Montreal music industry vet Kandle‘s forthcoming new album (due out later this year) is a crescendo of all her years immersed in music and an intimate knowledge of the many ways this industry, this world, can break your body and heart. Kandle is now sharing “Danger to Dream,” the latest single ahead of her LP’s release, alongside an official music video directed for 18 hours by Lauren Graham while she was breastfeeding her new baby.

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

Danger to Dream is a tale of trying to wake up from the trance of unworthiness. Of the voices in our heads telling us we should be more, have more. A constant comparison of ourselves to the influences we consume and how very bad that can make us feel. The song truly felt like a film score to us. It’s haunting and epic and has hints of a classic old Morricone composition. In the Tarantino inspired music video, I play several characters, 3 different versions of the same girl that are living “dead end” lives, whose dreams never came true. Tragedy, reality, luck, who knows why but for whatever reason, they are stuck. My 4th character is all of their darkest negative inner voices personified, driving into town to make sure each of them meets their untimely demise. The whole video is really meant to show the viewer how hard we are on ourselves and how often we are our own worst enemy. 

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

The video concept was all my brilliant director and close friend Lauren Graham! We are very similar in a spooky arty sort of way. I didn’t know what the treatment was until I got to LA and she was waiting to hear if her dream location (Four Aces Movie Ranch) was secured. I believe all she told me was “I have a concept, and you’re gonna love it”. Once she told me the concept, the ideas of the characters and how they die came pouring out of us like giddy girls at a slasher slumber party. 

3. What was the process of making this video?

There was a whole lot of girl power behind this video. The team LG assembled was incredibly talented and hard working. Lauren herself directed the video for 18 hours while breastfeeding her new baby. I performed my heart out while I unluckily suffered through a violent endometriosis flare up, rendering me incredibly ill between takes. My bandmate/lover/co producer Jeffrey Mitchell was behind the camera nailing the cinematography and supporting me through the pain. We were pushing ourselves as hard as we could, we weren’t willing to slow down or compromise our vision. After that experience, we knew we had to release it for International Women’s Day as it felt like a very beautiful representation of women’s resilience and dedication to their art.
“Danger to Dream” is a tale of trying to wake up from the trance of unworthiness. Of the voices in our heads telling us we should be more, have more. A constant comparison of ourselves to the influences we consume and how inadequate they can make us feel.

In support of International Women’s Day (Friday March 8th), Kandle also wishes to bring attention to National Endometriosis Awareness Month and Women’s History Month this March. Being a self-produced, independent female artist suffering from this incurable extremely painful disease (impacting 1 in 7 women!), Kandle hopes to use her voice and platform to help others feel less alone and like they are safe and understood.

Formed in the depths of Montreal’s lingering winters, Caméra – comprised of guitarist, composer and producer Francois Jalbert; violinist, arranger and composer Mélanie Bélair; and composer, arranger and performer Aurélien Tomasi – find sounds, explore bizarre ideas and always seek beauty. Traveling between a murmuration of birds at sunset, a daydream in the Japanese rainforest in 1986, or listening to a sexy saxophone melody played by a dude in a leopard speedo inside a midcentury cottage while drinking a white Russian, the trio somehow makes sense.

The main vocals and guitars on their newest single, “Dimanche,” were recorded during a burst of inspiration on a lazy Sunday. An accurate picture of the vibe that day, this song is a great example of what can happen when you give a musician some space and time.

Carmel Mikol is a singer-songwriter from two worlds: she was raised half in the Canadian backwoods and half in the suburbs of Chicago. Solitude and rootlessness are equally present in her songwriting as a result. Her songs feel like they’re written on the interstates somewhere between these two places. 

A full-time indie recording and touring artist for almost a decade, Mikol has performed across North America and in Europe, from intimate stages to legendary festivals like Canada’s Mariposa Folk Festival and the 30A Songwriters Festival in the US. Her previous albums earned three East Coast Music Award nominations and several songwriting honours.

As part of continued emotional growth for Mikol after being the victim of past abuse, “Trying Not to Hurt You,” comes from a place of accepting the full realm of life’s emotion. As she states: This song, and the whole album it’s part of, is about facing up to the painful “ands” of life: I love you AND we aren’t healthy together; I’m trying to stay with you AND I need to leave. Sometimes we just need to break our own hearts a little bit to make the hard decision.

I Used to Know, Mikol’s forthcoming fifth album, is stripped to its essentials. The microphones are close and the room is quiet. The lyrics cut to the bone and Mikol‘s voice is imperfect, wiser, more honest than ever before. Layered guitars and strings come in at the last possible moment, and only when necessary. But for a record that’s more subtle and less “produced” than any of her previous efforts, it’s somehow bigger and more universal. These songs feel like late night conversations between exes or long-time friends who can’t pretend to have secrets anymore. They’re conversations we’ve all had before… or will have as soon as we’re ready to be that vulnerable.

The Bankes Brothers are about to light up Canada’s indie-rock scene and ignite audiences everywhere. Since the release of their debut single “In Waves” in February 2023, the band has garnered acclaim and recognition across Canada and beyond – regularly showing in the Top 5 on Canadian commercial radio’s alternative charts and seeing constant support on Sirius XM’s The Verge for the past year. 

Now with the highly anticipated unveiling of full EP In Waves, alongside the final track “Walkin’” – all eyes return to The Bankes Brothers for what promises to be another banner year for one of Canada’s rising stars in contemporary rock and roll, set to embark on a whirlwind tour of the UK alongside Red Rum Club.

“Walkin’ is about doing your own thing – gut checking you know?”

The EP can best be described as a six-track shot of dopamine spilling over with irresistibly catchy melodies, exhilarating vocals, and joyous indie-rock instrumentation. Produced and recorded by indie legend Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, The Zolas, Mounties), In Waves is the culmination of the band’s wide-ranging influences—from Elvis to The Strokes, Paul Simon to The Pixies—coming together in a way that defies sonic parallels, yet remains welcomingly familiar.

Basement Revolver has always centered around the friendship of bassist/keyboardist Nim Agalawatte (they/them) and guitarist/vocalist Chrisy Hurn (they/them). Lead guitarist Jonathan Malström (he/him) and drummer Levi Kertesz (he/him) round out the band’s larger-than-life sound. Since 2020, Basement Revolver found time to wrestle with questions about identity, faith, mental illness, and sexuality. 

The inspiration for their new song, “Red Light,” came from a discussion at a band practice Chrisy shared that they had received a red light ticket which was extremely frustrating because it was for a greater amount than their recent paycheck. As a band who has received their fair share of parking and speeding tickets while playing shows and touring, they are no strangers to financial setbacks when it comes to working towards their dreams. The band members realized that it was a relatable topic so they wrote a song about it.

“Hopefully we’ve all learned to be a little more careful while driving!” says Nim Agalawatte. “Especially in cities like Hamilton where we live that have many red light cameras now.”

Built around his soulful, worn-in voice and wrapped in tender harmonies, Alex Coley & Afterlove explore the elemental tension between joy and pain; heartache and healing; what was and what will be. Debut album, The Arc, arrives at the end of this locked-down, fearful era when gazing backward was all we had, serving as a beautiful reminder of the transformative power of introspection. The songs that emerge are both melancholic and hopeful, capturing themes of nostalgia, resilience, heartbreak and unexpected clarity. Alex Coley & Afterlove’s music reminds us that the darkest, windiest days are often the days we feel deeper and love harder.

Alex wrote the album’s focus track, “Hold it All,” at a time when he was feeling like he was holding all of the blame. Despite his best efforts to be friends with his ex, they hadn’t spoken for a while and he was starting to become angry about it. So, in a moment of anger and frustration, holding all of the responsibility, Alex had this cathartic release where he refused to keep blaming himself for everything and started sharing some of the blame, and that’s when he wrote “Hold it All.”