Ink Sticks & Stones is the moniker for Toronto-based composer-musician, Ai Rei Dooh-Tousignant. Being of mixed descent, she is constantly searching for different ways to express her many cultures, and openly advocates for a more inclusive Canadian music scene. 

Her upcoming EP, Après la tombée du ciel is an audiovisual voyage based in neoclassical music, and the sister album to her previous EP, Vaste (2021). 

In an album that goes from somber and chaotic to minimal and hopeful, “Les derniers vestiges” is the moment where things are finally starting to get better after a traumatic event. It represents the point in Dooh-Tousignant’s recovery from a brain injury, where she could start to see small progress and a potential return to a normal life. There was still a long way to go, but she was thankful for the healing that she had already done, and for the small victories that were to come.

Dooh-Tousignant is still currently recovering from her brain injury from 2019, so the composing and recording of the song was part of her personal physical rehab program. To this day, she is still unable to play a full song on any instrument, so the song was composed and recorded on the piano piece by piece in my living room. After the initial composition, she invited Samuel Bisson (who she previously worked with on her album Vaste) to improvise a cello part based on the piano melody. 

With the fear of climate catastrophe hanging over everyone’s heads, Dooh-Tousignant decided to use the planet as a metaphor for her personal experience recovering from a brain injury. She creates a soundscape where after a series of global climate catastrophes, life no longer exists on the Earth. However, as dark and dead as it all might seem, this is when She takes time to heal, before ushering a new dawn and the possibility of a return to life.

Montreal based psych-pop band, Elephant Stone, have released “Hollow,” a six-part animated film directed by Laurine Jousserand and scored to an orchestral re-interpretation of side A of their most recent 2020 album of the same name.

“Hollow” is a majestic and dynamic exploration of dystopian themes married to a story about humanity’s search for a new home following an apocalyptic event that makes earth uninhabitable. 

It is a tale of loss and grief, existential crisis and rebirth, and a world withering away, all set to elegant and intense, droning music. Light is found through deft orchestration and the addition of a children’s choir.

​​Since their inception, Colour Tongues have taken hits and weathered storms, both literally and figuratively, to bring you dreamy and high-energy nostalgic rock.

Their latest record, Midnight Island, reflects on the different stages of relationships that all of us experience – the blissful naivety of first love, the trials and tribulations of trying to make it work, the ultimate heartbreak, self-rediscovery, and the final realization that true love needs to start from within. 

The album’s title track is a nostalgic and pulsating pop rock track which reflects on young love and early romance, reminding the listener that anything remains possible and the energy of one’s youth is infinite.

Montréal based indie pop duo Down With Space are vocalist/guitarist Rob Helsten and drummer Steve Dumas – the partnership of an English speaker (Helsten) and a French speaker (Dumas) who have found an understanding through music when language can sometimes elude communication. 

Their dancy new single, “Not Your Time” was born during a sporadic jam session. It was a cathartic writing process for Rob Helsten, who was working through the grief of losing a friend in a needless accident. 

Despite the heavy lyrics and message of the song, this song is meant to be anything but that. It should evoke memories of free, fun, and energetic moments spent with your loved ones. 

https://linktr.ee/DownWithSpace

The video for this track is a collaboration between Helsten and Piotr. It’s meant to portray a protagonist trapped in their own isolation with some mysterious outside force trying to coerce them out of it. In the end, they are brought out of their self imposed confinement to see that there is still an outside world.

Inspirational Norwegian DJ and record producer Matoma, known for songs like “All Night” with The Vamps and “I Don’t Dance” with Enrique Iglesias, has released his newest single “Midnight Sun” with JP Cooper, available now on all streaming platforms HERE. Working together for the first time in their music careers, the incredibly talented artists have seamlessly blended their two unique styles to create one of the top hits for the Summer.     

Listen to the new single here:

Staying true to its title, “Midnight Sun” is a light-hearted track that lights up the restful night with its cheerful lyrics and rhythmic beats. The song begins with angelic vocals of JP expressing his love and appreciation for people who chase away the shadows of the night with their goodness and light. After the first electrifying beat drop, the tune becomes impossible to forget with catchy, groovy, and rhythmic instrumentals. In its own right, this song is its own midnight sun.

“I feel like I’ve known Tom for years, although we’ve only met once and “midnight sun” was written over a zoom session. ‘Midnight Sun’ is a celebration of the people who bring light in your darkest moments. I suggested the idea of Midnight Sun as a nod to the very light nights in Norway during the Summer….turns out Tom’s first ever tour was called the Midnight Sun tour so I guess it was meant to be. I have a feeling this is a creative relationship that will last much longer than just the one song.” – JP Cooper

Although “Midnight Sun” marks the first ever collaboration between Matoma and JP Cooper, both artists are no strangers to breathtaking collaborations. Matoma’s previous singles “Take Me to the Sunshine” featuring Super-Hi and Bullysongs, “Never Surrender”featuring Steve Garrigan of Kodaline, “Summer Feeling” featuring Jonah Kagen, scored record numbers of streams in their first week.The all-around artist has demonstrated his raw talent across various genres, proving time after time that he is a driving force in the current electronic world. “Midnight Sun” follows Matoma & A R I Z O N A’s single “Heart So Big.”

Debuting with the album ‘Raised Under Grey Skies’ in 2017, JP Cooper skyrocketed to fame with his single, “September Song,” which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. After a long 5 years hiatus, the Englishman came back into the music industry with his second album, ‘She’ in February 2022. As a rising neo-soul singer-songwriter from Middleton, JP Cooper has showcased his versatility through his myriad collaborations with various artists, including Jonas Blue–where his featured “Perfect Stranger” has surpassed 848 million streams on Spotify and is certified platinum in the UK. This time, JP’s collaboration with Matoma will without a doubt be another success that will take his career to another level.

If Show ‘Em What You’ve Got was a brilliantly brash and buoyant slice of R&B, Ostarè returns with something slightly more chilled, more soothing, and more understated. But that is not to say that Deep Down isn’t still filled with the same message of empowerment and inner healing, it is just that whereas the previous single comes at the listener face on, a collection of soul and swagger, attitude, and ambition, Deep Down just throws its arms around you and gives you what can only be described as a sonic hug!

Listen in here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1IDMaTzHk9eSLRVUByUOOg

It is built on similarly liquid beats, a cool clubland groove, one that is all about futuristic digital dance timings, pulsing bass beats and smoky clubland atmospheres. But it is, if not exactly subdued, certainly more subtle and seductive. There are times when a message warrants a more full-on and unavoidable delivery system, this is not one of those times and it proves that Ostarè is equally at home seducing her audience as she is seeking to subdue them.And again, there is a deeper message than the music might suggest, if only taken at face value. Dance music is not known for being deep and meaningful, but Deep Down is an exception.

Whilst it is perfect for the clubland set who just want to party the night away, and its infectious grooves guarantee that will happen, lyrically it is a love letter to security, to finding your own safe space, a place where you are comfortable, where you can be yourself…a “place to call home.”Not in the physical sense, more in a soul searching one, as always with Ostarè ‘s messaging, it runs on a more spiritual plane, this is metaphysical music for the modern era, pop for the Aquarian Age, dance music for the delvers into their inner consciousness. Throw away this is not!I probably said the same last time around too, but it is worth repeating.

It is possible that Ostarè ’s marks a real change in direction for pop music, a coming of age for a genre which up until now has been seen as being driven by the fickle finger of fad and fashion. What Deep Down proves is that it is possible to make music which pushes the potential of pop by being both infectious and accessible but also deep and meaningful, not a combination that we have seen on the dancefloor before but perhaps the start of something new.

Deep Down does lots of things but perhaps the most important one is that it raises pop’s IQ by a considerable degree, and that has got to be worth making a song and dance about. Dontchathink?