Universal Honey has been a mainstay in Canada’s music scene, with seven albums and numerous featured tracks in movies and television under their belt.

Formed by platinum recording artists Johnny Sinclair and Leslie Stanwyck after playing in the band The Pursuit of Happiness, Sinclair and Stanwyck’s songwriting partnership has spanned across three decades, 100+ tracks and hundreds of gigs across North America.

2023 marks their 30th anniversary and brings Dandelion, referenced by the duo as a remarkably resilient flower. Co-produced with Dan Marfisi, this is their first Universal Honey album in 18 years. Newcomers and old fans alike will enjoy its fresh, modern sound. Click here to stream Dandelion.

Love and loneliness swirl in the focus track “Time Blindness,” written around the time of the passing of musician Al Stanwyck, Leslie’s father. Thinking of his life and our own mortality, she tapped into the sweetness of the memories and the sadness of time being gone.

Folk duo, Crowes Pasture, have penned a new song which addresses finding commonalities within American society. 

The Bostonians’ touring has led them to tour up and down the East Coast, granting them insights into the political perspectives of a wide array of individuals.

The plaintive and acoustic “Agree On” is what the duo considers to be a “prayer that we will be able to find common ground in a deeply divided democracy.”

“We are struck by how much people actually have in common as parents, children, workers, Americans, brothers and sisters.

For this country to move forward in a positive way, we need to acknowledge and respect differences, but we also need to appreciate the humanity that exists in everyone.”

Andrea Superstein is one of the most versatile voices in Canadian music today. Adding savvy vocals to whatever she touches, from nu-jazz and downtempo electronica to Latin grooves, Andrea lures listeners in with killer improvisational instincts, exceptional storytelling, and a red-hot band. Her music exemplifies powerful vocals evoking the gentle and the strong, the light and the dark, deep blues to pop confection, often in the same song. 

In jazz, it’s common practice to reimagine existing songs. Andrea’s inspiration to arrange this particular song was a desire to focus on the present. She chose to cover Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” to pay homage to a song that was part of the soundtrack of her younger days. It’s a song that many people from her generation know and love, which is why it was the perfect choice for her to revisit from a fresh perspective and different instrumentation.

This single will be followed by a full length album later this year, Oh Mother, of mostly original songs. It chronicles stories of motherhood, rooted in Andrea’s own experiences and those of over 50 mothers who so bravely shared their stories.

“I really enjoy the challenge of taking a song that’s meaningful to me and finding a new way to interpret it while still honouring the original,” says Andrea. “I love that a listener might not recognize the song at first. I love that a less adventurous listener might say, ‘Hey, maybe this kind of jazz is worth checking out.’ Weezer is the gateway drug to jazz!”

https://found.ee/AndreaSuperstein_SayItAintSo/ms-spotify-0

The Halifax synth-pop duo, Smaller Hearts, began as a game. Kristina Parlee and Ron Bates tore up a bunch of pieces of paper, and on each they wrote a word that could describe a song: slow, fast, quiet, loud, odd time signature, with or without certain instruments, et cetera. Then they’d mix the paper all up in a bowl and pull out a few. The results were treated as instructions: the corresponding song would be written and recorded to the random spec of the draw.

When Smaller Hearts first started, Parlee and Bates enforced a firm rule of no guitars allowed, as an effort to get out of their comfort zone. They stuck to this through three albums, but eventually this rule that was initially liberating had become a limitation. The synths are still at the forefront, but by permitting their earlier punk and indie rock styles to influence their current interests, Smaller Hearts believes that this song is one of the truest expressions of the sounds they love.

This song is partly about trying to escape reality by sleeping and dreaming—but also about the limits of that approach. Sleeping through your problems can feel like a relief; but at some point you might notice that you’re accidentally escaping a lot of good stuff as well as bad. Parlee and Bates wanted it to feel dreamy and optimistic, but tinged with melancholy. There’s a cloud of background noise throughout that frames the sunnier guitar melody and vocal harmonies—the hope is that it reflects the moment of pleasant confusion you feel upon waking from a hopeful dream.

“The title ‘Sleeper Agent’ doesn’t appear in the lyrics,” explains Bates, “but it metaphorically can stand for the song: our agency in deciding what parts of life to engage in versus what parts to tune out; and the change that can happen if a person who’s sleeping through their life becomes activated and wakes up.”

Ryan Hicks is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Regina, Saskatchewan. He cites Ron Sexsmith, Father John Misty, and David Bowie as influences for his melodic, cinematic, alt-pop music; as if Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, and Fleet Foxes made music for David Lynch.

In anticipation of his fourth studio album, Experience, dropping on March 24th, Hicks shares a message of hope: “My dream is that like the kaleidoscope, all people can come together and see how beautiful the world is with all of our differences together.

His lush new single “Kaleidoscope” captures the spirit of peace and love in the ‘60s/‘70s, while sounding fresh and contemporary with its distinctive melody. The drum pattern of the verses sets up the satisfying and powerful chorus.

The psychedelic video evokes wonder and beauty, an affectionate nod to flower power.

Drawing inspiration from pop-punk, EDM, 80s synth-pop, hip hop, and everything in between, the four-piece Vancouver band, Royal Oak, has captured the maximalist energy of their anything-goes live show and distilled it into a string of high-gloss pop singles. Since their debut in 2015, Royal Oak has toured with the likes of Said The Whale, Hey Ocean!, and Ivory Hours.

Like so many other songs, “A Song For Ya” was inspired by a breakup. Though it’s about one of the band member’s relationships, the song was written collaboratively by all the members of the band. Over Zoom, each band member would take turns tackling the song structure, vocal melodies, and lyrics. 

Visually, the pop punk song follows the aftermath of the couple from Royal Oak’s previous single, “Steal My Hoodie.” The band has built a story around this couple and the stages of their relationship from their own experiences. The band created the artwork for “A Song For Ya” by referencing the artwork for “Steal My Hoodie,” printed on instant film.