Bend The River – Remnants
Written about holding onto a relationship for too long, Bend the River’s “Remnants” is another excellently-executed blast from the past with its groovy 70s vibe.
Matt Steele & The Corvette Sunset – Handshake Deal
“Handshake Deal,” off Matt Steele & the Corvette Sunset’s newest album, Half Girl Half Ghost, is about finding companionship in all the wrong places, but also about knowing when to let go.
Youngtree & The Blooms – Ten Million Ways to Decay
Death is something of an inevitability. At least Peter Youngtree & the Blooms have provided us with a few ways to get creative about it.
Don Brownrigg – Room For Me
Written after falling apart over a bad breakup, or in his words, “I got dumped and got pathetic.”
“We all struggle with feelings of darkness and solitude; be it from a lost relationship or struggling to find our place in the world,” says Brownrigg. “I’d like for us to feel a sense of camaraderie in our troubles. To know that we’re not alone.”
Janowskii – Genocide
Of all the heavy, bluesy and retro sounds of Fredericton’s Janowskii, the track we rock the hardest to has to be “Genocide.” It’s unique and catchy and infectious.
Ben Caplan – Widow Bride
Adapted from the Theatrical Production, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which Ben Caplan is starring in, comes his album Old Stock, featuring single “Widow Bride.” It’s a nod to the first peoples of the land and the various immigrants and refugees who have arrived
Roxy & The Underground Soul Sound – Helpless
If you hadn’t noticed, 2018 was a rough time. Roxy & The Underground Soul Sound wrote “Helpless” out of frustration with the state of the world and the perpetually barraged of disparaging news we’re faced with.
Fortunate Ones – Hold Fast
When Fortunate Ones tell us “Hold Fast” apparently they’re referring to each other and not so much our luggage as the two shed their belongings in this woodsy romp.
Jennah Barry – Roller Disco
Jennah Barry’s releases her first single in six years, but you’d think it was forty. “Roller Disco,” takes us right back to the 70s with a song she describes as not truly disco, but the song that plays over the slow motion scene in the roller disco movie.
The Tortoise the Hare and the Millionaire – When the Blues Come to Town
Keeping the energy of their live performances, The Tortoise the Hare and the Millionaire’s “When the Blues came to Town” off their self-titled debut EP has a heavy classic-rock influence and serves us a healthy dose of blues.
Rich Aucoin – The Middle
After having his laptop stolen in Costa Rica and completing a bicycle tour, Rich Aucoin still managed to record and release “The Middle,” and it’s as catchy as ever.
Stonehouse – Somebody
Stonehouse bring us back to 1994 with their album Just Breakin’ Even, and their track “Somebody” may just be the epitome of that sentiment. Have we mentioned we love the 90s?
POSTDATA – Wilderness
POSTDATA’s Let’s Be Wilderness was too good for us to only list one track off it. The opening track, “Wilderness,” softly engulfs listeners in its cozy indie blanket and prepares them for what’s to come.
The Backstays – Groundhog Day Gale ’76
Written about the famously devastating Groundhog Day Gale of 1976, The Backstays’ “Groundhog Gale ‘76” from their debut self-titled EP, the band kick up a storm over cultural references local to Saint John and New Brunswick.
Erin Costelo – All In Your Head
Halifax’s powerhouse of soul Erin Costelo dragged her musical compadres out to an isolated cabin for a unique recording experience and wine. What resulted were some questionable lights, the possibility of an alien encounter, and this song (and possibly a hangover).
Jenina MacGillivray – Carvoeiro
As the opening track of her debut album, Jenina MacGillivray’s “Carvoeiro” sets an autobiographical tone and carries MacGillivray’s narrative style with melodious charm in this tale of her engagement in Portugal.
Jon Samuel – Dead Melodies
When Wintersleep’s keyboardist Jon Samuel released his last album without much recognition it left him understandably disappointed. So he followed it up with “Dead Melodies,” a song about how music often goes under recognized and underappreciated, expecting it to also be received with little fanfare. He couldn’t be more wrong.
June Body – How The Story Starts
Off of Halifax’s alt-emo group June Body’s sophomore release, Life from Underneath, comes their track “How the Story Starts.” It’s heavy and upbeat and takes us back at least a decade.
Pat LePoidevin – Broadcast
Pat LePoidevin’s space odyssey/latest album, Captain Myles & the S.P.R., might be the catchiest space opera ever committed to music. Giving us only part of his larger tale of two star-crossed lovers, “Broadcast” is just one highlight in this cosmic concept album.
The Trews – Vintage Love
The high-energy track “Vintage Love” by The Trews is just a portion of the perpetual dance party that is their latest album, Civilianaires. We don’t even need to know what this track is about. It is relentless.
Tampa – Hot Minute
Tampa’s debut full-length album Belated Love is chock-full of fantastic tracks, to the point that stands a good chance of being our favourite album of the year (if we had one), and among those tracks our top favourite has to be “Hot Minute.” This is a band that knows how to instill your speakers with the energy of summer while they take New Brunswick by storm.
T. Thomason – Bliss
T. Thomason joins the ranks of artists to layer on the vocoder effects, but rather than using the technology as a crutch T. employs it tastefully and artfully. “Bliss” leaves us longing for gentle summer breezes and feeling vaguely sentimental for things we may not have even experienced personally.
Terra Spencer – In the City
Terra Spencer has been teasing us with a proper album release for a while now. She’s often appeared alongside other artists, or trickled out little things here and there, but her single “In the City” has us more excited than ever. This is the type of track that instantly becomes a timeless classic, with a sound that might have been pulled straight from the 60s and a pull that’s tied directly to our heartstrings.
POSTDATA – Black Cloud
POSTDATA’s Let’s Be Wilderness filled in that 2018-sized gap where Wintersleep might have been. The album was filled with gems, making it more suited to an experience as whole, full of peaks and valleys, broody sentimental tunes interspersed broody dance parties. “Black Cloud” is safely among the latter and a highlight of the both e album and the year.
Jeremy Dutcher – Mehcinut
Okay, if you’re surprised by this one then you’ve been living under a rock all year. Jeremy Dutcher took home the 2018 Polaris Prize for his album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa. Combining the power of Dutcher’s tenor, post-classical re-arrangements of Wolastoq First Nation traditional music and the re-discovered voices of his ancestors found on wax cylinders from 1907, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa has become the spearhead for what Dutcher refers to as an “indigenous renaissance.” The album is both a cultural and musical marvel, and if “Mehcinut,” the album’s opening track, doesn’t leave you shook then maybe you should climb back under your rock.