Shades Lawrence is a Montreal-born alternative hip-hop artist of mixed British, Jamaican, Irish and Scottish descent. Honouring a tradition of spoken word, she is a pure lyricist; her words uplift, while keeping environmental justice at the forefront. 

She collaborated with a medley of producers—THAIBEATS, Yonas-K Beatz, Syndrome, DJ Pain 1, Rob Kelly, Mantra, SPECDRXM, SHRN—on new album, Trust Takes Time, out February 11th. Speaking from her heart, the LP has one clear message: love endures. 

Shades’ inspiration was born from “a desire to say ‘thank you’ to someone who helped me during a challenging time in my life.” Some of those significant reflections can be heard on the sincere track “I Do” available to stream and share on SoundCloud now.

Ever since Heather Avalon was a little girl, sitting at her grandma’s upright grand piano from 1921, she’s been in love with making music. Taught how to perform and record by her jazz singer mother, Avalon is ready to share her debut single “I Guess” with the world.

“Without deep connection to others within our universe, every interaction you have with anyone would be purely based on the physical,” explains Heather. She wrote “I Guess” about the change she experienced when she began to view sex as a mindful and spirtual connection to her partner.

This pulsating indie pop track is dreamy, ethereal, and honest. “I’m talking about connected, passionate, mindful, spiritual sex,” says Avalon. “I want each and every listener to experience complete and total confidence run through their body and mind as they listen.”

Hamilton, Ontario based duo Allegories have a third track to share in the lead-up to the release of their forthcoming album, Endless, to be released on April 29th.

“Constant,” a vocally led steadily, pulsating piece of indie electronic music, is what the duo call a “timid diss track to oneself and all that you love.”

Revolving around its refrain yet constantly exploring new vocal modulations and synth tones, “Constant” wants to be that endorphin rush, that effervescent dopamine surge surrounding you.

We are all feeling our way through the dark. Fumbling and failing, but hopeful.

As elastic in our sense of time as we are blissfully fading and forgetting.

When her first single “Alone Again” (ft. P. Reign) became a massive global hit, getting certified Double Platinum in Canada and selling over a million copies around the world – Alyssa Reid knew she had found her path. Fast forward to 2022 and Reid has played on stages around the world, been nominated for JUNO Awards & MMVA’s, and has had hit after hit – crossing genres and pop music boundaries as a singer-songwriter. 

The taboo new track, “Roses,” wasn’t meant to be released as Reid wasn’t thinking about how others might perceive it – she only knew where she was at when she felt compelled to write which was an inexplicable state of numbness. Sitting down at the piano one day, Reid picked a starting chord and the entire song just spilled out.

Stream “Roses” now: https://alyssareid.lnk.tt/RosesWE

borza has produced more than 250 records, for emerging artists from the Quebec music scene, as well as established artists such as Emmylou Harris, the McGarrigle sisters, Lauryn Hill and Malcolm Burn.

His inspirations are mostly about curiosity of, and reflections on, our behaviours between each other as human beings. As a solo artist, Borza’s brand new single “1 on 1” offers a fresh alternative, indie rock and folk combination that mentions a lesser talked about subject between people that love each other. “For some reason, sometimes a kin, or we ourselves, act differently in the presence of others,” borza realized. “This song mentions certain reasons for wanting to be alone, and just ‘1 on 1’ with someone you love.”

A songwriter immersed in poetry, a poet immersed in music, Jenny Berkel’s work is an invitation into a world of relatable introspection, in which even absences can be sculpted into vividly memorable verse.

Berkel’s new single, “You Think You’re Like the Rain” is a languid piece of melodic folk, inspired by a friend who was in a heavy space. Its lyrics recognize the multitudes contained in one person: “I know you’re not the rain, though maybe you’re everything.”

This vastness is embodied within the coastal Nova Scotian landscapes that feature in the music video for “You Think You’re Like the Rain,” shot by Phyllis Rising Productions. Intimacy and closeness are at the heart of this song’s themes.

Designer Dakota Burpee provided the striking piece that Berkel wears in the video, one that simultaneously leaps out of and flows through each frame.