Dutch, Toronto born Pop/R&B artist NOA blends vibrant, catchy melodies with resonant emotional themes from relationships to female empowerment and self-realization. Her artistic voice maintains a fun, lighthearted velvety tone that helps lift fans above the noise and negativity of everyday life.

It always takes time to come to terms with how a relationship played out and naturally it can be hard to accept.“This Isn’t How It Was Supposed To Go” from second EP, Hurting, was inspired by the process of healing when getting over a breakup. This nostalgic track reminisces on the past and how things didn’t end up the way she thought they would.

Heavily supported by editorial playlists, NOA has surpassed 3.5 million career streams worldwide and averages more than 100,000 monthly listeners across platforms. She continues to build an incredible loyal following in the United States, Canada and Europe following the release of her first EP, Honeymoon, which charted at number 26 on the iTunes top 200 Pop Charts in Canada.

Scott Nolan is a songwriter, poet, multi instrumentalist from Winnipeg, Manitoba Treaty One Territory. His songs have been recorded by Hayes Carll, Mary Gauthier, Watermelon Slim, Corin Raymond, and Stephen Fearing among others. He has recently produced albums for William Prince, Lynne Hanson, Richard Inman and Watermelon Slim.

Nolan’s new track with Glenn Buhr entitled “Annabella Street” is about the Point Douglas neighborhood in Winnipeg’s North End, which was an infamous red light district in the early 1900’s. While researching some of Winnipeg‘s history, Nolan learned how early Chief of Police John Mcrae was tasked with dealing with a growing problem with prostitution. Mcrae sought out one of the most well-known wet madams of the era and told her if she could contain it to the neighbourhood there would be no interference with the police. They had a list of rules, one of which was that the women must not play the house piano too loudly.

Ghost Caravan is a group of collaborators led by Shaina Silver-Baird. Her anthemic pop/electronica sound is cinematic and invigorating. For their contribution to the multi-artist covers album, Ghost Caravan has created a poppy, ‘80s-leaning version of Elvis Costello’s song, Girls Talk, that comes with a side of empowering cheekiness. 

https://smarturl.it/ghostgirlstalk

This song brings up memories of being a teenager. Silver-Baird pictures the nostalgic image of a bunch of girls huddled together giggling, talking and gossiping. She loves the thought of those young girls knowing that there’s power in what they say, no matter what they choose to use their voice for – whether it’s trivial or powerful.
Growing up, Silver-Baird had only heard the cover version by Linda Rondstadt and never knew that Elvis Costello was the original singer. When she hears a male voice singing this song, to her it really feels like he’s on the outside looking in on the female experience – seeing and hearing the rush and the power of girls talking and gossiping from the outside. But when she hears a woman sing it, it feels like the whole story of the song is flipped. It’s now being sung from the inside of the experience. Silver-Baird’s saying: “I know you wanna know what I’m saying… and I know what I choose to say has power. Whether it’s to help or hurt… it has power.”

Emerging Toronto-based Filipinx singer-songwriter Jenn Nucum’s EP, Get Better, is an exploration of diverse soundscapes ranging from lush, orchestral pop to soaring, cinematic post-rock.

This collection of songs was drawn from inner reflections, re-evaluating oneself, analyzing society at large, and sitting with discomfort to dig deep into the injustices and inequities surfaced by a global pandemic.

The EP’s title track, a stripped back ballad which hums with intensity, captures a yearning and desire to ‘get better’ as people––to exercise self-compassion and take care of each other collectively.

Collective healing is the core theme of Get Better, which can only occur through looking at the societal wounds inflicted by broken systems, institutions, and obsolete authority created by capitalism, colonization, and white supremacy. 

We are all struggling but the initial step to a solution is found in the recognition of who and what the culprits look like in our day-to-day lives.

Down the rabbit hole of psych synth layers, sub bass drones and hypnotic hip hop drums, you’ll find the new Victory Chimes record, When The Fog Rolls In, from Montreal rocker Jeff Louch. 

Produced by Louch, Alex Formosa and Jace Lacek (The Besnard Lakes), “New Mode” represents the overall vibe of the full-length album. Written around the circular bassline, its wavelike feel inspired some of the water imagery. Linking a series of images, the pulsing track touches on issues of identity, facing demons, death, rising to potential and new beginnings.  

When The Fog Rolls In was inspired by the welcomed solitude of the Rocky Mountains at the Banff Centre before being thrown directly into the forced solitude of pandemic lockdown. Lyrical colouring spans from the macabre to blissful fantasy, and styles stretch from narrative to stream of consciousness to absurdity.