Shades Lawrence is a Montreal-born, queer hip hop artist of mixed British, Jamaican, Irish and Scottish heritage. A pure lyricist, Lawrence’s style can be described as alternative hip hop. Her words uplift, while keeping environmental justice at the forefront.
“Peace, that’s what we need,” raps Lawrence on her new single released on the heels of 2022 full-length album, Trust Takes Time. “Peace”directly names the Russian government’s invasion of the Ukraine, and urges the global community to negotiate for peace.
Stun is an award winning Canadian indigenous hip hop artist from Oxford House, Manitoba. Leaning toward his most prominent project yet, Lifestylez of The Fresh & Indigenous is the third installment toward the hip hop artist’s catalog, with a lead single titled “Indigenous” set to take the airwaves across turtle island.
It was the end of 2019. Stun was feeling optimistic, having dropped an album that summer and he felt the need to keep pushing his momentum with performances and writing sessions. And the idea of the song “Indigenous” came into place when he’d seen what was happening in the world – especially the protests and the ongoing call for the missing and murdered. It was right in his face at many stages. He felt pain, but also a sense of confidence because he wanted people to feel like they could get up and do something about it. And then the song blossomed into his lap.
Watch and listen here:
With the new album, Lifestylez of The Fresh & Indigenous, Stun is hoping that people can get a more in-depth sense of his culture and an indefinite experience of what happens in his life. He wants them to feel love, passion and pride – in other words, a great understanding of the lifestyles of the fresh & indigenous.
Stun wanted to toss in both sides of his life: the emotional side and the indigenous side with a little bit of bravado incorporated into it. It’s not your typical storyline album, it’s more of a collection of stuff he was feeling and going through at the time.
Joynoise is an alternative rock group from Orange County, California. Full of personality and passion, Joynoise is a force to be reckoned with—on and off stage. The band is taking 2022 by storm, gearing up to release their debut record You’re Surrounded by the Best Around early this summer on June 10th.
Their new song “Pollen,” marks the start of what would be a “new” Joynoise. It represents the start of a completely different band moving forward.
The song is influenced by the actions of frontman Koch as well as other friends around him. It’s basically detailing the narrator’s descent into insanity as they desperately cry for help.
The beginning of You’re Surrounded by the Best was written after two of Koch’s relatives passed away. Pile that on top of a global pandemic, mass protests, and just coming of age, and you get the album.
“I want people to listen to me screaming my heart out and have it relate to them,” says Koch. “Whether they’re dealing with a death, angry at the government, or just dealing with their own demons. I want them to hear these songs and be like hey, this dude’s kinda pissed off too!”
Do you ever get that feeling like you’re stuck in a rut? After a tumultuous experience in the music industry, Kim Ho of Apollo Lovely and Creature almost quit music entirely. He took time to recharge, pursue other interests, and ultimately it led him back to writing music.
His uplifting new song, “Runaway,” was written after he met someone inspiring, and he found the courage to run away from all the stories and games that others seemed to be pressuring him with. He discovered a renewed desire to follow his dreams and to do what he loves.
Kim wanted to elicit the feeling of breaking out of a mold — the mold built by our peers, parents, society, and most importantly the mold that we construct for ourselves. The feeling of breaking free from these constraints, to serve out our creative light, is to be happy and truly be free.
Kim wanted to write an album of songs that everyone could relate to. He hopes that by sharing his own deep feelings and personal experiences, that listeners can find themselves in the music, and be able to feel as if the songs had been written for them.
His eponymous debut LP as a solo artist was produced by himself and Ben Boucher. His message that he would like to put out through his album is that love is the most powerful force during our time on earth. There is an emphasis on not just the love we have for others, the people that move in and out of our lives, but also the love for ourselves and our dreams.
WIESINGER is thrilled to grab 2022 by the horns and show the world what it looks like to be a passionate dealer in hope through energetic collaborations, most recently teaming up with Indigenous pop artist Jessa Sky who believes music has the power to heal the world as it has healed hers.
Together, they spread kindness via the inspirational single, “Just Give Up,” which despite its title encourages listeners to keep going; to live with the hope that things can get better. Every setback is really simply a disguised setup for a future success or victory.
WIESINGER took up songwriting and taught himself acoustic guitar in 2012 to help medicate and deal with a long and painful season of mental illness, hospitalization, and the loss of a close cousin of his family. He recalls writing music and lyrics bringing him out of a very dark place and even saving his life in moments of despair.
ACER is a dream pop duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Kyle Gottschalk and vocalist/art director Connory Ballantyne. Borrowing from the brooding post-punk sound of their former band House Art, Ballantyne’s vocals lend a confident and lyrical vision to the dynamically maximalist instrumentals written out of Gottschalk’s love for bedroom pop and shoegaze.
Brooding new single “Vacant” offers catharsis. Ballantyne had started dating someone new after a truly crushing breakup, and so the experience of restarting sparked reflection on the perpetuity and strangeness of his feelings. “Keep me in your contacts, keep me the boy you’re dreaming of,” he sings.
ACER(July 8) is a youthful and hungry EP showcasing the musical diversity and raw energy of the two producers. Dreamy atmospheres abound (a nod to Beach House, Daniel Lanois, or Eno), the tracks sputter and glitch to life reminiscent of bedroom producers like JPEGMAFIA or the recent work of Toro Y Moi. Ballantyne’s vocals constantly flirt between the swaggering bravado of artists like Archie Marshal’s King Krule, the effect-laden Justin Vernon or Kanye, and the soft ambience of Slowdive.
Modern Mystery 