Toronto indie band Oba first crossed paths in high school, but it wasn’t until after graduation that they began jamming together seriously. During their college years, they all lived together, playing shows, writing songs, and, honestly, just hanging out. There was probably more hanging out than anything else, but that’s what built the foundation of the band’s bond.

Their latest single, “Could Have,” is a layered and dreamy piece of swirling indie rock. A collaborative and organic track, the band formed together naturally to tackle the feeling of “what could have been?” with poignant songwriting. It captures the feeling of reflecting on the past, knowing things could have unfolded differently, and feeling haunted by the lingering ghost of what might have been.

Kristen Anzelc is a dynamic songwriter and vocalist who immerses herself in music and pop culture. Her artistic journey began early, propelling her to become a Top 10 finalist in Johnny Wright’s “Search for the Next Super Group.” Demonstrating her passion for songwriting, Kristen co-wrote a song that earned the artist she helped write for a coveted spot in the semifinals of Eurovision 2018.

Kristen is excited to release her upcoming debut EP and is now sharing its first single, the melancholic and resilient, “Scars.” Proudly funded by FACTOR Canada, this project marks a significant milestone in her artistic evolution. After taking a break from music, she feels that the timing is finally right. As a big fan of horror movies and Halloween, it feels serendipitous that her return to music aligns with her favourite time of year.

Sleepkit is a band who can genuinely be described as mind-expanding; from the nucleus of their songwriting to the texturally-ornamented arrangements, they manage to imbue each aspect of their music with a sly veneer of otherness. Sprung from the minds of songwriters, singers & co-founders Ryan Bourne (Chad VanGaalen, Ghostkeeper, Plant City Band) and Marie Sulkowski (Texture Twins), Sleepkit’s repertoire showcases a band whose serious understanding of the pop song is buffered by beautifully detailed texture and a penchant for the slightly skewed. 

Bolstered by the addition of drummer Eric Hamelin (Alvvays, Joyful Talk, Ghostkeeper) and multi-instrumentalist Joleen Toner (Crystal Eyes, Plant City Band), Sleepkit are sharing their sophomore album, Camp Emotion, a nuanced and emotionally unarmoured refinement of their singular brand of experimental pop. Produced by Scott ‘Monty’ Munro, a prolific producer and multi-instrumentalist known for his work with Preoccupations, Chad VanGaalen, Lab Coast, and Ghostkeeper, Camp Emotion actualizes their idiosyncratic art-pop vision in a shimmering opus that explores the outer edges of song creation – functioning as well as a dancefloor soundtrack as it does a hazy, late-night headphone session through inner space.

The music behind “Camp Emotion,” the LP’s title track, came out of a late-night solo campfire session where Bourne was jamming on a little Yamaha Portasound keyboard. “The dubby feel of the demo reminded me vaguely of “Ghetto Defendant’’ by The Clash, so I asked Hamelin if he’d be our Allen Ginsberg,” Bourne explains. “He recited these great automatic phrases – partially addressing his son Sonny – into this giant old sampler Monty had gifted us, which we then messed with using varispeed and delay until they sounded totally demented.” The original campfire recording book-ends the track.

The album is an honest document of where we were at personally, collectively and musically – a really free exploration of emotion, psyche, spirit, tone, harmony and song craft. We’d tossed around calling it ‘Spectral,’ as a reference both to mental health stuff we’d experienced and the spectrum of visible light (with a nod to the paranormal), but landed on ‘Camp Emotion’, which seemed to evoke all of that but also sounded like a culty summer camp for neurodivergent adults… so it’s a kind of catharsis and meditation on our inner and outer worlds, for better and worse, with a specific devotion musically to the weird and the beautiful. 

Though each song on ‘Camp Emotion’ stands on own, the album is meant to be enjoyed in one unbroken sitting. The songs run one into the next with a few second break at the halfway mark, like sides of a mixtape – a little reprieve from the fragmented, attention-eroding mode in which we tend to consume media and, more and more, art itself. Long live the LP! 

 – Ryan Bourne

As obsessed with pop culture as he is detached from it, Toronto singer-songwriter and filmmaker David Jane brings a versed insight to the contemporary perspective, writing songs that are grounded in disconnection, uncertainty and desire. His voice is as honest as the thoughts and emotions he writes about. 

Following the 2020 release of David’s debut EP, Welcome to Today, he discovered new found inspiration in his lingering passion for film and enrolled at the Vancouver Film School. There, he found an amalgamation of community, creativity and adventure, fell in love for the first time and met many kindred spirits. Upon his return, David wrote, directed and produced his first short film, Apnea, which will officially premiere at Toronto’s acclaimed Blood in the Snow horror festival next month (November 2024).

Personally, however, the return home came with many new challenges. In Vancouver’s uncanny aftermath, David returned to a home that no longer felt like home, as if his life in Vancouver was left stranded outside of time. In reconnecting to the world and to himself as a person, however, David reconnected with himself as an artist as well, and, to process this transformative experience – the love, adventure and loss – he turned back to songwriting.

Brand new single, “Garden Out Back,” paves the way for a new set of songs that showcase a moment lost in time, reminiscing in hues of melancholic beauty. Inspired by David’s year in Vancouver and the slow fade ending of a relationship that began there, it begins by chronicling the helpless sense of futility in a long distance relationship before exploding into a desperate yearning to return to that lost time.

“Garden Out Back” marked my second collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Arion, perhaps best known for his solo project Mute Choir, and what’s been so great about Sam is that he’s able to create these deeply contemplative, ambient sonic atmospheres within the typical acoustic, somewhat traditional/folk-inspired structures I gravitate towards. The end-product then becomes this mix of traditional acoustic, lyric-focused songwriting that still centralizes the vocalist and the words while seamlessly pairing that with a very modern, contemplative, atmospheric soundscape. – David Jane

Shane Pendergast has folk music in his blood. Growing up in Prince Edward Island as a lifelong musical artist, he hails from a lineage of storytellers and musicians. Drawing inspiration from the landscapes and lore of his Maritime home, and university years in Toronto performing at pubs. Shane’s songs began to take shape, resonating with themes of community, history, and the sea.

In 2020, Shane returned to PEI, where he founded the Jack Pine Folk Club – a monthly gathering inspired by the coffeehouses of the 1960s, featuring a mix of traditional music and poetry. His 2021 album, Second Wind, won Contemporary Roots Album of the Year at the Music PEI Awards while his 2023 live album, The House Before the Bridge, was nominated for Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards.

Shane’s home is nestled next to a river. Whenever he looks out his window, he sees an ever-changing landscape which lent inspiration to the songcraft on “Only Drifting By,” his latest single about significant people in one’s life becoming strangers, and the complex feelings surrounding that. “I was contemplating the people I have drifted away from over the years,” Shane explains. “It was one of the rare songs for me that was written in one sitting.”

Hailing from Maple, ON, emerging indie pop artist Julian Daniel now divides his time between Toronto and Los Angeles, working full-time on his music. His blend of meaningful lyrics with upbeat instrumentals offers a fresh fusion of indie pop and rock and draws inspiration from artists like Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, and Gus Dapperton. 

Since debuting in 2019, Julian has released over 20 songs, including the viral track “Lemontree,” which earned attention from The Chainsmokers. His music often explores coming-of-age themes, love, and dirty secrets, and his songwriting process focuses on creating vivid, cinematic visuals through sound.

New single, “do you feel me?,” is a breathless confession, wrapped in rhythm, meant to touch your soul or heart. Every note feels like fingertips tracing your skin – soft, slow, electric. Inspired in part through hearing about friends and family’s past relationships, Julian wanted to write a song that would feel timeless in which people would listen and instantly recall memories of their former loves. 

It was supposed to be a solo song but, during the writing process, we realized it needed both perspectives in the relationship. I asked my friend Sofia Mills to write the second verse which perfectly encapsulates the emotions and headspace “do you feel me?” needed. She wrote her verse in 15 minutes, recorded it in Glendale, and we absolutely fell in love with it.
– Julian Daniel