While firmly rooted in the present, Vancouver, BC group Odds certainly know a thing about the past. Founded in 1987 with their first album release in 1991 the group has spanned over 30 years of not only music but culture. The group also made the soundtrack for cult classic sketch series Kids In The Hall as well as Brent Butt’s Corner Gas series.

Now, Odds are thrilled to finally unveil their long-awaited seventh studio album, Crash the Time Machine – listen now. As the title implies, this new release firmly embraces the future and the possibilities of catharsis. “We seem to, for some reason, resolve even our most dire songs with a weird sense of optimism, at least that’s what we hope happens.” says singer and guitarist Northey.

Experiencing the loss of cherished, long-time friends such as Spirit of the West’s John Mann, the defiantly joyful highlighted track “Staring at a Blank Page” brings to bear that one could deal with immovable obstacles by altering one’s own perspective. What can’t physically change can be metaphysically changed. 

Crash the Time Machine is a vibrant painting of struggle and the community that both feeds it and transcends it. The band goes in new and exciting musical directions while retaining the dark ironic signature that has earned them a place in the hearts of listeners for over three decades. 

The band enlisted co-producer Steven Page. A good friend of the band since early 1990s, Page and Northey have remained frequent musical collaborators; Craig is a member of the Steven Page Trio, while Page is no stranger to sitting in with the Odds and employing them in his recordings. After collating their various musical explorations into a unified whole, Page and the Odds handed the whole thing to trusted mix engineer Paul Forgues, and the end result is a cohesive blend that redefines Odds music for 2023.

Page isn’t the Odds’ only musical friend helping out on Crash the Time Machine. The striking cover illustration comes courtesy of Rob Baker, a frequent musical collaborator and founding member of The Tragically Hip. 

The urgent need for community, in what could best be described as “interesting times,” is a running theme on Crash the Time Machine. Odds embrace the awesome power of Now, while celebrating the friends we make along the way. 

Keira Gray is a new pop artist from Faust, Alberta. She draws from her life experiences in love and heartbreak to create music that speaks to young hearts. 

“Summer Lovin’ With You” is about a whirlwind summer romance Keira had. Although her connection was very strong, it fell apart when they let the little things get in the way of their relationship. Though it was brief, the relationship was still worth having. 

In All Good Hope, the forthcoming debut album from singer, songwriter, and musician José Lobo, is a masterclass in intimacy. From the highly personal lyrical themes and sparse, delicate instrumentation, to the singing, which sounds like a friend whispering a secret into your ear, the experience of listening to In All Good Hope is akin to entering an inner sanctum, or what Lobo aptly refers to as “a reverie of the quotidian.” Originally hailing from Venezuela, Lobo has spent the better part of the last decade in a somewhat nomadic mode, splitting his time between his current homebase of Montreal, San Francisco’s Mission District, Paris, and also Hamilton, Ontario, where much of the album was recorded.

The title is a phrase he said a lot as a reply when someone asked him how he was doing, which literally translates to “All good, all good, nothing bad” from “todo bien todo bien nada mal.” It’s one of those phrases where depending where the comma is placed or the way that it is said, it can mean “Just pushing through” or “I’m thriving.” The lyrics really speak to those two corners of Lobo’s emotional landscape.

“I wanted to say that sometimes I feel like a third party of my own story,” says Lobo. “Sometimes I am the friend, sometimes I am bound to it like a tenant, and only sometimes do I feel like I know what it is that I came to the world to do.”

Combining the natural beauty of West Coast Canada with London, England’s urban forest, Connor Roff‘s luminous music embraces and showcases his dual nationality. With his deep and soulful voice, classical piano background and self-taught guitar skills, Roff has developed a distinctive style strongly influenced by artists such as Jeff Buckley, Maggie Rogers and James Blake. His songs and melodies reflect and celebrate his yoga teaching practice and passionate advocacy for the LGBT+ community.

“Sunlight” is a song inspired by a gay relationship and the healing power of the natural world – specifically that warm and euphoric feeling you get at the beginning of a new relationship, and also that sense of connection and presence experienced while surrounded by nature. 

Roff also brings his experience as a core member of the London Contemporary Voices Choir, using a layering technique with over 50 vocal tracks of his voice and that of Ilā Kamalagharan’s to create fullness on the song. It created this beautiful swirling texture of sound and the middle 8 section which sounds reminiscent of whale calls in the ocean.

The Beach Bats are two parts rock n’ roll, a weak shot of jazz fusion, fill the rest with punk rock and cheap margarita mix. Rim with rockabilly residue and garnish with fresh lime and cocktail umbrella. This Hamilton, ON, trio offer music that will put you in poor health and add years to your complexion like that sizzlin’ Florida sun.

The first lyrics of their song “Knockdown” feel as though they came to frontman Tony Doni out of a dream – one of those where you wake up sweating, unsure if what just happened was real or not. Through the metaphor of a rotting, dilapidated house, the song chronicles the erosion of a relationship from the inside out. The haze of indifference hangs around like dust. Portraits of better days adorn the walls, distant memories trapped in time. The song laments the loss of what could have been and reflects the pain of losing a love slowly, without the tools to fix what is left.

Limbo is the state in between life and death. A purgatory. Limbo is also about seeing just how low you can go. The double entendre was something that The Beach Bats wanted to explore lyrically over the course of the record with a mixture of lighter songs and others that were very personal. Hence, this seven track EP is titled Limbo. 

Some songs deal with the difficult psychological dances people do together. Others deal with the violences that lay on the outer edges of our imaginations. Others still question why we trap ourselves in our personal Limbo’s to begin with. Ultimately, The Beach Bats have created a collection of music that they hope provides the listener musical variety and a chance to reflect and relate.

Based in Montreal, Maze is a singer, songwriter, producer and sound engineer who started music driven by an old passion for videography. She aspires to fuse many of her favorite genres, from the alternative rock her parents listened to when she grew up to the music she danced to in her teenage years, creating a mix of alternative, electronic, hip-hop and afrobeats.

Her unique sound and hypnotizing universe have landed her placements on Samsung, Netflix, BBC, as well as working as a music producer for the latest SOCAN and Universal Music camps

Her latest single for the summer “show me to your bed” was written about an unexpected romantic relationship with her friend.  The single highlights her dynamic and stand out minimal yet gripping production style. “ I wrote this song when I was starting to fall for someone I never thought I’d date. We were friends for years and we had seemingly different lives but we got closer and I felt like I was falling for him.”