Hope isn’t the only thing to spring eternal. “Ashes,” the second single from June Body’s upcoming album, Never Here Long, plumbs the depths of frontman Connor James’ sense of pessimism. Written in the relatively cheery before times of 2019, the song sounds like the bright silver lining in the otherwise dark cloud springing forth from Connor’s ever-present sense of dread. Continue reading June Body’s New Single ‘Ashes’ Shows That Sunshine and Rainbows Just Aren’t in Their Nature
Blackwood’s ‘Lost and Found’ is an Instrumental Examination of Parental Paradoxes
As Blackwood, award-winning composer and pianist Peter-Anthony Togni and bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly, cover a lot of ground on their upcoming album, Lost and Found. It’s a collection of compositions, crafted both individually and collectively, over a period of two years, but the experiences contained in them draw from two lifetimes; from the power of dreams, the birth of children and grandchildren, and the natural world… all the way to medieval plainchant. More impressively, this is all done as an instrumental.
Released today, the album’s second single and titular track, “Lost and Found” is Jeff Reilly’s tribute to his twin daughters, which immediately raises the question: how does a person —let alone a set of twins—get translated into music? Continue reading Blackwood’s ‘Lost and Found’ is an Instrumental Examination of Parental Paradoxes
Nikkie Gallant Takes an Open-Ended Approach to Songwriting for ‘Is She Holding You?’
Nikkie Gallant’s latest single, “Is She Holding You?” addresses the time-honoured themes of heartbreak and loss, but with inspiration indirectly cobbled together from a variety of sources, comprising a patchwork quilt of experience and emotion, the song practically invites wildly speculative interpretations. Which is why, rather than the typical tale of an abandoned lover, we’ve chosen to interpret “Is She Holding You?” as the call of a widow whose partner has been taken by the irresistible lure of the sea. Anything can be nautical if you want it badly enough. Continue reading Nikkie Gallant Takes an Open-Ended Approach to Songwriting for ‘Is She Holding You?’
Premiere: Hot x Proxy Inadvertently Doubles Down on a New Canadiana-Fueled Single ‘The Operator’
Hot x Proxy are announcing their return to the land of the living, after a quiet year and a half away from the stage, with the added oomph of “The Operator.” What might have been a healthy bout of nonsense with a side of gusto because a trojan horse of Canadiana, likely through the early implementation of subversive conditioning by the CRTC during Chris Hynes’ childhood. Continue reading Premiere: Hot x Proxy Inadvertently Doubles Down on a New Canadiana-Fueled Single ‘The Operator’
Monthly Roundup: August 2021
Hey, do you remember everything we wrote about this month? Neither do we. Lucky for all of us, we’ve made this list. Better start prepping for any pop quizzes…
Here is everything we covered in August of 2021.