Melina Coolen is a Canadian musician, songwriter, producer and audio engineer. Her retropop influence is undeniable in her carefully self-produced sound and sophisticated songwriting style. After years of formal classical training and receiving the RCM Silver Medal in piano, she pursued her love for pop and jazz songwriting in college and university. Paying homage to the Brill Building greats, Melina researched production and recording techniques of the past while studying at Ryerson University. There, she released her debut EP, All of My Life, in 2017 in conjunction with her master’s thesis on analog and digital recording hybrids.

Part of a new instrumental series, Melina is sharing the poignant and heartfelt piece “Behind Every Cloud.”

I composed this piece about eight winters ago shortly after my grandfather passed away. I’m a spiritual person, and I could sense the response in nature and his presence. For about a week or two after his passing, I remember the sun being extra vivid in the sky. Once I looked out my window on a stormy day and the clouds were dark but the sun was shining brightly behind them. It was very striking and inspired “Behind Every Cloud.”

Buried deep in Montreal’s lingering winters, a trio of musicians (Francois Jalbert the guitarist, composer and producer; Mélanie Bélair the violinist, arranger and composer; and Aurélien Tomasi the composer, arranger and performer) sat in a room together. Accustomed to the crazy pace of working in the city’s hyperactive music industry, they might have been unconsciously looking to do something slower, calmer, and free from commercial constraints. Looking at the snow battering the wide windows by the train tracks, they spent the afternoon playing around with what was in the room: a slide whistle, a Juno, and some guitar pedals. The table was set for what would become Caméra. 

“Matsutake” is a species of mushroom that grows in East Asia, but also in Quebec. It is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinct spicy-aromatic odor.

The new single is inspired by the famous scene from the film My Neighbor Totoro, where Totoro and Satsuke wait for the Catbus in the pouring rain. The piece paves its own unique soundscape blending 1980’s synth with organic instrumentation.  

Described by UK critics as “one of the most innovative of their era”, Martha and the Muffins emerged from 1977 Toronto’s early punk/new wave/art pop scene in various clubs along Queen Street West and the Ontario College of Art, where several members of the band attended. The first Canadian band to sign to a UK label, Martha and the Muffins recorded their first album, Metro Music, at The Manor Studio near Oxford, England. After 1980’s “Echo Beach” became a Top 10 single around the world and earned them a JUNO for Single of the Year, Martha and the Muffins toured extensively in Britain, Europe, and North America including dates with Roxy Music. Since then, the band has released eight studio albums, three of which were co-produced with Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel). 

More recently, founding members Martha Johnson and Mark Gane (inducted into the Canadian Songwriter HOF) went through their extensive archives to select 12 rare singles, B-sides, and unreleased tracks. For the band’s global audience as well as the uninitiated, Marthology: In And Outtakes offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the original and diverse avenues of Martha and Mark’s songwriting which has defined them as a groundbreaking band.

When speaking on the inspiration to do a rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, Martha and Mark had this to share:Not only is Buffalo Springfield’s 1966 classic “For What It’s Worth” timeless in its own right, but Stephen Stills’ poignant lyrics are more relevant than ever. Over the ensuing decades, his words have lent themselves brilliantly to constant reinterpretation depending on who the artist is covering the song, their own sensibilities and the times in which they find themselves. Gun violence is an ongoing societal blight, a perverse virus perpetuated by hypocrites mouthing their meaningless recitations of ‘thoughts and prayers’. With this in mind, our interpretation is slower, darker and considers the possibility that events that were once rare and unacceptable are now met with a shrug of indifference.

Mawzy is the brainchild of songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Cooke. Through earnest storytelling, Mawzy’s lyrics capture the ‘unnavigability’ of life and romance in his city, Toronto. Laying a sonic and visual foundation on his debut Escapism EP and follow-up singles, his use of crafted melodies and lush synthesizers has worked to create the trademark Mawzy sound. 

“Better Man” is the second single from his upcoming album produced by Thom D’Arcy (The Sheepdogs, Yukon Blonde). 

“Better Man” was a song I wrote striving to do better for those you love. I’ve learned through this song that love is delicate and it needs care. Our words need to be proven by our actions. Releasing this song is therapeutic in the same way I’m learning to let go of the love that “Better Man” was written about.

The title single of Mawzy’s debut LP Long View (November 2023) has been featured on CBC’s Afterdark, Spotify Fresh Finds, and Amazon’s Apologies playlist. The FACTOR supported album spans from pop-centric and anthemic songwriting on “Forever Wild” and “Long View,” to spacious production and introspective lyricism on “Regrets & Wonders” and “Where I’m From.” Collaborating with local artists, Matthew materializes the Mawzy vision through a series of album visualizations inspired by beauty in nature and interpersonal connections. 

Following up on his most recent emotive indie pop single, “Harder To Love,” Toronto-based singer-songwriter Liam Barrack has teamed up with new collaborators Ron Lopata and Andrew Allen to create “Empty Spaces.”

The single is an agile and upbeat piece of indie pop that continually drives forward into the unknown, embracing rock production as Barrack reflects on feeling like you don’t have things in your life figured out enough to relate to the people around you.

“It’s a pretty self-deprecative song about not really seeing the value in many facets of life, and when you really try to consider life, you’re left staring at a bunch of empty space. I think it’s a relationship that a lot of people have with life at some point, and I hope the message resonates with those who listen,” explains Barrack.