Over the past decade, Ura Star & Fireball Kid have grown alongside each other as artists, splitting away from their Polaris long-listed indie rock roots with punk project Stegosaurus and other East Coast Canadian rock outfits to pursue their own brand of pop music.
Now working in Montreal, the duo uses starry-eyed dance music to spotlight vulnerability between friends, kindred maritime party values, frantic emotional dispatches via voicemail, and the ways in which weekend night celebrations tie it all together.
“Homesick/Heartsick,” taken from their sparkling new album, Emotional Bros Hotline, was written as both Ura Star and Fireball Kid were simultaneously hitting different types of crossroads in their lives that connected them to various forms of longing.
Dance inflected, melodic, and saccharine, “Homesick/Heartsick” juxtaposes the feeling of returning home while reminiscing on what’s happened in your life versus the feeling of leaving home enthralled by and anxious for what might happen next.
Through both poetic and honest lyrics linked with simple melodies, Sean Waters creates an orchestral folk experience that explores the deepest parts of the human heart. This sonic blending creates an emotional honesty throughout the music that lures you into a playful yet challenging encounter.
Introspective new single, “Money,” encapsulates the slavery that money often requires of those who desire it and the feeling of being hollowed out by the thing you love the most.
This is where you will be transported when you’re listening to Joey Tyler’s latest single “Taking Over Me”. After taking a short hiatus, Joey Tyler is back with a newly refined sound.
With 11 singles set to be released throughout 2022, this new collection of songs solidifies Joey’s leap into the ever-present indie-pop genre.
“Taking Over Me” blends warm synths, electric guitar, and feel-good vibes.
Excuses Excuses have blistering youthful energy with an attention to the finest details of songwriting, they come armed with a lawless desire to make a true believer out of everyone in the room with their deep, introspective lyrics, jaw-dropping emotion, and melody-heavy songs. As thought-provoking as it is intense, the power of their live show unites and captivates audiences worldwide, and the title of their up and coming long-player Listen Up! is as much a call-to-arms as it is a visceral decree.
Today, the band are excited to share their brand new single “Far From Perfect”:
The track is full of angst and punk roll sensibilities which echoes the likes of early Manics and The Wildhearts. Lead vocalist Karl Wilton states: “Far From Perfect is a call of compassion that encompasses the positive messaging we hope to spread through our writing. The fact of the matter is, it’s totally okay to not be okay; nobody’s perfect here. He goes on to say… “I was always very attracted to high energy music, and that started with Sabbath, but all of our songs really mean something very specific, and although we want people to interpret them however it makes sense to them, you’ve got to communicate those emotions in a way that people are going to feel.”
While directing the musical Once in Montréal, Andrew Shaver and Eva Foote began a beautiful friendship and musical collaboration. After splitting with his girlfriend, Shaver hit the highway and called his buddy Matthew Barber as he drove to Toronto. This was the beginning of a new chapter for Shaver that would see him bounce around a few winter sublets before heading to Australia to – as a buddy so wisely suggested – flip his chi.
Produced by Barber, Artefact, Shaver’s new album out January 20th, chronicles the journey of that flip. Clever Hopes was born when he got back to Canada and played those songs for Foote. Stream Artefact in full:
The LP’s latest single, “The Other Side,” refers to going to the other side of the world in an attempt to get some perspective – giving space for the other side of the story that took you there in doing so.
Hailing from Chico, California, Brittany and the Blisstones are a duo who specialize in elegantly adorned, heart-crafted songs. Brittany Bliss and Reid Givens make up the twosome, and their journey is a touching story of reinvention, reclamation, and second chances on love. In addition to warming hearts, the couple are opening minds to female artists and helping shift the narrative of women in creative fields through support and exposure.
Their new single, ”Mermaid” is a song about reconnecting with nature, but it also seems to be about reconnecting with Brittany’s own human nature. The lyrics brim with breathtaking imagery and awe-inspiring reflective moments. She sings: By the sea/A mermaid rewrote the pages of all my dreams, so I found fear and faith in the waves. The music is as majestic as its impressionistic lyrical passages. The song lilts on a vaguely Jamaican pulse and brims with jeweled trumpet melodies, vocals that are sultry and sensitive, lush layers of harmony vocals, and moody chord changes that have a sweet sadness.
The band says, “Our music is silly and playful. We don’t take ourselves too seriously but we have a strong personal growth focus.” They create a unique sound that is echoed
“With Brittany’s ear for melody and Reid’s focus on rhythm, we have been coming up with parts for songs from the very start of our relationship. Song concepts were plentiful as well because a big part of our relationship is sharing ideas and growth, which we often come at from different perspectives.”
Brittany and Reid write songs that sweetly seduce you into mindfulness. The mellow tones of their distinct island-pop draw from an expansive artistic palette of pop, orchestral, rock, jazz, reggae, ska, Latin, new wave, and beyond. Brittany contributes sultry vocals, jaunty ukulele playing, and co-writes the songs alongside her partner Reid, an accomplished drummer and percussionist with an expansive command of rhythms and a keen sense for the healing power of good grooves.
Since forming in 2018, Brittany and The Blisstones have managed to earn an engaged fanbase through organic online exposure and their warmly intimate live shows. The duo has performed in various musical settings around the local Chico area and beyond, including playing venues in Berkeley and Oakland.
Newly divorced and making baby steps to reinvent their lives, Brittany and Reid first met at an open mic in Chico, CA in 2017. The fateful moment Brittany met Reid he was a fixture at the open mic, and Brittany was braving making her solo artist debut. Her performance that night captivated Reid. “You could tell she was very nervous,” he recalls. “But when she started to play, it was like she was channeling something that just hits you in a very vulnerable place.” The two spoke briefly that night, but felt an instant connection. Two weeks later, they saw each other again but this time they talked for longer, and the couple have been inseparable ever since.
“I think we both lost ourselves in our previous marriages, and rediscovering music was a way for both of us to heal and move past the pain,” Brittany shares. “When I dropped my youngest son off at college, I vowed to make music a priority again,” Reid says.
Despite being flushed with love and the joy of rediscovering music, Brittany and Reid found they had trouble turning their seedling ideas into songs. Wisely, they enrolled in a few online classes—including classes hosted by Ryan Tedder and Alicia Keys—and through diligence, and their innate talents were able to break down writer’s block and bask in the open floodgates of creativity.
“Mermaid” is the first song Brittany ever wrote. It is a song about reconnecting with nature, but it also seems to be about reconnecting with Brittany’s own human nature. The lyrics brim with breathtaking imagery and awe-inspiring reflective moments. She sings: By the sea/A mermaid rewrote the pages of all my dreams, so I found fear and faith in the waves. The music is as majestic as its impressionistic lyrical passages. The song lilts on a vaguely Jamaican pulse and brims with jeweled trumpet melodies, vocals that are sultry and sensitive, lush layers of harmony vocals, and moody chord changes that have a sweet sadness.
Listen to “Mermaid” here:
One of the biggest lessons of Brittany and The Blisstones is it’s never too late. It’s never too late to pick up an instrument. “Brittany just had her first piano recital since the second grade,” Reid marvels. And it’s never too late for love. Brittany says: “We got another chance at love, and rediscovering who we really are as people. It’s been such a beautiful restart.”
Modern Mystery 
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