A newcomer to the music scene, Canadian actress Jordy Benattar has an enchanting and carefree sound. Influenced by experiences that make us look within, and world-changing events that make us look out, Jordy has a unique way of pouring universal feelings into mellow, magnetic music. Her songwriting dances on the matrix of indie, folk and the softest of pop and feels like the most honest conversation you’ll ever have.Jordy is most interested in collaborating with artists who bring a different sound than she does to the studio. Keen to write for producers and other singers, she views the songwriting process like a chemistry experiment, where different elements combine to produce something completely new.

Jordy’s songwriting is on display on her new single, “Falling” featuring Tyler Simmons. The song captures the internal monologue, self-doubt, and daydreams that come along with having a crush. The vocalists alternate and harmonize to mirror each other’s fears and feelings, laying bare the seesaw we all experience when falling into life’s best (and most vulnerable) adventure.

As a project, Graeme Cornies’ Kodiak Arcade is a hi-fi homage to the lo-fi  sounds of the past. It’s a set of sonic landscapes, where the humanity of the organic performances are intertwined with sounds that can only be created by modern tech. Graeme spent a lot of time thinking about his own relationship to technology while making Kodiak Arcade’s debut album, Arcade. From the time he spent consumed in the fictional worlds of Sierra games as a kid, and how those stories affected his real-world self. 

Focus track, “Silicon Hill,” began with a dream. Two friends sat on a hill at sunset, looking into the distance at a newer sort of Art Deco city skyline. Everything around the city was a desert, though there was no sand in sight. The whole desert was made of a sort of semi-soft silicon with faint lines underneath – like patterns of a motherboard under the desert’s milky surface. 

This song title is also a nod to the time Graeme spent in Silicon Valley, at events like the GDC, where he spent many nights year after year talking with passionate artists and programmers in the game industry, getting high on talk of the future, admired artists and the meeting places between art and technology. 

New Hampshire-based Steven H Scott writes folk music for gentle, earthbound spirits. An avid traveler, hiker, and backroads walker, Steven pulls inspiration from the most natural of experiences. His EP, Albino Road, is scheduled for release on May 14th — but the title track, “Albino Road”, is out this now.

“Albino Road” was inspired by a real location near Steven’s hometown in North Andover, MA. As the story goes, back in the 1600s, two young albino boys were drowned by the town’s elders due to their appearance. Of this abhorrence, Steven sings, “History, we shunned the different, but history is me and you… How can we be so blind?” He calls out the cruel cycle that society so often finds itself in — shunning the apathy we all feel towards those unlike ourselves.

The track carves out the tale of the two albino boys beautifully as Steven’s raspy voice carries the tune atop gentle piano rolls and warm guitar strums. His lyrics conjure up the imagery of a lonely forested road, the kind of which would allow for a legend to lay alongside it. Take a moment to listen and reflect alongside Steven, and look out for his highly anticipated EP release later this year. 

Currently based in Madison, Wisconsin, singer and self-producer Lo Marie is bringing to life her new, relatable single “The Gap”.

The track shares the struggle of the pay gap for women in industries across the board, not only in the U.S. but across the globe.

 Lo Marie utilizes jazz inspired instrumentation and her sultry vocals in order to grab the listener’s attention and connect to them on a personal level. She knew what she wanted to do with this song and executed it perfectly. “The Gap” combines jazz and funk with neo-soul. 

Lo Marie’s aesthetic encompasses jazz harmonic constructs, urban grooves, soulful guitar passages, and the expressivity of the jazz and neo-soul vocal traditions. Her debut EP, Beyond the Age of Reason(2012), produced by ace Nashville session man Jerry Kimbrough, earned Lo Marie an international following, enabling her to tour the US from New York to Los Angeles. Her follow-up, Solid Ground(2015), also produced by Kimbrough, won the “Jazz Album of the Year at the 2015 MAMA Awards (Madison Area Music Association Awards). In 2018, Lo Marie won MAMA awards for “Best Female Vocalist,” “Best Jazz Performer,” and “Cover Song of the Year” for her duet, “I’ve Got A Crush On You,” with the legendary guitar player Cliff Frederiksen.

Brooklyn based EDM band Gift of Tongues has just released their new single called “Art of Loneliness.” This is a single that is part of their upcoming album, The Perfect Son. David Johnston, the heart and soul behind the band, wanted to create a safe space for himself and his listeners to have conversations about mental health through music. He is a singer-songwriter whose mission is to make music about mental health that is not depressing and slow, but energetic and empowering. 

“‘The Art Of Loneliness’ is a dance-pop song which sounds triumphant, but upon closer listen feels tragic. The lyrics here are the closest I get to a private monologue with me trying to convince myself that loneliness isn’t such a painful situation. I’m trying to trick myself into thinking being alone isn’t so bad and the artful way I do it,” says Johnston about his track. The powerful dance beat allows for the song to have a strong dichotomy. The lyrics offer an important dialogue while the beat allows for a fun loving dance party. This single is just a sneak peak of their next release, The Perfect Son. We’re so excited to hear what else Gift of Tongues has to offer.

For Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat), Jeremy Ruzumna (Fitz and The Tantrums) and Erik Janson (Wildling), Left Field Messiah is their embrace of their internal calling: a rallying cry to document their impulsive, weird, eclectic and even ugly ideas. Their music teeters between soul and dark funk in one moment, and quickly disintegrates into howling rock on the next. In this age of endless distraction, we need to embrace our moments of internal rebellion and find a lane to express it. For Bays, Ruzumna and Janson, Left Field Messiah is that—their search for a way out.The band’s previous single, “Fuzz Machine,” is currently #30 at Canadian Alternative Radio. They’re now following up with “Young Libertine” – a funky, nostalgic track with futuristic flourishes.