The beauty found in art, as in life, is about friction: joyful songs with sorrowful lyrics, minor key riffs over doo-wop chord progressions, or a post-communist refugee songwriter surrounded by a cushion of North American veterans of guitar pop. Adam Sabla is an example of all three, and leading the band Loose Fang seems to be a perfect fit for him. The Czechoslovak-Canadian tunesmith was lucky to find a full band of collaborators (Jay Slye, Catherine Hiltz, and Ian Browne) and bunker down in the port town of Steveston, British Columbia to create the full length Live Wires, Black Sheep, a title that reflects their penchant for guitar buzzing and finding the wandering souls of the nearly deceased guitar generation. 

The title of their focus track “Goodbye” says it all – it’s about a breakup after a long, co-dependent relationship – the kind you’re in when you don’t know how to be because you’re young. It’s flawed but formative and impassioned – both during and after.

“Goodbye” is a perfect representative of the rest of the album, which revolves around love, heartbreak, self-medicating and feeling guilty for it; seeing ourselves repeating mistakes borne of class and political divisions. In essence, grappling with a variety of existential crises to a danceable backbeat, loud guitars, and melodies that are deceptively simple. It has the melodicism of 80s college rock like the Replacements or REM, but with the ferocity of Raw Power Stooges or the Buzzcocks.

19-year-old Aidan Skira is self-taught, self-produced, and self-animated, with an organic following of bedroom-music-heads and kids from the suburbs who relate to the heartbreak of being exposed to the truths of adult life. With a drive to help others find light in dark times, Aidan knows he has a unique perspective to share with the world and he’s bringing his people with him. Signed to Wax Records, he will be releasing his first EP this winter.

Latest single, “I Tried,” was inspired by the need to break up with a now-ex as his overall happiness progressively worsened in the relationship. When he ended up breaking it off and stopped communicating with her, she made up disgusting rumors and Aidan was attacked by her friends for things he didn’t do. The song talks about how he dealt with the whole situation.The accompanying lyric video was animated a few years ago with Aidan drawing everything on his iPhone as he had yet to acquire an iPad or Apple Pencil. Its yellow theme was a welcomed break from his usual purple aesthetic.

After more than a decade long retreat from recording and performing, singer-songwriter Allen Dobb is returning with a new album, Alone Together, scheduled for release on February 9th, 2024. It’s a collection of ten new original songs drawn from characters, stories, and landscapes that are part of Dobb‘s experience working as a range management specialist in the interior of British Columbia. The vein of the Fraser River, and BC’s interior landscapes run through many of his new songs.  The first single, “All Costs,” is also the first song written by Dobb in several years. It charts the course of a rural couple coming to terms with their years spent together living on the land.The melody came from a recording that Dobbs had archived a year or two before. After lots of lyrical exploration, the song drew on several threads. One being the easy fate of the river flowing slowly downhill contrasted with challenges that rural ranch life can bring in a relationship. Another thread was drawn from images and conversations he had gathered while helping with recovery efforts in the ranching community following the 2017 Cariboo and Elephant Hill wildfires.Alone Together was produced by Dobb’s brother and close collaborator, Cameron Dobb. It was recorded at their respective studios over the pandemic in Vancouver. Steeped in their own rural roots growing up on a farm in northwestern Alberta near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the brothers bring a depth and maturity to the songs and the production. The ten-song recording has a warmth and authenticity that harkens back to some of the classic country sounds of the 1970s while at the same time, it has its own currency.   

Saskatoon based artist Daryl Uhrin launched their solo pop punk project, Everybody’s Side Project, which was born out of significant personal loss. The untimely passing of loved ones led him to channel his grief into his music, reigniting his deep-rooted passion for songwriting and performance.

Despite typically critical audiences, Everybody’s Side Project has received ample support, which has encouraged him to pursue this endeavor wholeheartedly. 

Everybody’s Side Project is more than just a musical venture for them – it’s a testament to the transformative power of music, its ability to heal, and its exceptional capacity to turn adversity into opportunity.

“While ‘Stink Piss‘ narrates a story of betrayal, it’s also about strength and resilience. It’s about facing our demons, standing up to those who’ve wronged us, and finding our own path despite the challenges.” – Daryl Uhrin  

The driving single comes off Everybody’s Side Project’s debut After Thought EP.

Kandle can weave magic so powerful because she feels it too, she is out here in the darkness with us. A true music industry veteran, she has been a powerhouse in the scene with an impressive career spanning over a decade.“Live A Lie” is the first single off her next album to be released spring 2024. Coming back bolder than ever, self-produced and in charge, this fearless chanteuse shows us once again that her cinematic, raw songwriting can’t be packaged up and put in one simple category. With a wide range of influences ranging from Portishead to PJ Harvey, “Live A Lie” is a hypnotic taste from one of Canada’s finest songwriters.

The edgy track offers a reflection on a society that’s burnt out. Her powerful lyrics point out the modern day contradictions that make us question “why are we living a lie? What, if anything, is the payoff for paying these bitter dues?” The combination of Kandle’s chilling vocals, Jeffrey Mitchell’s hooky hammer-on guitar riffs and Yato Noukoussi’s bold and tight percussive performance will have this earworm stuck in your head 24/7.Kandle’s forthcoming album is a crescendo of all of her years immersed in music and an intimate knowledge of the many ways this industry, this world can break one’s body and heart. Arguably her strongest and heaviest release yet, one that is completely vulnerable and unwaveringly honest; an ode to the darkness that surrounds us and the connections we find in it together.

Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Dan Pallotta is sharing “Kickin’ a Stone,” the latest single from his upcoming sophomore album, Winnebago Dreams (set for release on November 17th), a folk reflection which is imbued with child-like wonder.

Pallotta paints the scene that inspired the songwriting: “I go for a three and a half mile walk each morning on narrow country roads around our home. I pass cows and chickens, sheep and their little lambs, sometimes a few miniature horses pulling a small coach that my neighbor Peter drives around. It’s my favorite time of the day, and over the years I’ve developed a group of friends that are passing the other way and we stop and chat. 

So, what inspired the song was, literally, kicking a stone down the road like I used to do when I was a kid—like we all did‚ trying to see how far I could get it to go, and realizing that such a pursuit is not a frivolous waste of time. Doing the mindless things we did as children—daydreaming, playing with direct, kicking rocks down the road, these things are good for the soul.”

The warm and simple arrangement features a subtle drum groove which adds texture to Pallotta’s reflections. “We’re all living together in the ‘I don’t know,’” he sings. Reflecting on these lines, the artist states that “we all live with existential dread. But we talk about the weather instead of the deep, deep mystery that is life, instead of talking about the things that keep us awake at night.”