At just 16 years of age, Summer Bennett from Paradise, NL, is emerging as one of Newfoundland’s most formidable talents. Summer won the 2021 Newfound Talent Contest from MusicNL and is a three time Arts and Letters Award winner. She is also a multi MusicNL and ECMA nominated artist.

Signed with Scilly Cove Records, Summer worked remotely with multi-Grammy Award winning producer Greg Wells between Newfoundland and Los Angeles on her debut One Thousand Fahrenheit EP. “Working with Greg has been a dream,” says Summer. “He has worked with the biggest stars in the world and I feel very lucky to have him produce my songs. It’s like he can read my mind!”

The EP’s focus track, “Just A Phase,” is about the toxicity and negative aspects that social media influence and the internet can bring. Deep lyrics cover a unique teenage perspective backed by a modern pop sound. 

Multicultural singer-songwriter Raphaela’s song, “Be My Hero,” stemmed from a feeling of wanting to finally start taking care of herself and placing boundaries where in the past she wouldn’t have. The song represents Raphaela’s journey over the last few years of  striving to become a version of herself that she’s proud of –  Someone who  says “no,” who works towards achieving her dreams unapologetically, and who does all that while remaining kind and authentic to others, but most importantly, towards herself. 

Sometimes it’s harder to place boundaries with those you love than those you hate. As a recovering people-pleaser, oftentimes I’ve sacrificed many of my own values and guiding core principles for fear of losing those I love. I’ve learned that placing boundaries means showing people what you will and will not accept, and ultimately, this always serves the relationship for the better and steers it towards the right direction it’s meant to go in, whatever that may be. – Raphaela

Nick Faye is a songwriter from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, living on Treaty 4 Territory. His new song, “Lonely,” explores themes around healthy and good love: approaching a relationship with intentions of trying to be a good partner, encouraging healthy communication, and trying to make your partner feel safe and loved. It was written for everyone working hard to be a good partner, and trying their best to help their partners feel safe to ask for what they want. Reciprocity is a major theme of this song, and the upcoming album it will hail from. 

I was inspired to write this song by my dating experiences in my mid-30’s. I noticed a common trend among people I would meet, where partners didn’t always feel comfortable sharing what their needs were and what they truly were looking for in a relationship. I was working hard to be a considerate and reciprocal partner, and most of that initial work was trying to make people feel safe and comfortable to actually share what they truly needed/wanted to flourish, instead of what they thought they should be doing or what society tells them they should want. – Nick Faye

The solo shoegaze/rock project of Sufian M., numb talking’s debut album, dead leaves and all, is a loud and psychedelic diary of fatigue, adult life changes and the joys that can root even in the toughest times. Downtuned guitars, manic delays and meditative lyrics invite the listener to feel the exhaustion of grief and acceptance, the lightness of burdens dropped, and the mischief of madness.

Incorporating glitching and degrading delays on vox and guitar highlighted single, “walk with u,” came about from a heavy yet playful conversation and walk with a friend. The structure of the song had been conceived via voice notes in the woods. 

The music explores the electric guitar’s timbres and potential to vocally express without word, setting tension/connection between the spoken and unspoken. from overwhelmingly distorted arrangements to dreamier reprieves, the instruments play with energy and fatigue among layers of synthesis, distortion, and expression of the voice and its disfigurement.

On their fifth studio album, From Nowhere, Mo Kenney (they/them) embraces the textures of ambiguity and the rich blur of being, failing, and becoming. As they shift through lush arrangements that touch on dreamy folk, sparse alt-country, and warm, hazed-out lo-fi pop, everything is up for interpretation and nothing is fixed. In their lyrics, Kenney opts instead to defy definition, making room for non-linear and fragmentary sentiments that challenge their own feelings about personal growth, acknowledge the slippery and shadowy nature of memory, and build love songs that conjure the bonds of friendship just as much as they hint at romance.

When writing this song I was considering that sometimes how you are taught to love isn’t the best way. There can be unlearning to do as you move through your life and discover things about yourself. There can be parallels between early relationships and how you navigate romantic relationships. – Mo Kenney

In 2024, following the success of his most acclaimed record to date, Love Valley, Calgarian singer-songwriter Michael Bernard Fitzgerald is set to release his sixth full-length album, Horizon Lines. Created throughout the transformative journey of entering fatherhood, the new music continues to weave together soulful sounds and introspective words, reaffirming a dedication to crafting songs that speak to the heart.

Fitzgerald is now sharing the album’s second single, the bright and driving “Forever and Always,” co-produced and recorded with Josh Gwilliam Its pristine acoustic guitar and anticipatory percussion provide the backdrop for what Fitzgerald refers to as a song akin to “the dance we do when finding a partner and building a love.”

There are hopes and dreams we have for ourselves in love and then there is also the capacity we have to give and receive that care. So much growth is needed to truly partner, to truly get past parts of ourselves to really become a team. ‘I want love this time’ talks about building something with substance for the first time, getting past my own pitfalls.‘Teach me how to confidently say, forever and always’ – be that constant for one another, as we learn to get past some of the same blockages and hurdles. – Michael Bernard Fitzgerald