Toronto’s HjNX have a brand new single to share following their last release, “Meteorite.” “MOVe” feels like the heartbeat of a metropolis surging towards the brink. 

Steady synth lines and drums ground this dreamy and uplifting indie pop song. 

HjNX describe “MOVe” as “a séance to lift a haunting spell of inertia. As the Stones instructed, ‘you gotta MOVe,’” whether beaten down, battered, or bruised.

The track features contributions from friends of the duo, Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene and Ernesto Barahona (Arkells, Birds of Bellwoods, Conor Gains). 

Hailing from Canada’s North in the Yukon, Speed Control is the rock band that can make you move—even at minus 40 degrees. Brothers Graeme and Jody Peters are joined by members Eric Holland and Greg McLaughlin to bring new, riff driven rock to the world.

The band’s upcoming single, “Danger Pay,” is a hard hitting throwback to 80s thrash metal with a polished edge which harkens back to the sounds of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. 

“Danger Pay” tells the story of brothers heading off to war, but is also an allegory for the relationships that siblings go through. When it comes down to it, you fall back to those you consider to be your family. 

Born in a small suburb just outside of Toronto, Loren Aronov was raised in a large household of music lovers, igniting her passion for singing and songwriting as early as she can remember. Now, she is developing her craft with some of the top producers in the game to create a catalogue of songs rarely seen by artists barely in their teens.

Pop single “Enemy” tells the story of two-faced friends who made Loren feel like she was doing something wrong and bringing out the worst in her.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Mike Legere is an indie-rock songwriter and producer now based out of Toronto, ON. After years spent playing with bands like Century Thief and Places Erupt, he embarked on his solo career in 2018 and released his debut Ourselves in Public LP that same year. To support the record, Mike booked a solo tour with Dante Matas and his band, who share members with Century Thief. Omar and Colin McNally joined him for a few songs throughout the tour, and later joined the project along with Greg O’Toole (Places Erupt).

New single, “Love Songs (In Fear Of Dying Penniless),” was recorded live off the floor to capture the energy the band had developed. A dark and brooding song about navigating break ups and loss with our friends and community, it captures the feeling of suddenly being on the outside, surrounded by one experience of grief and expected to perform another. 

Toronto music scene stalwarts, Paul Shepherd and Owen Marchildon, have spent the last twenty years writing songs and playing in various different bands. The addition of longtime friend and celebrated artist Val Calam was just the lift they needed to create their new project, High Wasted. Together they blend simple punk tones and exploratory lyrics that push towards a velvet induced frame of mind. 
Their latest single, titled “Chuck Says,” is a grim reenactment of the working relationship between Linda Lovelace and her suitcase pimp husband, Chuck Traynor. High Wasted showcases their knack for musical lyricism and dense pillars of sound, spreading strange circumstances all around.

High Wasted shares:

“Chuck Says” is a reenactment of a scene from the iconic porn film, Deep Throat, starring Linda Lovelace. 

Her husband, Chuck Traynor, was a suitcase pimp – a jealous, hot headed man who controlled and capitalized on his wife’s efforts through prostitution and violence.  

On the set of Deep Throat, Chuck was driven nuts by the mutual attraction between Linda and her co-star, Harry Reems. 

As the cameras rolled, it has been said that Chuck could be heard screaming from the sidelines, “Linda!!! Go deep!!!” 

We really wanted to make “Chuck Says” a testament to Chuck’s pervasive stance of control and his endless insecurities regarding Linda’s stardom. 

“Chuck Says” is a grim and grungy open tuned song that riffs in an Open C of filthiness. It will swallow you whole.

We invite you to listen and enter into the strange decade of sleazy sexual expression and the sunken guts of the American Dream that ooze into the world of this song.

Ahead of his upcoming 2022 LP, The Story That Lived Here, Edmontonian songwriter Ben Sures is sharing “Boring People,” a piece of acute folk introspection that wrestles with the zeitgeist.

“I was trying to be honest, asking myself real questions. So much of what we tell ourselves and others is just to navigate society, to get along, to function, to not be outcast, and so much of it can be at the expense of our own truth, our emotional and mental health,” says Sures.

Ben shares:

Here is  my song ‘Boring People’, for some of my fans it’s their favourite song in the whole wide world. This is actually the third recorded version but for me it is the definitive version.

Who are we? Is this all there is, does anything we do or that happens matter? In the developed world we get hung up on fate, destiny and things that we think we’re meant to be while a larger part of the world is hunting for clean drinking water or trying to escape impossible conditions. So the question is ‘does any of it matter? I’m just posing the question, that’s my job as a songwriter I don’t have an answer.

“Boring People” explores how so much of what we tell ourselves and others is just to navigate society, to get along, to function and to not be an outcast. Much of this can be at the expense of our own truth, including our emotional and mental health.

Connection is at the heart of this song, Sures speaking plainly about the honest realities of human nature. Recorded live in the studio, his acoustic guitar is complemented by upright bass and violin.