Some artists spend their lives chasing music. For Lila Forde, music arrived early—and never let go.

Raised in a spiritual, creatively nurturing home in Seattle, the singer-songwriter found herself surrounded by jazz records, meditation sessions, and the kind of freedom that lets an artist bloom. She didn’t have a television growing up, but she had rhythm, harmony, and a deep curiosity. Her parents—a musician and a pair of meditation teachers—encouraged her to explore without limits, planting the seeds for a musical voice that now feels as wise as it is fresh.

That voice finds full expression on Vessel, Forde’s striking debut album. A blend of jazz, folk, soul, and old-school R&B, it’s a warm and introspective collection that plays like a conversation between the past and the present. “There’s nothing else in this world I could possibly do,” she says, reflecting on a journey that’s felt less like a choice and more like a calling.

After studying jazz in college and gigging across Los Angeles—from quiet lounges to pop-up stages—Forde caught the attention of a producer from The Voice during a New Year’s Day performance. Her stint on the show brought her to the Top 5 under the mentorship of John Legend, giving her a national platform without compromising her identity. “They never tried to make me into anything I wasn’t,” she recalls.

But the real turning point came offscreen. With over $16,000 raised through a grassroots Kickstarter campaign, Forde recorded Vessel in just three days alongside producer Aidan Carroll and a handpicked ensemble of musicians. The sessions, she says, were driven by energy, trust, and instinct. “We crafted the perfect cocktail of people,” she explains. “It was all vibes.”

Those vibes ripple through the album, from the flirty, funk-tinged opener “Temptation” to the heartbreak-laced stillness of “Honesty,” a raw ballad written in the wake of a breakup. “You can hear me going through it,” she admits. “That’s the point.”

On “Brick by Brick,” Forde channels a steady, determined kind of hope—building a life, a love, and a career with patience and intention. And in the title track, she lets go entirely, repeating a single mantra over gentle chords: “I let the music come and go / I’m just a vessel, not a home.” It’s a moment of surrender, and the album’s emotional core.

Forde closes Vessel with a nod to her roots: a live voice memo of her covering “The Masquerade Is Over” during a restaurant jazz set, silverware clinking in the background. “You can’t recreate that,” she says. “It’s a reminder of where I come from.”

If Vessel feels unusually complete for a debut, it’s because it is. Forde isn’t trying on different personas—she’s simply showing us who she is, one track at a time. “I want people to feel like they’ve had a well-balanced meal,” she says. “Not too much of anything, just enough of everything.”

With this release, Lila Forde emerges as more than a promising new voice—she’s a fully-formed artist with something real to say. And she’s just getting started.

Toronto-based instrumental electronic artist 8know8 is proud to announce the release of her fourth studio album, She. A deeply personal and sonically immersive record, She continues Polly-Jean Vernon’s journey of self-discovery, expressed through intricate layers of synth and live percussion. 

Polly-Jean recorded She using her signature approach: layering live drums and synthesizers in real-time, preserving the raw energy of a live performance. “No quantizing, no electronic drum pads, no punch-ins. I want it to feel and be real,” she explains. “Mistakes happen, and you can hear some on every one of my records – but they sound real, in a world that is increasingly sterile and uniform.”

The album’s focus track, “Make It Work,” embodies the intensity, frustration, and eventual triumph of the creative process, delivering a hypnotic blend of electronic and acoustic elements. “I was playing around with a synthesized music box sound and fell in love with the interplay of syncopated waves and hi-hats,” says Vernon. “This song started from that groove and evolved into something that truly represents my experience: life is tough, but you have to make it work.”

Driven by an unrelenting rhythm and shimmering melodic textures, “Make It Work” stands as a testament to Vernon’s ability to merge human emotion with electronic soundscapes. The track, born out of artistic frustration and perseverance, took on an unexpected life of its own when a technical glitch caused an outro melody to continuously reset itself – a flaw that ultimately became a defining feature of the song. 

“Sometimes the best parts of life are substantially flawed,” Vernon reflects. “And you just have to make it work.”

Strange Plants return with “Horseshoe Smile,” a bouncy psychedelic pop throwback that lives somewhere between Tears For Fears and The Beatles’ Revolver-era. Happy, trippy, and just the right amount of weird, the track playfully critiques curated digital personas and the exaggerated performances people put on to appear perfect. The song’s title refers to the exaggerated “horseshoe” shape of over-laughed upper teeth – a not-so-subtle jab at the fakeness we often witness in public and online personas.

“Horseshoe Smile” leans fully into its retro-pop influences while distorting them through a funhouse mirror. The track is the third single from the forthcoming full-length Strange Plants album, and showcases the band’s musical versatility with songwriter Matt Brannon taking over lead vocal duties from collaborator Travis Flint. The resulting track gives The Beach Boys feel-good vibes, but with a sharp lyrical wink.

Produced by multi-instrumentalist Robbie Crowell (Sturgill Simpson, Deer Tick), “Horseshoe Smile” is featured on Strange Plants’ eponymous debut album, recorded at the iconic Creative Workshop Studio in Nashville and officially out on June 6th, 2025.

Waterloo-based alternative artist FRANKIE FLOWERS returns with her haunting new single, “HEX.” Fusing dark-wave, alternative, and synth-pop influences, “HEX” explores the emotional push-and-pull of limerence—the intoxicating yet uncertain space between love and longing.

With gritty industrial textures, distorted synths, and FRANKIE FLOWERS’ mesmerizing vocals, “HEX” is an exhilarating dive into emotional turbulence and sonic unpredictability.

“HEX” is about limerence in relationships—the disorienting feeling of being emotionally drawn to someone but unsure if the connection is real or imagined. You’re in that liminal space, craving answers that never seem to come. – FRANKIE FLOWERS

With his new single, “Hurt A Bird,” St. Catharines-based artist Joe Lapinski delivers a fierce and poignant anthem against intolerance. Rooted in New Wave Rock with a touch of punk spirit, the track channels Lapinski‘s anger toward the adult bullying of transgender and non-binary youth. Lapinski offers a solution: through love and kindness, you too can truly be free as a bird.

Co-produced with Dave Clark (Rheostatics, Gord Downie‘s Country of Miracles), the song’s tight, punchy arrangement emerged through a collaborative effort to refine Lapinski‘s initial, lengthier version. Inspired by late ’70s and early ’80s New Wave icons, “Hurt A Bird” features Elvis Costello-style synths and XTC-inspired basslines, creating a track that is both catchy and emotionally charged.

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

This song is essentially about treating people with love and kindness, even if you don’t know them.  At its core, it is inspired by people in our communities who are more vulnerable, like youth who are trans, LGBTQ+, and marginalized. Folks who are discovering their identities, while having outside forces telling them that they are wrong.  I believe we can all find true freedom through love and kindness.  I might just help someone feel they are more welcome in their community.

We thought this message is an important one, and deserved its story to be turned into a video.  The lyrics are very visual, and could easily be transformed into a bit of a animated short.

2. What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

Hannah Zbitnew is the animator and artist behind this video.  She came up with the concept and story, inspired by my song.  She thought it would be great to actually have a bird as our main character.  Our bird is up against some bad folks, who are trying to cage it and keep it from being free.  The bird’s friends and community find out, and go and free our hero bird. 

The aesthetics of the video are all Hannah.  She has done a lot of 2D stop motion animation work, and thought we could take a similar approach.  Making it an animation let us experiment more with images and colour, making it vibrant and alive.  Perfect for a song about freeing a bird.