Tag: Toronto ON

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video/New Audio: JOVM Mainstays METZ Share Two from Highly-Anticipated New Album

Toronto-based JOVM mainstays METZ‘s fifth studio album Up on Gravity Hill is slated for an April 12, 2024 release on Dine Alone Records in Canada and on Sub Pop for the rest of the world. The album, which is the JOVM mainstays’ first album in four years was engineered by Seth Manchester and features guest appearances from Black Mountain‘s Amber Webber and string arrangements by composer Owen Pallett.

Long known for blowing out eardrums with explosively loud songs of joyous rage, the Canadian JOVM mainstays — Alex Edkins (vocals, guitar), Chris Slorach (bass) and Hayden Menzies (drums) — have, over the course of their past couple of albums have begun exploring ways of turning abrasiveness into atmospherics. The evolution of their sound is not only a reflection of the band’s maturity as humans and as musicians, but also a changed world that demands much more nuance and compassion to comprehend and survive. Up On Gravity Hill reportedly finds the band continuing to bend the raw power of rock music to its most delicate, intricate ends. The album’s material may arguably be their deepest, detailed and unyieldingly personal batch of songs — and their most beautiful to date.

To spotlight this evolution in their sound and approach, the Toronto-based outfit has shared two contrasting singles:

“99,” a stomping and noisy motorik chug of a song built around their long-held penchant for shout along worthy, mosh pit friendly hooks choruses that sounds subtly informed by Edkins’ work with Noble Rot. Directed by John Smith, the accompanying video features the members of the trio performing the song in hazy and scorching VHS fuzz and computer generated 3D renderings. The single and its accompanying video are incisive commentary and criticism on our consumerist hellscape.

“Entwined (Street Light Buzz)” is a woozy and swooning song that sees the trio retaining their penchant for power chord-driven, enormous, shout along friendly hooks and choruses with a gorgeous and meditative shoegazer-like bridge.

“These two songs couldn’t be more stylistically and thematically dissimilar,” METZ’s Alex Edkins says. “‘Entwined (Street Light Buzz)’ is a song about the deep connection humans can foster with one another and how we carry people with us forever, even after death. ‘99’ is about the scourge of corporate greed and bottom-line thinking that runs rampant in modern society. Anything for a buck is the message being sent to younger generations.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s Mawzy Shares Hazy and Introspective “Better Man”

Toronto-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Matthew Cooke is the creative mastermind behind the emerging indie pop project Mawzy. And with the project’s debut EP Escapism and full-length debut, last year’s Long View, Cooke quickly developed an approach that sees him penning lyrics that capture the “unnavigability” of life and romance in his hometown paired with lush synths and crafted melodies.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Formed back in 2010, the acclaimed Toronto-based outfit BADBADNOTGOOD — currently Alexander Sowinski (drums), Chester Hansen (bass) and Leland Whitty (guitar, woodwinds) — can trace their origins back to when its founding members met while attending Humber College‘s jazz program. Since then, whether with three or four members — and more currently with three — the Toronto-based outfit has firmly centered a reputation for consistently crossing and blending genres and genre boundaries. Although jazz trained, they first gained attention for drawing from hip-hop and other contemporary genres to create a unique, difficult to pigeonhole sound.

Besides their own critically applauded releases, the members of BADBADNOTGOOD have collaborated with a eclectic array of internationally renowned artists across hip-hop, neo-soul, dance music and more, including Ghostface Killah, Kaytranada, Little Dragon, and Kendrick Lamar.

Back in 2021, the acclaimed Canadian trio signed to XL Recordings, who released their critically applauded fifth album Talk Memory. The album’s material saw the trio collaborating with an array of internationally renowned and acclaimed multi-instrumentalists including Arthur Verocai, Laraaji, Terrace Martin, Brandee Younger, and Karriem Riggins, and was inspired by their live shows. They’ve supported Talk Memory with some extensive touring with stops at some of the world’s best venues and festivals.

Since the release of Talk Memory, they’ve released an EP with Turnstile and a standalone single “Open Channels.”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past handful of years, you might already be familiar with acclaimed JOVM mainstay and frequent BADBADNOTGOOD collaborator Charlotte Day Wilson. Throughout her career, Day Wilson has developed a sound that draws from and features elements of folk, gospel and Quiet Storm R&B.

Her critically applauded sophomore album, 2021’s ALPHA served as a metaphorical coming out, that found her openly and honestly tapping into her queerness for the first time as a storyteller/songwriter. A few months after the album’s release, Drake sampled the Babyface co-written “Mountains” on the chart-topping hit “Fair Trade” featuring Travis Scott. Adding to a growing profile, she received praise for the supergroup remix of “Take Care Of You” featuring Syd, King Princess, Amaarae and the legendary and incomparable Meshell Ndegeocello.

Recently she collaborated SG Lewis and Channel Tres on “Fever Dreamer.” And back in August, Day Wilson signed with XL Recordings, who released “Forever,” featuring Snoh Aalegra, which was released to praise from The Fader, The Line of Best Fit and others.


The frequent collaborators joined forces yet again for their latest collaboration “Sleeper.” Recorded at legendary Los Angeles-based Valentine Recording Studios on analog tape, “Sleeper” pairs Day Wilson’s dreamy and effortlessly soulful delivery with a lush and breezy 70s AM rock-meets-soul arrangement that sounds inspired by Carole King’s legendary Tapestry and 70s Motown soul. The song evokes someone dreamily going through their life, avoiding conflict and upset — and never quite getting anywhere or anything that they desired.

“Sleeper wrote itself…we were in the studio just messing around and the guys came up with the colorful instrumental while I freestyled the lyrics,” the JOVM mainstay says of the new single. “The song portrays someone who chooses the path of least resistance and finds themselves in a lifeless, loveless relationship.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s Hot Garbage Shares Bombastic and Malevolent “Snooze You Lose”

Back in early 2020, following the release of 2017’s Max Blonda EP and 2019’s Coco Paradise, the members of Toronto-based psych outfit Hot Garbage — Alex Carlevaris (lead vocals, guitar), Juliana Carlevaris (bass, vocals), Dylan Gamble (keys, synths) and Mark Henin (drums) — went into the studio with Juno-nominated producer and Holy Fuck‘s Graham Walsh to cut a selection of tracks live and off-the-floor. The result was the blazing standalone single “Easy Believer,” and their full-length debut, 2021’s RIDE, which was released through Mothland.

RIDE quickly made its way into SiriusXM rotation through CBC Radio 3 and The Verge while also climbing to #3 on the Earshot Top 50 and #82 on the NACC Top 200. The album also received praise from internationally renowned outlets like Aquarium Drunkard and Louder Than War.

The Canadian psych outfit has also toured extensively across Canada, the United Staes, Europe and United Kingdom, playing sets at festivals like LEVITATION, SXSW, Treefort Music Fest, Freakout Fest, Sled Island, Sappyfest, FME, M for Montréal, Pop Montréal, and opening for L.A. Witch and Frankie and The Witch Fingers. They’ve also shared the stage with Osees, Ty Segall, JJUUJJUU, Mdou Moctar, Wand, Kikagaku Moyo and Dead Meadow.

Hot Garbage’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Precious Dream is slated for a January 19, 2024 release through Mothland here in the States and Canada and Exag’ Records across the UK and European Union. Written during pandemic-related isolation, Precious Dream was recorded late last year and sees them continuing their ongoing collaboration with acclaimed producer Graham Walsh. The album’s sprawling material reportedly sees the band retaining the signature tinge of moody, psychedelia that has won them attention both nationally and internationally but while careening into darker, searing post-punk inspired riffage.

Thematically, the material grapples with and touches upon dread, loss, the resilience of the human spirit and the highs and lows of solitude. The result is an album that will offer a new breath into the worlds of post-punk and modern psychedelia and a listening experience that’s equally introspective and cathartic.

“Snooze You Lose,” Precious Dream‘s breakneck first single sees the band meshing elements of seething post punk, relentless motorik krautrock and swirling shoegaze to create a bruising, nasty and downright malevolent ripper that’s face-melting and bombastic. Underpinning all of that is a song that’s features some of the most sardonic lyrics I’ve heard in some time. “The song is about how time passes when you stand still. Sometimes all you can do is laugh,” the band says.

Directed by the band’s Alex Carlevaris, the accompanying video for “Snooze You Lose” is frantic and decidedly lo-fi visual that’s playful, absurd and yet somehow menacing and uneasy. “Here Hot Garbage can be seen playing completely real instruments in their day-to-day attire. Seen in the video is: a live performance, a swing set, and a candid perspective of the daily grind,” Hot Garbage’s Carlevaris explains. “The video, with a budget of under $50 (mostly spent on fake blood), was shot on a cheap plastic toy camera and uses homemade props and movements from the camera and lights, resulting in a frantic, lo-fi presentation that is playful yet intense.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Alessia Iorio is a rising Toronto-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, best known as Alle The Dreamer. Iorio quickly established herself in the local scene, writing and recording with a series of collaborators in Toronto, Los Angeles and London, including Samuel Gerongoco, who has worked with Alessia Cara; Bram Inscore, who has worked with BTS and Andy Grammer; Jeff Shum, who has worked with John Legend and Camila Cabello; Dayyon Alexander, who has worked with Demi Lovato and Dua Lipa; and Negin Djafari, who has worked with Drake. She has also accumulated a bunch of credits in a relatively short period of time including as a featured artist of DVBBS‘ “Wicked Ways” and Morgan Page‘s “Beautiful Disaster,” and as a co-writer on Little Mix‘s “F.U.,” Baby Ariel‘s 2019 “I Heart You” and two singles for K-Pop star Suho.

Writing and performing as Alle The Dreamer, Iorio has quickly become known for dynamic songwriting and a unique dream pop sound that draws from a fluid bend of vintage and cutting-edge influences. The rising Canadian artist’s debut EP Starting Over was released last week.

“Starting Over came to be in a very organic way. The more songs I wrote, the more clarity I had on what the underlying themes were from all the music I was writing,” Iorio explains. “Writing this EP was a time of self-reflection, and self-isolation. It taught me the beauty in letting go and having faith. I struggled with these ideas my whole life as I’m a chronic overthinker. I let overthinking & overanalyzing mindset steal joy from special moments instead of being present.”

The EP’s latest single “Run Home to You” is an slow-burning, anthemic pop ballad built around glistening synths, the Canadian artist’s achingly tender and ethereal delivery before the introduction of skittering tweeter and woofer rattling beats and buzzing bass synths paired with enormous sing-along worthy choruses. Sonically recalling 80s pop ballads and JOVM mainstay ACES, “Run Home To You” evokes the whirlwind of confusing and contradictory emotions relationship can bring from beginning to end.

“I am just reflecting on how confusing relationships can be, the dynamics, dating in your 20’s, the highs and lows, and all the feelings you go through and experience for the first time,” the Canadian artist says.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s SWiiMS Shares Fuzzy and Swooning “All I Die For”

Toronto-based indie outfit SWiiMS — founding duo Mai Diaz Langou (vocals)and Colin Thompson (guitar) along with Cian O’Ruanaidh (bass) — can trace their origins back to 2018 when the band’s founding duo began writing songs together that blended Thompson’s fuzzy and jangling guitar swirl with Diaz Langou’s textured melodies and languid vocal. When O’Ruanaidh joined the band, he brought a unique blend of influences and hooky bass lines.

Sonically, the Canadian trio draw from a diverse spectrum of artists and elements including 80s New Wave, 90s Shoegaze, indie rock, Brit Pop and Dream Pop to create a sound that’s uniquely theirs.

SWiiMS’ debut EP, 2019’s Through Waves was released to critical praise and landed on the North American College and Community College (NACC) charts. Building upon a growing profile, the trio’s full-length debut, Into The Blue Night is slated for a November 10, 2023 release through Mint 400 Records.

Into The Blue Night‘s latest single, the swooning “All I Die For” sees the Toronto-based indie outfit firmly cementing their sound as fuzzy and swirling guitar textures are paired with glistening synth arpeggios, a propulsive rhythm section and languid vocal melodies to create a song that’s simultaneously dreamily uplifting and moody. While channelling 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock, the song as the band explains is about “the beginning stages of a relationship, and how you try to make yourself more intriguing or impressive than you are in order to keep that person interested. It also describes the feeling of hopefulness, bliss and loss of control that the start of any new relationship brings.
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The accompanying stylishly shot video for “All I Die For” features the band in a local park with Diaz Langou brooding in a climbable structure and with her bandmates on a swing behind her, stylishly shot footage of the band playing the song and footage of Toronto at night.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kirsten Ludwig Shares Glistening “Less”

Initially staring her career in Calgary and currently based in Toronto, acclaimed Canadian singer/songwriter, musician and producer Kirsten Ludwig has spent the past decade writing, developing and recording a sound that transcends city boundaries and exists in perpetual transition while supporting her work touring.

Ludwig’s full-length debut, 2018’s We Get It Now, created with Colin Stewart is a haunt-folk album that touched upon ethos of loss, grief, anger and fleeting optimism received critical praise and reached #19 on national college charts. The album’s critical and commercial success led to a headlining European tour.

Ludwig’s sophomore album Sunbeam is slated for a November 10, 2023 release through Oscar St. Records, the Victoria, BC-based artist-run indie label founded by The New Pornographers‘ and Frontperson‘s Kathryn Calder. Created with Layten Kramer and Colin Stewart, the nine-song album is a decided change of sonic and aesthetic direction with the Canadian artist embracing an 80s-inspired synth rock/synth pop sound.

As the material from Sunbeam began to materialize in mid-2020, Ludwig relocated cross-country. Wrestling with incessant chronic pain and homesickness, the album and its creative process came to a grinding halt. At the time, it was unknown if she would ever return to it. But moments before defeat, Ludwig summoned the determination to revive and finish the album.

For the Canadian artist, Sunbeam is aptly named — fully formed and a return to self. Thematically, the album touch upon themes of solitude, self-discovery, and the search for connection in a seemingly disconnected world. While sonically, the album sees Ludwig shapeshifting genres including indie rock, psych pop and synth pop throughout, the album is rooted in the same vulnerability and inner workings that she has always drawn from.

Built around shimmering synths, a motorik groove punctuated with relentless, driving drums, Ludwig’s ethereal delivery and chanted vocal-driven hook and chorus, “Less,” is an anthemic and decidedly Kate Bush-like track that seemingly evokes ice slowly cracking.

“It’s an exploration of rewriting patterns, changing directions, and choosing softness,” Ludwig says. ” As cheesy as it sounds, ‘Less’ is my way of acknowledging that it’s possible to let the goodness of others melt away your ice-queen tendencies,” she continues. “I spent over half of my twenties feeling numb to the world and, one day, a warm wave of tenderness engulfed me. It’s a head-nod to those who keep showing up for me. ‘Less’ started out as a quaint indie song with just me and my guitar. Layten Kramer (co-producer) and I knew we wanted something different from the song and we both decided to just have fun with it. My last record was this heavy, cathartic release I had been carrying around for years, so allowing myself to be playful was a new experience.”

The visualizer features gorgeous, dreamlike watercolored animation by Amélie Haeck.  

News/Announcements by William Ruben Helms
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If you’re a musician, an artist manager, an aspiring musician or an aspiring music manager, you should click on your calendar app and mark down July 26, 2023 for Music Managers Forum Canada’s Webinar: Building Buzz: Best Practices in Media and PR for Music Managers.

Music Managers Forum Canada will be bringing together three different international speakers to share invaluable insights and expertise on navigating the dynamic world of media and publishing relations in the music and entertainment industry.

What are some of the key strategies and tactics employed by successful artist managers to amplify their artists’ visibility and create lasting impact? This discussion will explore a wide range of topics, including crafting compelling press releases, building and maintaining media relationships, leveraging social media platforms, effectively managing crises, and harnessing the power of storytelling to captivate both traditional and digital media outlets. 

The panelists are:

Dalton Higgins, a Toronto-based publicist, award-winning journalist, author of six books and Toronto Metropolitan University‘s Music-Professional-in-Residence. His publicity roster includes highly acclaimed clients, who have won or have been nominated for Grammy Awards, BET Awards, Emmy Awards, The Mercury Prize, Victoires de la Musique, Juno Awards, Grammis and the Polaris Music Prize.

His book Far from Over: The Music and Life of Drake is carried in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Museum collection in Cleveland. His best selling book, Hip Hop World is carried in Harvard University‘s hip hop archive.

Higgins is a former music booker for Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre — and he has co-produced and co-hosted popular podcasts for media outlets like the CBC’s This Is Not a Drake Podcast, and Rogers Media’s Black Tea.

He teaches the university course “Deconstructing Drake and The Weekend,” a course that has been featured on CNN, New York Times, NPR, BET, Hypebeast, NME, GRM and 6ixBuzz among others.

Jack Parker is an artist manager and the Editor-in-Chief and Head of Live Music at LICKS Magazine, a quarterly print magazine widely distributed in both the US and UK.

And last but certainly not least, yours truly.

It’ll be informative, highly informative and entertaining. The webinar is free for MMF Canada members. They just have to log into their MMF Member Portal and click on the Member Discount and Events tab. The webinar is $20 for non-members. But I also have a free promo code. So feel free to hit me up for the code and event registration link, y’all.




Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Weird Nightmare’s Slow-Burning Cover of The Ramones’ “She’s The One”

Alex Edkins has developed and honed a reputation for being a master craftsman of sweaty, mosh pit friendly rippers as the frontman of Toronto-based JOVM mainstays METZ. 

His side project Weird Nightmare frequently sees the METZ frontman showcasing a different side of the long-established songwriting that has won him acclaim and fans across the globe: enormous, power chord-driven rippers with mosh pit friendly hooks and choruses but paired with a sugary, distorted power pop sensibility.

Last year saw the release of Edkins’ Weird Nightmare self-titled debut, which featured three singles I wrote about:

  • “Searching For You,” a fun, straightforward power pop banger, featuring shout-along-with-upraised-beer-in-the-mosh-pit choruses, earnest lyricism and the enormous power chords Edkins is best known for but with an accessible, old-timey inspired craftsmanship that makes the song incredibly radio friendly — as though it Edkins and his METZ bandmates were covering Cheap Trick or Big Star. “It’s a fun, no nonsense rock ‘n’ roll song,” Edkins explains. “It’s about searching for meaning and inspiration all around us. In my mind, the ‘you’ in the chorus refers to something bigger than companionship or love, it’s that intangible thing we all look for but never find.”  

  • “Lusitania,” Weird Nightmare’s sophomore single is a fun, old school rock/power pop anthem centered around Edkins’ unerring ability to craft an enormous, crowd pleasing hook paired with blistering guitar work and earnest songwriting. “‘Lusitania’ was a big breakthrough for the entire Weird Nightmare album. I realized that, musically, my goal was to make songs that would make people feel good!” Edkins says in press notes. “This idea of waking up from a terrible dream or winter changing into spring. Momentary relief. We all need that feeling right now and music has always been what I turn to most.” 

  • “Wrecked,” a driving and ardent guitar pop anthem centered around big hooks, enormous power chords and sweetly, lived-in lyricism. It’s also the first Edkins song that I can remember that features boy-girl call and response vocals, thanks to a guest spot from Bully‘s Alicia Bogannano. “‘Wrecked’ is about missing something,” Edkins says. “For me, it’s about missing my wife and son while on tour. Being away has become harder and harder to do. I think most people can relate to it.  Feeling impossibly far away from the ones you love and coming to the realization that you won’t feel whole again until you return. I was really happy to collaborate with Alicia (Bognanno) on this song and I love what she adds to it. Alicia has a one in a million voice. A voice that you recognize immediately and she really lifts the song way up.”

Weird Nightmare’s first single of the year is a cover of a Ramones classic, “She’s The One.” The Weird Nightmare rendition is a decidedly low-key and slowed down ballad-like take on the original featuring Beatles-like harmonies, fuzz guitar, shimmering pedal steel by Aaron Goldstein paired with Edkins unerring knack for catchy hooks. Interestingly, the ballad-like take on the punk classic, pulls out the swooning and heartfelt sentiment at the heart of the song.

Directed by Ladyhead Design, the animated video follows an animated Dee Dee Ramone skateboarding through the streets of Toronto to some of Edkins’ favorite haunts.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Frankie Flowers is an emerging Waterloo, ON-based artist. Originally desiring to explore electronic music, with the goal of being a DJ, the Canadian artist took a course on music production and learned how to spin on vinyl. But after an abysmal breakup and countless shifts working coat check at a Toronto area concert venue, Flowers’ musical direction changed: She found herself writing and creating alt rock/indie rock music as a release, rooted in the urge to use her words and voice as her main instrument.

The Waterloo-based artist’s self-produced work is influenced by her love of The Cure and Joy Division and sees her meshes elements of dark wave and post-punk.

Her latest single, the breakneck “I JUST WANT TO DISAPPEAR” is built around a looping and jangling guitar line, a relentless motorik-like rhythm section, enormous, rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses paired with the Canadian artist’s ironically detached yet yearning delivery. While sonically, bearing a resemblance to The Cure, The Smiths and Joy Division, the song is rooted in lived-in experience. The song’s narrator expresses the endlessly negative thoughts of someone caught in a dark, extremely negative headspace. And as the Canadian artist explains “It’s about chasing toxicity, repeating vicious cycles and how your mind can basically eat you alive, if you choose to let it.”