Universal Honey has been a mainstay in Canada’s music scene, with seven albums and numerous featured tracks in movies and television under their belt.
Formed by platinum recording artists Johnny Sinclair and Leslie Stanwyck after playing in the band The Pursuit of Happiness, Sinclair and Stanwyck’s songwriting partnership has spanned across three decades, 100+ tracks and hundreds of gigs across North America.
2023 marks their 30th anniversary and brings Dandelion, referenced by the duo as a remarkably resilient flower. Co-produced with Dan Marfisi, this is their first Universal Honey album in 18 years. Newcomers and old fans alike will enjoy its fresh, modern sound. Click here to stream Dandelion.
Love and loneliness swirl in the focus track “Time Blindness,” written around the time of the passing of musician Al Stanwyck, Leslie’s father. Thinking of his life and our own mortality, she tapped into the sweetness of the memories and the sadness of time being gone.
Folk duo, Crowes Pasture, have penned a new song which addresses finding commonalities within American society.
The Bostonians’ touring has led them to tour up and down the East Coast, granting them insights into the political perspectives of a wide array of individuals.
The plaintive and acoustic “Agree On” is what the duo considers to be a “prayer that we will be able to find common ground in a deeply divided democracy.”
“We are struck by how much people actually have in common as parents, children, workers, Americans, brothers and sisters.
For this country to move forward in a positive way, we need to acknowledge and respect differences, but we also need to appreciate the humanity that exists in everyone.”
Singer, songwriter, and musician KALEN has become a Brooklyn mainstay during residencies at Alligator Lounge and Spike Hill, performing high-kicks and jumping off amps in kinetic kinship with the audience. She began by hauling her keyboard and amp up and down Bedford Ave, forging a sound rooted in soul, funk and electronic music.
Getting set to release her newest EP, Silence Like Sirens, her electro pop single “Phoenix” bounces with an anthem like piano hook and a chorus that elevates the overall message of redemption and healing. The chorus is bound the get stuck in your head as you find yourself singing it throughout the day. It’s reminiscent of Madonna, both in her vocals and pop musical style.
“Phoenix” was named after a friend’s second child after losing her first. “I couldn’t fathom the pain they went through. Now, as a mother myself, it’s even more difficult to imagine,” shares KALEN. “I love the way the bridge really came to life on this one with that rhythm section! The most magical thing that happened on this song, though, was the choir that sang on the choruses! Maggie Collier arranged sick BVs and led 6 incredible singers. I was 8 months pregnant and the world was about to shut down, but we didn’t quite know it yet. We were all talking about whether or not we should hug goodbye (which we did).”
She’s performed at Brooklyn Bowl, Rough Trade, & Joe’s Pub, DC9 (Washington D.C.) and Hotel Café & The Mint (LA). During the pandemic, KALEN brought us into her world streaming her moody tunes in late night solo sessions. Performing live again KALEN tailors each performance (and the accompanying visuals) to the specific site and space, from analog slide projectors coupled with poetry and acoustic bands in Brownstoner salons to projection mapping and thumping tracks with a full electric band on stages around NYC.
Low Tide Levee is the rising band featuring seasoned musicians and lead by singer/songwriter, composer, drummer, pianist, and former marine biologist Amy Brookes. She writes the songs, sings lead vocals and harmonies, and plays drums, percussion, and keyboard. Her husband, Sasha Ames, is the band’s bassist and, sometimes, studio guitarist, and the trio is rounded out by a guitarist. Formerly, Low Tide Levee has included Chris Amato on guitar, engineering, and production, and Harold Spiva on guitar.
Their trippy and transformative music is fun and exciting with heavy, blues-based riff rock, stanky funk, and sneaky adventures into sprawling psychedelia. Lyrically, the songs can be mystical, playfully irreverent, and enlightening—sometimes in the same song. “A lot of the subjects we write about are things bubbling inside of me—themes of finding one’s power, and rising like a phoenix as an allegory. I’ve been through a lot of trauma in my life, and I am waking up to seeing the things that held me back,” Amy shares.
Their new single, “Dang Diggy,” is a whimsical 1960s garage-rock single with an ABBA meets The Beatles sound that came to Amy during one of her creative sessions at a local tea she frequented. The lyrics came to her quite quickly, but she never expected the band to love it. The song boasts a sing-a-long refrain and oozes mystical overtones.
“Eventually, I realized that this incredible mask we found for our music studio (the “Funk Palace”) *was* Dang Diggy, and that Dang Diggy was absolutely this non-gendered deity that hung about in the sky throwing down pies to whomever might be fortunate enough to receive them,” says Amy. “These days in band practice, we use Dang Diggy both as a great warm-up, and as a sort of casting of the circle for our ritual of music creation, offering homage to Dang Diggy as it hangs out above my drum throne on the wall. After this musical ritual, I can’t help but laugh, every time.”
“Dang Diggy’s” hallucinatory charms come to life via its silly and fun claymation video. The video depicts the character of Dang Diggy throwing pies down on someone alone in a boat, almost like Dang Diggy symbolizes a God or life and the person down below in the boat represents you and your reality. This figure sits there letting life throw everything they’ve got, good and bad.
The Los Angeles-based artist bridges the divide between 1980s dark wave and modern electro-textured indie pop. Her aesthetic also encompasses the confessional and poetic intimacy of the singer-songwriter idiom and the thrilling satisfaction of modern pop. Her soulful pop has earned her favorable comparisons to Lorde, Regina Spektor, Sara Bareilles, and Ingrid Michaelson.
Most recently, Lauren has released new single “3-2-1” and we are here for it! The pop creative took the countdown song to a fun and club dance orbit, circling around artists like Gayle and Fletcher, Halsey and even Old School Fergie all rolled into one hit track.
“I decided to write ‘3-2-1’ because I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to have a song that was not just fun to listen to, but also a song that was fun to sing along with to perform!”
The song is a blended mix of new age pop mixed with old school 2000 vibes and is arranged to perfection. This song is definitely a vibe and we can’t wait to hear more from Lauren!
To date, Lauren has released two EPs, and performed on RTE, Ireland’s National Television, at the International Rose of Tralee Festival, and appearances at the Viper Room and the Hotel Café. Waller has opened for many iconic bands such as Wilson Philips, Anna Nalick, A Flock of Seagulls, and most recently: Tower of Power. She was set to open for KT Tunstall prior to COVID-19, but the show has since been postponed.
Andrea Superstein is one of the most versatile voices in Canadian music today. Adding savvy vocals to whatever she touches, from nu-jazz and downtempo electronica to Latin grooves, Andrea lures listeners in with killer improvisational instincts, exceptional storytelling, and a red-hot band. Her music exemplifies powerful vocals evoking the gentle and the strong, the light and the dark, deep blues to pop confection, often in the same song.
In jazz, it’s common practice to reimagine existing songs. Andrea’s inspiration to arrange this particular song was a desire to focus on the present. She chose to cover Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” to pay homage to a song that was part of the soundtrack of her younger days. It’s a song that many people from her generation know and love, which is why it was the perfect choice for her to revisit from a fresh perspective and different instrumentation.
This single will be followed by a full length album later this year, Oh Mother, of mostly original songs. It chronicles stories of motherhood, rooted in Andrea’s own experiences and those of over 50 mothers who so bravely shared their stories.
“I really enjoy the challenge of taking a song that’s meaningful to me and finding a new way to interpret it while still honouring the original,” says Andrea. “I love that a listener might not recognize the song at first. I love that a less adventurous listener might say, ‘Hey, maybe this kind of jazz is worth checking out.’ Weezer is the gateway drug to jazz!”
Modern Mystery 
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