struggled singing the first and third verses, the most important parts of the song. They needed gravity and grit. The threat of disappearing needed to be real. So I called Simone.”

You can watch the video — directed by David Galloway — below, and pick up the new album Dan’s Boogie when it’s out on March 28!

Kirk

“Babylon” by The Halluci Nation ft Northern Cree

The Halluci Nation are back with a new track and are once again teaming up with frequent collaborators Northern Cree. This track is heavy and dark and seeing as it’s a tribute to a night club, it fits perfectly.

Here’s the story behind the music:
“The new track is nothing short of powerful in its message and serves as a tribute to Babylon Nightclub in Ottawa, which helped in creating safe spaces for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people and was the basis of the The Halluci Nation’s Electric Pow Wow parties, which aimed at providing a space for young people to gather. It was also at one of these first events that traditional pow wow music was mixed with modern dance music live for a crowd for the very first time.”

"Babylon was the name of the club that was home to most of our Electric Pow Wow parties in Ottawa. In 2021 the venue closed and was replaced by a dollar store. The same year we dropped our album One More Saturday Night as a tribute to those club nights,” shares the group’s, Bear Witness. “This latest single Babylon is a tribute to the venue itself and all of the people who worked to make Babylon a safe space for young people to gather, and played such a huge part of the Ottawa music scene for over 20 years.”

Christine

“Forget Yer Name” by Peter Dreams

With just over a month until his new album is out, Peter Dreams shares his latest single, “Forget Yer Name”.

The song is melancholic and heartwrenching, with Peter’s gruff voice pouring out his regrets, building toward a cathartic release.

As with the rest of the album, the July Talk singer is collaborating with his pals in MOONRIIVR, and you can pick up the appropriately titled album Peter Dreams and MOONRIIVR on February 14th!

Kirk

“True Believer” by Art d'Ecco

As we inch closer to the release of his new album, Art d’Ecco is teasing again with the latest single, “True Believer”

The Vancouver glam rocker “explores the seduction of evil from within” on the new track, which comes with a video directed by Brendan Fletcher, as he elaborates: “Inspired by 1930’s horror films like ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The Invisible Man’, ‘Dracula’ and ‘Nosferatu’ (1922), the idea for the ‘True Believer’ video evolved from giving Art d’Ecco’s alter ego ‘The Serene Demon’ a back story. Exploring the creative demon within us all, that pushes us forward or holds us back. The idea of culminating the masks we wear, the personas in which our creativity manifests, into a singular character that could drive the next evolution… the Serene Demon”

You can hear more from the Serene Demon when the album is out February 14 on Paper Bag Records, but if you’re in Vancouver you can catch him at The Pearl on Jan 30th for a special ‘Road to the JUNOS’ show, where he’ll be backed by a nine-piece band!

Kirk

Songs of the Week: Holiday Edition 2024

December 23, 2024 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Light the Light” by Tim Baker

Tim Baker is no stranger to holiday songs, and this year he released a whole holiday album, Full Rainbow of Light.

Comprised of twelve new songs, and a cover of the standard “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” Tim expanded on the album, saying: “I started recording this album in Montreal with my great friends & go-to collaborators Marcus Paquin & Liam O’Neill, but it sat sidetracked by other projects for over a year. It took a long east coast winter and half the musicians in St. John’s to help me finally get it there. I guess it makes sense it had to come home, since ‘Town’ is such a central character to it. I was lucky enough to get the likes of Tom Power, Aaron Collis, Emilia Bartellas, Matthew Byrne & Rich Klaas of the townie trad legends The Dardanelles; stars in the their own right Kelly McMichael, Mara Pellerin, Nico Paulo & Maria Peddle singing backups; not to mention social media superstar Billianne backing me up on the title track; Rob Brown on the haunting Uilleann pipes; Peter Lannon lending his lead guitar sweetness; honorary Newfoundlanders Mike Brushey & Jason Haberman grounding everything on bass & drums; my dad sings on it, my friends are all over it, to say it's ‘of my home’ is funny cause so much of it was actually recorded in my literal living room, pausing when the snowplows ground past, or the wind got too loud in the chimneys.”

You can check out “Light the Light” below, or listen to the full album everywhere you get your music!

Kirk

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”/ “Vous êtes méchant, M.Grinch” by Jill Barber

Hot off her latest, French-language album ENCORE!, Jill Barber celebrated the season with a few covers of Christmas classics. And true to form, each song was recorded both in English and en français!

Below is her sultry version of Dr. Seuss’ “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” — as well as “Vous êtes méchant, M.Grinch” — but you can also hear her takes on “Sleigh Ride”/ Promenade en traîneau” and “I’ll be Home for Christmas”/”C’est la nuit de Noël”

Kirk

“The Little Drum Machine Boy” by Jane’s Party

This was too funny not to include and I’ll just let Jane’s Party vocalist and guitarist Tom Ionescu tell you about it:

“With this holiday song, I wanted to add to the Christmas lore. One character that stood out to me as needing some extra attention and a revamp was the Little Drummer Boy. I’ve really been getting into old drum machines and exploring ways to include them into the songs we write and produce. With our attention on all this drum machine stuff, I thought maybe the modern re-telling of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ would be ‘The Little Drum Machine Boy’. The rest of the concept fell into place quite fast!”

Christine

“It Can’t Be Christmas” by Johnny 99

It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Johnny 99 — the solo project of John Sponarski, who is currently part of City & Colour (or long-time readers of this blog may remember him as one half of Portage & Main).

But now he’s back with a holiday song, “It Can’t Be Christmas”. Backed by his C&C bandmates Matt Kelly, Erik Nielsen, and Leon Power, the tune fits into the “sad Christmas song” genre, with Sponarski explaining, “This song was one of those magical moments you don't have to work for, or coax out of the ether. It leapt from my imagination as soon as I awoke early one morning with the holidays right around the corner. The previous evening I had spoken with a friend who was grappling with the loss of his mother. We talked about his grief, how it weighed on him and took away the joy and comfort he normally felt during the holiday season. It’s really a song for anyone who has experienced loss around Christmas, and how that has changed what it means to them.”

Kirk

“SantaClauge” by Elliott BROOD

Elliott BROOD did a Christmas parody of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”, and I kind of hate how well it works???

It’s incredible.

Kirk

“Santa Must Have Winter Tires” by Future Star

You can always count on Mint Records for some local Christmas cheer, and this year it comes from Future Star with “Santa Must Have Winter Tires”.

The bedroom-pop jam was written in about a snowy winter night in 2022, with Future Star dedicating the song to “all the shiftworkers and commuters who gambled on it being a mild winter and lost.”

Have a listen below!

Kirk

“The Sound Of Christmas” by William Prince

We got some more original Christmas music from William Prince his his track “The Sound Of Christmas”, as well as “Don’t Go Leaving Me (It’s Christmas Eve)” and a cover of “Silver Bells”.

In “The Sound of Christmas” he “puts an ingenious twist on classic themes, celebrating the role that music and the real-life sounds of Christmas - laughter, clinking of glassware, skates carving ice, bells carrying through the air - play in our memories and festivities.”

Christine

“Santa Man” / “Hot Christmas” by The Sheepdogs / BROS

We’ve got a double whammy of Christmas music from the combo of The Sheepdogs, and BROS (Sheepdogs bandmates Ewan and Shamus Currie).

Of “Santa Man” Ewan says: “There’s a lot of Christmas music out there, but not nearly enough Christmas Rock N Roll. So we’re making like Santa and delivering the December goods: a Xmas party banger for your next holiday shindig.” (I agree, more rock n roll holiday songs please!)

Shamus adds: “‘Hot Christmas’ is a spicy piece about getting away from it all and having a Christmas vacation complete with Latin grooves and rhythmic piano ideas.”

Christine