Fans of independent Canadian music will likely recognize the name Shane Ghostkeeper from his namesake project GHOSTKEEPER, a band that has been responsible for some of the more thrilling music to emerge from Alberta during the last 15 years. But while his parent band trades in a highly unique, left-of-centre approach to indie rock, Shane Ghostkeeper’s new album, Songs For My People, is a deeply reverential tribute to the music he absorbed while growing up in the Northern Alberta Métis communities of Paddle Prairie, High Level, and Rocky Lane. Truly a family affair, it’s out now on Victory Pool Records and can be streamed here.

From the opening notes of the album, this notion rings true wholeheartedly; shades of classic boot stompin’ anthems shine through, offering glimmers of Waylon Jennings, Johnny Horton, and Conway Twitty; and the singer took a particular shred of influence from the “Bakersfield sound” scene, a strain of ’60s-era artists that infused traditional country & western songwriting with the electrified, then-new zing of rock & roll.

Presented “as a gift to my people, an exploration of the country & western and roots records they surrounded me with since childhood,” it wouldn’t truly be a Shane Ghostkeeper project without a few flashes of sonic risk-taking, with the latest single “Sunbeam” sporting a lightly psychedelic overcoat in tribute to Shane’s T. Rex and Led Zeppelin-loving Uncle Tucker. 

“Sunbeam was written for my late Uncle Tucker and the family he left behind. I was unable to attend his funeral so I wrote this to express my condolences and support for my Aunty Lorraine and my cousins. Tucker was a huge force in the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement community and beyond, and he was a fiercely dedicated father and husband.”

Further extending the concept of “family,” Shane recruited a close-knit crew of collaborators to help him bring this project to life. Producer extraordinaire Lorrie Matheson (Rae Spoon, Art Bergmann), who has been part of the Ghostkeeper world since day one, and bandmates in the main Ghostkeeper band: drummer Eric Hamelin (known for his work with JOYFULTALK and drumming on Alvvays’ smash hit “Archie, Marry Me”), bassist Ryan Bourne (Chad Van Gaalen), and guitarist and pedal steel player Wayne Garrett (Surf Kitties). 

Montreal singer-songwriter Daniel Isaiah has always been bound to music. He grew up surrounded by music, traveling the world and busking with his guitar, and played with his indie rock band Shoot The Moon before pursuing his solo career. Since then, he has released three critically acclaimed albums and toured with the likes of Sloan, Van Dyke Parks, Mother Mother, Basia Bulat, and more. 

For his upcoming album, he challenged himself by learning to play piano from scratch and writing the entirety of the album on that primary instrument. The first single, “I’ve Got A Lot Riding On You,” doesn’t mean that someone needs to rely or depend on another. It’s just recognizing that two people can be in this thing called life together, and that we are strengthened and sustained by each other.

Alcoves is an indie-rock band based in Victoria, BC, Canada. The band’s sound is a seamless blend of pop production reminiscent of The Japanese House and The 1975 with the charm of DIY indie rock. 

Their carefree, debut single, “Raining In July,” is about enjoying being young; going for a drive, picking up your partner or your friends and just enjoying life, free of worry. Imagine being caught in the embrace of a warm summer rain in the middle of a heat wave – this is the main character moment in the movie of your life. 

Jiants is a three piece indie/pop band from Toronto led by the songwriting of ex-professional skateboarder Jesse Landen. Jiants performs a unique blend of nostalgic sounding low-fi indie pop songs complete with great hooks and soaring leads. The band has just finished their fourth album, Tall Tales. The record was engineered and produced by Gavin Gardiner and is set to be released late 2023.

“Real Easy” is about learning to be comfortable alone, making time to heal before you attempt to move into a new phase of yourself. Living your true self is extremely difficult and it’s something that usually takes many attempts. This song is for the first morning you wake up after deciding “your new life starts today” for the third time this week and choosing to just keep trying instead of beating yourself up about it. 

Vancouver-based rock singer Charlie PS has a sound that can be described as a sonic melting pot. Inspired by a wide variety of rock and blues from legends of the 20th century such as Stevie Nicks and Ann Wilson, to modern rock artists that include Grace Potter and ZZ Ward, Charlie borrows elements of strong vocals and energetic riffs and uses them to create her own blended sound rooted in modern-rock.

Her latest single, “Even If It Kills Me,” takes its dynamic chorus, layered with an ensemble of vocals and live horns and its modern rock inspired instrumentation and calls out to the risk takers and the secretly insecure, reminding them that sometimes it’s okay to just be you. “Even If It Kills Me” is the second of three singles to be released this year from her five song EP, also titled Even If It Kills Me, later in November.

“Even If It Kills Me” is inspired by Charlie‘s journey through COVID after much self-work and going from a chronic overthinker to being in a much more peaceful and carefree head space, as well as the notion of persevering through things that you love to do, even if they aren’t always easy – for Charlie, this situation is about the music industry and being a musician.

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

I chose to visualize “Even If It Kills Me” not only because it’s the title track from my upcoming EP but because I’d had the vision for the video in my head from the very beginning of writing the song.“Even If It Kills Me” highlights all of my flaws and insecurities in a very ‘loud and proud’ way and I wanted to create a video that came across that way visually as well. It was very freeing to just let loose and allow myself not to care how I looked on camera – whether I was letting out a huge double chinned laugh or I was posed in a way that wasn’t what I consider to be the ‘most flattering’, I wouldn’t have to act, I wouldn’t have to play a character, I would just get to be my authentic self and that’s exactly what happened.

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

I was inspired by The Beaches music video for their song “Grow Up Tomorrow” and I wanted to create my own version of it. “Even If It Kills Me” is, in a way, my anthem to myself and serves as a reminder that being 100% yourself is a much freer place than being weighed down by that self-appointed shame of being ‘too loud’ or ‘too annoying’. So many of my friends and I have talked about our bad habit of going home after a social event and overthinking and overanalyzing what we said and did, and I just wanted to be free of that mindset and preserve that mindset in a visual way that I could back on and think “Oh yeah! That’s what not giving a damn feels like!” and I hope those who watch the video come away with a similar sentiment.

We had a pretty loosely mapped out storyline, with most of the concrete ideas shot in my apartment in the morning but once we got to our second location and my friends arrived for the evening portion, we just let 90% of things be completely in the moment and unplanned because we wanted everyone to just let loose, have fun and be themselves.

3. What was the process of making this video?

I’ve been incredibly lucky in connecting with ‘Ranch Boy Productions’ because they are just so good at what they do. In the pre-planning stages, each team member had a job to do and everything fell together so quickly and easily, we were 100% prepared about a week before the shoot and there was no last minute scramble to get anything done. Once we had found a location I called up as many friends as I could, found some local alcohol sponsors and on the day of the shoot, made sure everyone was comfortable, fed and watered and it was pretty much a straightforward good time from there!

I feel that a lot of people agonize over their flaws and insecurities or just care too much and want to change into a version of themselves they think will make them happier. But I hope that “Even If It Kills Me” will help remind people that being the realest version of yourself and showing the world the good, the bad and the ugly is a much more freeing place to be in.

In All Good Hope, the forthcoming debut album from singer, songwriter, and musician José Lobo, is a masterclass in intimacy. From the highly personal lyrical themes and sparse, delicate instrumentation, to the singing, which sounds like a friend whispering a secret into your ear, the experience of listening to In All Good Hope is akin to entering an inner sanctum, or what Lobo aptly refers to as “a reverie of the quotidian.” Originally hailing from Venezuela, Lobo has spent the better part of the last decade in a somewhat nomadic mode, splitting his time between his current homebase of Montreal, San Francisco’s Mission District, Paris, and also Hamilton, Ontario, where much of the album was recorded.

The title of his new single, “TBTBNM,” is a phrase he said a lot as a reply when someone asked him how he was doing, which literally translates to “All good, all good, nothing bad” from “todo bien todo bien nada mal.” It’s one of those phrases where depending where the comma is placed or the way that it is said, it can mean “Just pushing through” or “I’m thriving.” The lyrics really speak to those two corners of Lobo‘s emotional landscape.

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 
This song came to be during the winter of 2021 when I was feeling a little stuck in my reality and started making songs to have solo dance parties in my room when I was feeling tired of constantly diving into introspection. Honestly I failed regarding this considering the lyrics to this song are actually layered in reflections and in that way the song musically feels tropical and lyrically and visually are bucolic which is actually a sincere representation of how I tend to feel now that I think about it. When the song was ready I knew it would be one of the singles for the album and Fernando, the director thought it would be a good idea to make a video that does not necessarily aligns immediately with the energy of the song and I agreed with him and considering the song was created during the winter we both felt it was appropriate to also let the visuals assemble what winter urban exploring would look like for us.

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

The inspiration for the video was really to document our trip to New York this past winter and with the super8 to dive further into that realm of nostalgia and to document everything as if “ the New York of today was like the one from yesterday, laying there timeless but in movement” says Fernando. For the visuals it came to be that the palette was influenced by the tones of urban industrial areas and there are also shots of us around the metro, just browsing around record shops, etc. There are also references to nyc shows (friends, Seinfeld) and although it was not planned, this now makes it feel as though yes the video had to be in New York.

3.What was the process of making this video?

The process was quite laid back, we just decided to record as much footage as possible and to let the places we were going guide us in a way. For example there is this shot where I am standing atop a pile of construction debris in this empty lot and really this location sort of made the video, we have this shot with the brick wall behind, this one where I am looking towards the Manhattan skyline and one where I clumsily run down the mountain of construction debris! All of this took place within this empty lot and to even get in there you had to go through this wooden sort of fence with nails sticking out and then once we shot everything around the lot, a drone started flying over us and we ran frantically towards the exit thinking a drone flying over us at the empty lot was a little too close to a black mirror episode haha. Now that I think about it, it’s funny because the song has this air of irreverence when it comes to finding oneself in movement and saying “who is gonna tell me that I can’t leave?!” And well that drone definitely told us we had to leave …