Pulling inspiration from classic poets, fantasy literature, and countless powerful women bringing alt-pop to the mainstream, VENNA’s music serves to provoke thought and emotion; as an aspiring author as well, she takes great care in crafting her lyrics to this end. Music and writing have always been the driving factors in VENNA’s life, from the age of three when she told her parents she wanted to grow up to be Michael Jackson, to the day she wrote her first song, and every day since. 

Her latest single, “Melancholia,” emulates the beginning of an abusive relationship. The seduction, the progression into obsession, into possessiveness and manipulation, all wrapped up in a dynamic track that mirrors the emotional highs and lows. The lyrics were born from a place of self-deprecation, and although VENNA is not in any way the abusive, possessive partner that this narrator is, they developed from a very personal concern of hers.

Montreal-based alt-pop singer-songwriter, Emi Jeen, is entering a new era with “Everything, Something, Nothing,” the first single from her transformative second EP, Why So Serious, co-written with Evan Blair.

“You were my everything then just something I kinda like and now you’re nothing.”

This track is an attitude-filled, vocal-forward track which captures a feeling of abandon, reflecting on how strange it is to be so close to someone and then suddenly become strangers.

“Everything, Something, Nothing” channels the 90s with its energetic drums and hooky guitars which explode into the song’s chorus.

Fresh out of university, Toronto-based singer/songwriter and producer Lyle Kam channels sonic inspiration from artists like Lauv, Jeremy Zucker, and Charlie Puth. After the success of his debut EP Folly – featuring the Tik Tok viral single “Unlove” – Lyle is returning in 2022 with a fresh batch of music featuring his trademark introspection about love, loss, and belonging.

“what if i had told you” is the only ballad in the upcoming EP and Lyle’s aim with this song was for it to feel raw and intimate because of how personal the topic is. There’s the obvious sadness and wistfulness of the lyrics, but beyond that, there’s a more subtle meaning behind them. The lyrics also signify the understanding that maybe there’s nothing left to salvage of the relationship, that it ran its course, and it’s only a matter of time before two people who were close become strangers.

“This song really taught me to go after and fight for the things you want before it’s too late,” says Lyle. “You can’t guarantee that someone who has always been in your life will always be in your life. It’s a general life lesson that life is too short to always be questioning yourself.”

The musical vastness and ambivalence of Declan O’Donovan’s sound is reflected by the picturesque backdrop between his home of Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon and the urban centres from Toronto to Montreal that he frequents. For over a decade, the Canadian has succeeded in creating stylistically unique fusions of the most diverse of song writing approaches. 

The music for “Get Thee Behind The Wheel” was written on a purple baby grand piano in a basement filled with spiders on Vancouver Island. The owner of the piano and the house where it lived was an unfettered conspiracy theorist (and hoarder) who would show up regularly and unannounced and inundate O’ Donovan with his theories of the world. O’Donovan has no doubt that the setting and mindset of this weird ass time and place informed the strange rhythms and melodies in the song.

A producer and lyricist through-and-through, rapper CustodyMusic produces and records melodic music that’s inspired by candid reflections on life. 

For the past few years, the Toronto-hailing artist has made his way around his local music scene, releasing singles like, “Toxic” and “Too Much Auto-Tune,” as well as collaborating with some of the city’s biggest names.

His futuristic new single, “Skyfall,” draws inspiration from the behavioural changes that CustodyMusic has witnessed in others when they achieve success. Often this treatment of others can cause people to withdraw from their presence.

Hard hitting 808’s, synths, and assertive vocals define CustodyMusic’s righteous delivery.

The song’s mysterious video, directed by Marcus Letts, shrouds the rapper’s message in an intentional layer of anonymity.

Check out the official music video for “Skyfall” over at YouTube:

https://unitedmasters.com/m/theskyisfalling

Pride can ultimately be one’s downfall. The message of “Skyfall” is to stay grounded and humble throughout all of life’s experiences, not letting inflated notions get to your head.