With a sound that seamlessly blends folk rock and modern soul, there’s something for every music fan to love about singer/songwriter Matt Zaddy. For his new single, Zaddy went back in the studio with Emmy award winning and Juno nominated producer Ross Citrullo (The Sheepdogs, Julian Taylor Band). Together with Ross’ own version of the “Wrecking Crew,” and Matt’s partner in life and music, Heather Christine, this team of heavy hitters led to the high-energy result that is “What Comes Around.”The song was inspired by the struggle to do what you love. When we’re busy, we don’t always think about the difficulties and hard times we all face in life. Despite how hard it is, all we can do is try to be positive, reflect, and remember to take it one day at a time; to fight another day to do what we love. This song is like a conversation that Zaddy is having in the mirror, or a conversation with his wife. In essence, “What Comes Around” blends the uncertainty that comes with the daily grind with the hope you need to move forward, in a way that is motivating.

Toronto-based dance pop producer, songwriter, and artist Liam Benayon combines the sounds and textures of classic anthemic dance pop, with a brutally honest modern perspective in lyrics.

He’s now serving up a bombastic earworm with his upcoming single “Don’t Call Me At A Party.” Born out of a frustrating encounter with a now ex-best-friend, the track chronicles the feelings of FOMO, betrayal, and the comically lackluster experience of college parties. Featuring the real voicemail that incited the events in the song, the track anchors its wrath in hard hitting 808’s, fluttering synthesizers, and a vengeful vocal performance.

“My lifelong dream is to write a huge pop hit and hear it in a gay club while a drag queen performs a number to it and the whole place is going absolutely insane,” says Benayon. “I’ll die happy when that happens.”

The duo of Harry Parsons and Elliott Butt (Sweetboy Musik) in Ctrl+V (pronounced Paste) are like a rock band trapped inside of a nightclub. The Newfoundland rave punk band is influenced by darkwave, hard rock, and a dash of punk music. 

Their song “Curtain” is about a person being infatuated with someone, and not being able to do anything about it. Parsons was drawn to the symbolism of a curtain and the visual of a curtain closing at the end of a play. Thus, the storyline of the song became a fictional play, in which one character is battling for the affection of another character.

Once the song was written, Ctrl+V sought the guidance of Ted Sablay for feedback (touring guitarist with The Killers and a mentor of Parsons), and had the song mixed by Mark Needham (who mixed the debut Killers album, Hot Fuss). 

“This song is more or less a ballad, but it’s produced like a heavy/hard-rock song,” says Parsons. “That production style is what Ctrl+V is all about… we take really sweet, romantic, glittery sounds and serve them up heavy.”

Garnering over 45 million global streams to date, The Man Who have proven that their signature blend of rock meets pop anthems are a welcome addition to today’s genre-defying landscape. With their music becoming the backdrop of the North American sports scene, top tier sync features rolling in, and smashing alt rock radio airplay, The Man Who are redefining what it means to be a Canadian rock band.

Now, they unveil an evocative cover of “Dreams” by ‘90s alt icons The Cranberries. “An incredible song can transcend time and space,” The Man Who states. “‘Dreams’ is one of those songs, so putting our own darker spin on it felt so therapeutic.”

Separated by over 2000 miles, The Man Who formed after several writing trips led to settling in Toronto, ON. Experimenting with anything they could get their hands on, they developed their sound in a basement studio, demoing song after song. Whether writing with an acoustic guitar or a fuzzed out bass and an 808, The Man Who pushes the barriers of rock and pop. 

The Tuesday Nighters are a Canadian rock n’ roll band with a spirit found on the dance floors of downtown Toronto, and a soul in the small towns and countryside of Northern Ontario. 

The song “Eddie” was inspired by the story of Private Eddie Namaypoke, an Indigenous soldier and residential school runaway who was killed in WWII and is buried in the Rome War Cemetery. The band wanted to honour him with this haunting retelling of Eddie’s very sad story through the power of music.

Songwriter Taylor Prestidge visited his grave there and later met his surviving family at Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung (The Manitou Mounds) in Northwestern Ontario (near Kenora). To our knowledge, this is the only time Eddie has been visited in that cemetery. This story was chronicled by Taylor in an article published in Maclean’s Remembrance Day Issue in 2016. 

The band felt that it was extremely fitting that it was recorded at Jukasa Studio, which sits on the Six Nations Land. Furthermore, 50% of all proceeds from the song will be donated to the Downie Wenjack fund.

Kelle grew up surrounded by music. Coming from a family of musicians, she found herself naturally drawn to music at a young age through stories of her Father’s band in Australia and hearing the constant hum of his guitar through her early years. As a product of the late 90’s/early 2000’s, Kelle takes inspiration from all that is pop culture.

Her song “Tampa” is emblematic of how Kelle processes pain. During a time in her life where I was experiencing a lot of different emotions, she frequently found herself in the place where anger and shame coincided, which, in turn, only fueled her anger further. 

There is something to be said about the way women are viewed when they are justifiably angry, and the pressure to continue along the high road, in fear of being painted as crazy, bitter, or scorned. In “Tampa,” Kelle chooses to embrace the scorned woman trope, and provide her with support and empathy instead of shame. Through a narrative lens, we can dramatize these heavy feelings and find joy, humour, and celebration in their place. 

The “Tampa” music video is a fun, glamorous expression of femininity, rage, and is inspired by campy 80’s slasher movies, early 2000’s hot pink, and the fascination of the idea of women as murderers. The cast features Kelle, Lara Hamburg, Sara Hinding, Elisa Verrilli, Bennett Aitchison, and Madi Langon. 

Watch the crazy fun music video directed by Elisa Verrilli here: