Lauryn Macfarlane has been recognized as a bewitching storyteller, drawing inspiration from her own experiences and struggles as an empath with an unceasing flow of emotion. Relocating to Montreal, Quebec, granted Lauryn the opportunity to work alongside producer/engineer Sam Woywitka (Luca Fogale, Half Moon Run) and musicians Isaac Symonds (Half Moon Run), Mishka Stein (Patrick Watson), and Robbie Kuster (Patrick Watson) on her debut EP. 

Following on the heels of her debut single, “Friendly,” Lauryn showcases a different style of writing on “Nowhere Town,” the latest offering from her forthcoming collection. A realization that you’ve outgrown your small hometown, the song also retaliates those who don’t deem the faith and beliefs of others to be valid. 

Nathan Lawr came up as a drummer-for-hire during the Toronto indie rock heyday that spawned the likes of Broken Social Scene and Feist, drumming for seminal Three Gut Records’ bands Royal City and Sea Snakes. In 2000, he started writing his own tenderly clever folk songs, releasing a series of critically-lauded solo albums. In 2010, Lawr ditched the songwriting thing for the more expansive sound of Minotaurs, spending the next 10 years writing, recording, and performing with an 8-10piece indie funk band. During those years, he cut his teeth as a producer and band leader. Now, after spending almost a decade as a stay-at-home dad, Lawr has come into his own, finding his voice as a crooner once again. “Apocalypse Marshmallow,” the title track of his forthcoming new album, is a chaotic blend of Brian Eno production and classic rock vibes. It’s about the joyful chaos of parenthood and the imperfections and challenges of being a part of a family. 

A newcomer to the music scene, Canadian actress Jordy Benattar has an enchanting and carefree sound. Influenced by experiences that make us look within, and world-changing events that make us look out, Jordy has a unique way of pouring universal feelings into mellow, magnetic music. Her songwriting dances on the matrix of indie, folk and the softest of pop and feels like the most honest conversation you’ll ever have.Jordy is most interested in collaborating with artists who bring a different sound than she does to the studio. Keen to write for producers and other singers, she views the songwriting process like a chemistry experiment, where different elements combine to produce something completely new.

Jordy’s songwriting is on display on her new single, “Falling” featuring Tyler Simmons. The song captures the internal monologue, self-doubt, and daydreams that come along with having a crush. The vocalists alternate and harmonize to mirror each other’s fears and feelings, laying bare the seesaw we all experience when falling into life’s best (and most vulnerable) adventure.

As a project, Graeme Cornies’ Kodiak Arcade is a hi-fi homage to the lo-fi  sounds of the past. It’s a set of sonic landscapes, where the humanity of the organic performances are intertwined with sounds that can only be created by modern tech. Graeme spent a lot of time thinking about his own relationship to technology while making Kodiak Arcade’s debut album, Arcade. From the time he spent consumed in the fictional worlds of Sierra games as a kid, and how those stories affected his real-world self. 

Focus track, “Silicon Hill,” began with a dream. Two friends sat on a hill at sunset, looking into the distance at a newer sort of Art Deco city skyline. Everything around the city was a desert, though there was no sand in sight. The whole desert was made of a sort of semi-soft silicon with faint lines underneath – like patterns of a motherboard under the desert’s milky surface. 

This song title is also a nod to the time Graeme spent in Silicon Valley, at events like the GDC, where he spent many nights year after year talking with passionate artists and programmers in the game industry, getting high on talk of the future, admired artists and the meeting places between art and technology. 

New Hampshire-based Steven H Scott writes folk music for gentle, earthbound spirits. An avid traveler, hiker, and backroads walker, Steven pulls inspiration from the most natural of experiences. His EP, Albino Road, is scheduled for release on May 14th — but the title track, “Albino Road”, is out this now.

“Albino Road” was inspired by a real location near Steven’s hometown in North Andover, MA. As the story goes, back in the 1600s, two young albino boys were drowned by the town’s elders due to their appearance. Of this abhorrence, Steven sings, “History, we shunned the different, but history is me and you… How can we be so blind?” He calls out the cruel cycle that society so often finds itself in — shunning the apathy we all feel towards those unlike ourselves.

The track carves out the tale of the two albino boys beautifully as Steven’s raspy voice carries the tune atop gentle piano rolls and warm guitar strums. His lyrics conjure up the imagery of a lonely forested road, the kind of which would allow for a legend to lay alongside it. Take a moment to listen and reflect alongside Steven, and look out for his highly anticipated EP release later this year. 

Currently based in Madison, Wisconsin, singer and self-producer Lo Marie is bringing to life her new, relatable single “The Gap”.

The track shares the struggle of the pay gap for women in industries across the board, not only in the U.S. but across the globe.

 Lo Marie utilizes jazz inspired instrumentation and her sultry vocals in order to grab the listener’s attention and connect to them on a personal level. She knew what she wanted to do with this song and executed it perfectly. “The Gap” combines jazz and funk with neo-soul. 

Lo Marie’s aesthetic encompasses jazz harmonic constructs, urban grooves, soulful guitar passages, and the expressivity of the jazz and neo-soul vocal traditions. Her debut EP, Beyond the Age of Reason(2012), produced by ace Nashville session man Jerry Kimbrough, earned Lo Marie an international following, enabling her to tour the US from New York to Los Angeles. Her follow-up, Solid Ground(2015), also produced by Kimbrough, won the “Jazz Album of the Year at the 2015 MAMA Awards (Madison Area Music Association Awards). In 2018, Lo Marie won MAMA awards for “Best Female Vocalist,” “Best Jazz Performer,” and “Cover Song of the Year” for her duet, “I’ve Got A Crush On You,” with the legendary guitar player Cliff Frederiksen.