Bazarian is the project of Armenian-Canadian artist Armen Bazarian. His rich scope of sonic endeavors, from singing in choirs to composing for TV and film, has shaped his unique sound; where the worlds of pop production and dance sensibilities sit in harmony with one another.

“Can We Pretend?” his new gently nostalgic electro pop track, dissects how we can sometimes get lost in the movies we’ve made up in our heads, preferring to live in our fantasies rather than deal with reality.

Although rooted in a realist narrative, all of the characters within the fantasy that is conjured by the official video for “Can We Pretend?” share the main character’s face; a literalization of the idea of projection.

Technology has allowed us to create new possibilities. How authentic these possibilities are – and what they mean – is a question each person has to answer for themselves.

Canadian rock band, A Short Walk to Pluto, combine the eclectic styling of progressive rock with catchy hooks and rhythms to create a uniquely modern sound. 

Their new single, “Harder to Breathe,” is an earnest acoustic guitar and string led number that blossoms into an electrified love story. 

Lyrically, the band has chosen the orbits of Earth and Venus to chart the dance of perfect symmetry that is love. This is impossible without both moving parts and requires each party to step out of their comfort zone in search of their Venus – their goddess of love.

Along the way, one may find their Winter, a beautiful and delicate being whose appeal is suppressed by their cold, unwelcoming touch. One can only hope that they are not stifled by their Winter and continue the search for their Venus. 

Toronto’s Cherry Blaster pushes intimate bedroom pop musings into curious and full sonic dreamscapes. Brainchild of frontwoman Iulia Ciobanu, the trio explores longing and uncertainty while striking the perfect balance of closeness and detachment. 

Playful, with aggressive edges and an eccentric approach to rhythm, Cherry Blaster reveals “New Age” about self-acceptance accompanied by an all-pink, soft-sci-fi music video.

Whether the greater source of this fear was external or internal, as Iulia approached her thirties, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her “time was up” as an aspiring musician. One morning in her late 20s she woke up from a dream in which her silver hairs were turning pink and was struck by the image. She turned it into a song that extended the dream into an alternate reality where she could transform herself into a forever young cyborg. 

Raised on the cool precision of late-aughts guitar music and the melodrama of post-rock, Hamilton, ON’s Ellevator hold lean hooks and sweeping crescendos in perfect tension. Frontwoman Nabi Sue Bersche wields her arresting lyricism with clear-eyed lucidity, drawing deeply personal reflections from big themes like power, love, and loss. 

Following the release of their recent single, “Easy,” “Charlie IO” is the second offering from Ellevator’s forthcoming debut album (set for release in 2022). The mid-tempo indie pop track is about confronting a friend who’s seeking self-discovery through psychedelics and other pseudo-religious escapisms without doing the hard and un-sexy work of real self-reflection and owning your shit. 

Listen in here:

The discordant but ultimately alluring sounds that Calgary’s Ghostkeeper produces are a testament to the band’s collective, unfettered creativity.

“Grassy Plains,” their melodically curious new quirky indie rock track, charts a fantasy based on a post-apocalyptic scenario where the protagonist’s man has gone off to fight as a revolutionary soldier.

Driven to seek the help of the minegishi (sacred little people), she gathers medicine and words to bring her love home.

From The Wilderness of Manitoba’s inception, the band has redefined itself with every new release. Following a three year hiatus, they return with a new line-up and album, Farewell To Cathedral – about leaving your safe place in order to move forward and grow. Many of the album’s songs deal with loss through the eyes of hope – believing in the hope one can find through melancholy. Listen to Farewell To Cathedral in its entirety here. 

Just ahead of the LP release, they share “The Well Has Run Dry” about accepting responsibility for failure and moving through adversity, rather than dwelling on disappointment.

The protagonist is an older man who looks back on his life and reflects on certain tragedies, but fails to realize that he played a major role in their occurrences.