Cross-genre music powerhouse NGHTMRE, best known for his jaw dropping live performances and fan favorites tracks like “REDLIGHT” with A$AP Ferg and “GUD VIBRATIONS” with SLANDER, has recruited Maryland rapper IDKfor his hype new trap single, “Trials,” which is available now on all digital streaming platforms HERE. The high energy track is the third single of NGHTMRE’s highly-anticipated forthcoming debut album, DRMVRSE, which is due out September 9.

NGHTMRE’s whirlwind of a career is all culminating with his debut full-length album,‘DRMVRSE,’ which was announced last week and is set to be released on September 9. Created during the COVID pandemic, DRMVRSE tells a cohesive fantasy story filled with characters and plots, which are being revealed through his artwork and music videos. The album’s first single, “Fall Into Me” with SLANDER featuring Dylan Matthew, was released in March and its second single, “The One ”  with KLAXX, was released in May.

“The instrumental for ‘Trials’ is something I actually wrote a while ago. It took a long time to find someone I felt could match the energy of the record. Once I listened to IDK’s music for the first time I knew he would be amazing on it. He’s not only an impressive lyricist, but an incredible singer/vocalist as well. He really nailed the vibe perfectly on this one!” – NGHTMRE

Baltimore-raised British-American rapper, producer, and director IDK began his career in 2012 and released his debut studio album, Is He Real, in September 2019 featuring standout singles “24” and “Digital.” He followed it with his second, USEE4YOURSELF, in July of 2021 with major collaborations such as “Shoot My Shot” with Offset and “PradadaBang” with Young Thug, which have over 45 million streams combined on their own. In May of this year, IDK released his third studio album, Simple, with its standout single “Dog Food” with Denzel Curry and produced by longtime friend and collaborator, KAYTRANADA. IDK has also collaborated with The Neptunes, Pusha T, A$AP Ferg, Joey Bada$$, Russ, J.I.D, T-Pain, Swae Lee, the late MF DOOM, and more.

Toronto-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eliza Niemi grew up with the influence of music all around her. She first learned the basics of bass and guitar from her dad, and these childhood experiences of playing music together by ear fostered the sense of playfulness that she’s approached her craft with ever since. 

Her vibrational song, “Walking Feels Slow,” is about being caught between different ways of moving through the world: on the one side is taking things slow and stopping and smelling the roses, and on the other is a sort of reckless, free barrelling-through. 

“I wanted to evoke the feeling of desperately trying to stay present – the little games we play with ourselves and mantras we repeat to prevent us from projecting or worrying about the past or future,” says Eliza. “There’s a manic energy in trying to slow down and enjoy each bite as if it’s the whole fruit – a sort of buzzing at a high frequency – that I wanted to embody and convey in this track.”

Her self-produced new album, Staying Mellow Blows (Out August 5th), is about slowing down for the first time in a long time and having space and time to reflect on her life. She’d spent the majority of her adult years on the road with various bands such as Mauno and when the pandemic hit, she was suddenly and unexpectedly in one place for over a year. It was a shock to her system and brought about some serious introspection.

Combining what they learned from commercial rock contemporaries with elements they liked of Country and Pop songs, Toronto band, ASCENDIA, has created a body of work that will unfold upon multiple listens. 

Their dark and intense new single, “This War,” comes from their upcoming LP, PARASITE. 

It started off as being a motivational song about waging war against life, about accomplishing your goals and not quitting. But then the band had a conversation with their producer, Gavin Brown, who commented that the song sounds way more like it’s about internal struggle. 

He mentioned a time he was at dinner and he noticed a war vet sitting nearby and that he could feel this man was suffering. Gavin said the song reminded him of that guy and how the war never stopped for him. The band then changed it to the perspective that everyone has a war they are fighting; everybody faces adversities and we have to try our best to fight that war and win that war every day.

Since the theme of the song is about war, Ascendia wanted the song to have more of a raw and less polished feel to it. You can really hear it with the opening drum effect. 

Holistically, the album is mostly about expressing real, genuine feelings in a way that the listener could relate to. Human beings communicate through stories, and so it was incredibly important that there was clarity in the band’s message. Listeners can’t get directly into the minds of the songwriter, so the band needed to make sure the lyrics would tell the story in a clear, concise way.

DUUO, formerly known as A-Game, are twin brothers with a long history of accomplishments and accolades in the music industry. Representing Toronto, Rommel, aka ‘Nov’ and Robert, aka ‘Chase,’ are both energetic and skilled artists that compliment each other’s style.

Their third release of the year, the ambitious song, “No Reason,” was produced and written remotely with their longtime collaborator, Rich Homie Quan, and their recording engineer. 

It’s about living in the moment and going through the motions of it. One day, the brothers were in the studio recording til 9 a.m. in the morning with their mentor, and the next minute they were spending $100,000 in cash at the jewelry store. Sometimes, that’s just where life takes you!

With this carefree song, DUUO aims to tell listeners to just live your life. Especially after the pandemic, their motto has been “One life to live. Do what makes you happy for No Reason!”