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Juvon Taylor is one of Toronto’s most talented hidden gems. His soul sound derives from a few places: the pentecostal church choir, the guitar and Toronto’s music scene. He began writing at the age of 13, and years later while singing in subway stations his soaring vocals were discovered by Canadian artist Melanie Fiona. 

“LMK” was born on the Clubhouse app, where he met Ottmar Miller in a virtual room of songwriters and producers sharing their art. Juvon freestyled over Ottmar’s beat and the rest was history. The new single explores the make-or-break trajectory of a relationship.

Halifax-based singer Willie Stratton has proven time and again that he can dive into any of rock ‘n’ roll’s various iterations—heartsick blues, twanged-up country, hip-shaking rockabilly, groovy surf—and emerge as a maestro of the style. On his forthcoming LP, Stratton seeks synthesis: Drugstore Dreamin’ finds him playing alchemist, melting down the myriad sounds he’s mastered over the years to create singular sonic gold. As Stratton deftly weaves and mixes musical forms, Drugstore Dreamin’s intoxicating concoction brings his timeless songwriting to the forefront.

Through the lush, rolling Americana of “Caroline,” Stratton tells the Herzogian tale of the Caroline affair—one of the defining losses in William Lyon Mackenzie’s Upper Canada Rebellion, during which a group of Canadian rebels fled to a Niagara River island only to be overtaken by British forces, who seized their ship, set it ablaze, and floated it down the river toward the falls. 

The Man Who’s anthemic sound has caught the alt rock scene by storm. With close to 30 million streams on their debut Bet on You EP, the trio has spent the last year honing their craft and have set out to return with their best work yet.

Groovy new single, “Cage,” captures a real emotion that The Man Who were feeling at the time. It was the first song they wrote after parting ways with the label they were signed to. There were no hard feelings at all, and this is in no way a “diss track,” but when you are young and thrown into an unfamiliar situation, there can be a lot of excitement mixed with a lot of confusion, and sometimes it just takes a bit of a hard hit to be able to see things straight.

Songwriter and actor Ian Lake uses his musical gift to connect people through the unifying bond of our shared human experience. Powerful, textured vocals and brutally honest lyrics, and soulful melodies, give Lake’s songwriting immediate impact, and leave a lasting impression.

“Fishing for Promises,” his third offering from this record, is a piano and cello ballad, about feeling misunderstood, and the imagined conversations that come out of it. It is easily his most raw and vulnerable song to date.

Watch the official music video for “Fishing for Promises” on YouTube:

“The song is about unrequited love, and feeling misunderstood,” said Ian. “It’s an imagined conversation that will never take place. What would I say if I actually got the chance to explain myself to the person who’s been occupying my mind? The song is equal parts clinging to hope, and calmly accepting whatever comes.”

The upcoming debut album What It Is (out April 22nd) finds Ian Lake on a journey from fragile vulnerability to courage and resolve. 

Alex Exists is the new solo project of Alex Pulec, frontman of The Nursery (awarded Best Independent Rock/Pop Band in Canada at Indie88’s 2018 Indie Awards). 

His first release is a cover of the David Essex song, “Rock On,” for a multi-artist cover album, Coverama. Alex’s version is a hypnotic and sultry interpretation that incorporates rhythmic breathing, pizzicato strings, ragtime pianos, toy drums and more… which challenges the question, “What is rock ‘n roll really supposed to be?”

“If I was going to do a rendition of a golden age rock and roll classic, I knew I had to launch it into orbit with an unexpected modern twist,” said Alex. “I was inspired by this idea that if aliens came to earth, years after rock and roll had died, found this record, fell in love with it, took it back to their planet and started making their own interpretations of it, how might it sound?”

After a successful release of a handful of singles including “Let it Out” which reached #28 on the Billboard Canadian Alternative radio chart, and a Wu-Tang Clan approved cover of “Shimmy Shimmy Ya,” Mountain Head are ready to share their 6-track EP to be released on March 18. 

The lead single off the EP is the title track, “Backseat.” It’s a blend of subversive pop-infused dance beats and groovy guitar riffs, disrupting the notions of rock music. The song beckons a contemplative state, and has a longing for some sort of order out of the vast vacuum that COVID-19 created around the world and especially amongst the artist community. This song is passive, and aims to put the listener in the backseat so they can take a breath and listen. 

Exploring lessons from the natural world and our vast subconscious, Backseat reveals the unimagined possibilities held just beyond our learned humanity. 

Mountain Head hopes the listener is able to find a bit of themselves in the album, and that they come on the journey with them, returning equipped with the tools to build the reality they want to inhabit, and not the one that’s just been handed to them.