Punk rock outfit Yours Truly comes at us with the energy and attitude our summer was missing with their latest track “Walk Over My Grave.” The video for the track is just as chaotic and beautiful as the song, a live performance of sorts. While the band plays, bright colors overlay and frantic frames interweave. Shots of individual band members, with art placed sporadically set the tone for a track that wreaks of heartbreak and loss.
Oughts influenced pop-punk outfit Young Culture has certainly stayed busy during the pandemic. Made up of childhood friends Alex Magnan (vocals), Gabe Pietrafesa (guitar), and Troy Burchett (guitar), the group spent one day a week during the lockdown portion of the pandemic writing and creating together. Their collective efforts will be shown off with the release of their record Godspeed later this month. But today, we have a taste of it with the title track.
A glittering summertime track, we will be playing this track at all of our backyard shindigs for the rest of the season.
Toronto-based pop artist Allegra Jordyn is coming at us with a brand new track and music video, just in time for America’s holiday weekend. While most of our playlists will be filled to the brim with party tracks to keep us afloat on this boat/beach-crazed holiday, you’re really going to want to spend some time with this jewel-toned video and the sparkling synths that back the introspective track. Explains the artist:
“Numb” is what I like to call my anti-party anthem, and I think the video actively shows this,” she explains when elaborating on her single. “I wrote it at a time where I was suffering mentally but refused to let myself become numb to deal with my problems like people around me would do.
The video perfectly depicts the feeling of loneliness, even in a party setting. Those of us who are not in celebration mode – who have ever felt completely detached from our surroundings – will relate to both the easygoing track and its beautiful visual, directed and edited by Chris Grey and Allegra Jordyn.
Looking for a song that will kick you in the balls? (Think Fefe Dobson teaming up with Machine Gun Kelly.) “Bad Day” by Charlotte Sands is equal parts electro-pop and nightclub, entirely danceable and entirely too fun not to be into. A little bite, a bass drop, and an upbeat, anthemic feel help to pack a punch with some slightly depressing lyrics. But, I mean, who hasn’t had a bad day lately? What’s more? The chorus itself feels like it comes directly out of the darker, adult version of Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
I had a no good, really bad, messed up day And I’m stressed out, super sad, not okay I’m never getting better, no, it’s not a phase And I like it that way (Like it that way)
Admits the artist of the track:
So often in life, we’re told to be positive and get over things quickly, but I’ve always felt that we need to fully feel every emotion in order to move on. ‘Bad Day’ is about recognizing your lows so that you’re able to grow. When everything feels like it’s going wrong and the world is falling down around you, leaning into that feeling of being at rock bottom is sometimes the only thing that can make you better.
Isaac and Thorald Koren – or The Brothers Koren – recently released their debut collection of tracks, an exquisite full-length titled I Went To The Sea To Be Free. Dedicated to the memory of their grandmother – who flew her plane over the Southern Ocean on Mother’s Day of 1974 and was never seen again – the album itself is laced with a sense of longing in the emotional lyrics. It’s hard to believe that the brothers approached music separate from each other, and later discovered their co-creating abilities. Their harmonizing abilities are almost haunting in a way, as displayed in tracks like “Say Everything”, “Gold”, and “Like Water”. (And virtually every other gorgeous track in this collection.)
Beginning at a leisurely clip with “Easy,” the album is introduced to us in a lighthearted, open-minded way. The song itself encourages its listener to take things as they come, while the brothers sing of how easy life can be with the right person. They transition with ease into the remaining thirteen tracks, presenting a true storytelling ambiance to the piece. Their cover of Prince’s 1984 hit “I Would Die 4 U” would otherwise fall short however the single has been stripped down into a different realm than its existing danceable pop energy, highlighting the love letter nature of it all. Crowd favorites include “Like Water”, “Beyond the Wild”, and “More Than You Know”.
As we celebrate PRIDE throughout June, we revel in the vulnerability that sparks new relationships, new collaborations, and new art. With light-as-a-feather vocals, artist and mental health advocate X. Ari details the experience of discovering her sexuality in her new track “Stranger to Saviour.” Explains the artist of the single:
‘Stranger to Saviour’ is about how I fell in love with a woman after a lifetime of dating men. The lyrics tell a playful, exploratory, honest, and emotional story about my experience with this big life change and how my new romance, with my first ever girlfriend, Anja, has changed me forever. Love is a powerful healer. I am so grateful for my awakening and for my willingness to be fluid so I was able to attract true love. It’s dedicated to Anja whom I love & adore – we ‘started as strangers, now you’re my saviour.’
In true anthem fashion, the instrumentals explode into a gorgeous cacophony of bass-heavy sound multiple times during the introspective song. Equal parts hopeless romantic and openly self-aware, “Stranger to Saviour” will no doubt become an anthem for many. So listen now, open your heart, and feel into your own story by checking out the track below!
Summertime is a time to enjoy the world around you, take some time to slow down and soak up the beauty in life, and to become inspired in your creative endeavors. So, naturally, what a perfect time to release a single that addresses just those things. Singer/songwriter Anthony Savino has done just that, employing his quintessential light, carefree vocals to drive the point home. As the song progresses at a danceable clip, its lyrics envelope you in a feeling of emotional freedom, like the world is your oyster.
Explains the artist of the track:
When I first started writing “One-Track Mind,” I wasn’t sure what it was about. But I kept working on it and I played it for some people, and eventually, I realized that it was about the creative process, and to a larger extent my experiences making music. The song goes through the progresses, failures, diversions, distractions, and whatever else it takes to create something, whether it’s a song or a songwriting career.
I don’t have one process or method for songwriting, but I do have a stubbornness to just do it anyway, and that’s one of the meanings of the title. But I also think it’s about knowing when to say enough’s enough. Sometimes the creative process can be a black hole; it can take over my whole world and I lose perspective. I can spiral for a long time if I don’t step back and look at the big picture.
Fiona Apple fans, rejoice! Within the first 9 seconds of Lizzie Loveless’ new track “Window,” you can feel a familiarity in the vocals that absolutely trace back to Apple. Plus, the instrumental composition the song transitions into by the 58-second mark is absolutely reminiscent of some of our 90s favorites. And yet, the melancholy you can feel in the track is still somehow all Loveless’ own. Coming from an entirely vulnerable space, the song bursts forth with an energy that is both magnetic and intrinsically sorrowful at the same time. Explains Loveless of the track:
I wrote “Window” a few years ago. The song was first written when I knew my relationship at the time had ended. He had gone for a walk to take some space and I was waiting for him to come back, looking out the window. But I could feel a shift. I knew what was coming. I knew when I looked at him, he had already left. It was as if in a single moment his face had changed and I no longer knew him.
So, I was thinking, then what? What comes next? Essentially all you can do is wait, wait for the heartache to pass. This song definitely captures a chapter in my life, a painful ending… I’m thankful it’s in the past.
For those going through a rough time, you may have found your match in this track. Enjoy a listen (or five) to “Window” below.
Synths: Lizzie Lieberson Bass: Josh Werner Drums, Drum Programming: Daniel Schlett Produced by: Lizzie Lieberson and Daniel Schlett Engineering: Miles Francis and Daniel Schlett Assistant Engineering: Garret De Block Mixed by Daniel Schlett Mastered by Alex Deturk at Strange Weather Studio and The Bunker Studio (Brooklyn, NY) Recorded at Cornelia Street Studio (Greenwich Village NY), Strange Weather Studio (Brooklyn NY), Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) and Ellen’s house (Halifax, NS)
June has been pretty splash-worthy, what with the heatwave enveloping the country and all that jazz. The first shot of Dawson Fuss’ new music video depicts cool, blue waters. The remainder of the video keeps with a majority of cool tones helping to communicate the melancholy nature of the track itself. Splashes of red play in before combining for a full-color effect in limited frames. After all, “Right Person, Wrong Time” is a single we can all relate to in some capacity.
Get drawn in by this attractive track, and its vivid music video accompaniment, below.
