Toronto
SEE: U.S. Girls – ‘IOU’: classic pop craft caught in the studio
THE NAME may have originated in a casual joke all those years ago, but Meghan Remy’s U.S. Girls project fashions a very true and lovely music, bringing those classic vocal tones she has to intelligent pop music – and by pop, we of course mean pop as in Carole King, as in St Vincent. Pop …
SEE: Yves Jarvis – ‘For Props’: a soulful, acoustic maverick
THERE’S something in the Canadian water at the moment: something that seems to promote one-man artisans, off crafting a chiming and exploratory pop, one in which they fuse elements as instinct tells them, searching, finding new colours and textures. Toronto’s Sing Leaf is off fashioning this synthy-psych-folk odysseys such as “Sunshine” (and his September album, …
See: Moscow Apartment release gorgeous video for ‘Halfway’
Moscow Apartment‘s EP ‘Better Daughter’ (recently reviewed by Backseat Mafia) is packed with brilliant melodies, and the single ‘Halfway’ epitomises what makes this Toronto duo so special. Yearning vocals and a simple but catchy riff that are spine tingling and fresh. Moscow Apartment have just released a video to accompany this song about the bonds …
TRACK: Sing Leaf – ‘Sunshine’: let the leftfield psych-pop rays in
CANADIAN artist David Como has a real outsider charm. No: not outsider in the sense of coming from a place of jagged, idiolectal compulsion; more an arrival in a glade of musical prettiness with an absolute, naive joy of discovery. With one album under his belt for Tin Angel, 2018’s Shu Ra, David is ready …
EP Review: Moscow Apartment – Better Daughter
The delicate fragility of the music and the achingly beautiful melodies that permeate ‘Better Daughter’ by Toronto duo Moscow Apartment plays a fundamental part in why this EP is so good. It is not, however, all that there is. Lyrically and in attitude, the band, despite its youth, is far deeper and more complex than …
TRACK: Jane’s Party shake the powerpop fizz on ‘Change Your Mind’
THE BOX-FRESH, bounce-along-in-your-DMs zing of Jane’s Party really belies how long this Canadian four-piece have been in the game. Originally meeting in 2006, singer-guitarists Jeff Giles and Tom Ionescu, bassist Devon Richardson and drummer Zach Sutton are actually five albums deep into their recording career, but not for them the hoar and tarnish of too …
TRACK: Little Kid’s ‘All Night (Golden Ring)’ is a dark roots duet
TORONTO’S Little Kid are in the process of making the step up from Ontarian word-of-mouth cult act to the modern roots first team. The project of Kenny Boothby, Little Kid have shared the video for “All Night (Golden Ring)” as a taster for their LP Transfiguration Highway, which is out on July 3rd via Solitaire …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Bozack Morris
Bozackula is in the house! For this week’s Behind The Boards, Backseat Mafia is joined by Bozack Morris, producer and musician extraordinaire, and co-founder and label head of GGBR Records, based in Toronto. GGBR’s main man gave us a rundown on his inspirations, favorite places to crate dig and artists he’d like to work with. …
See: Mustafa releases video for ‘Stay Alive’
After losing close friends to gun violence, Toronto singer / poet Mustafa sought solace in making music to make his way though. With his debut single ‘Stay Alive’ (a homage to those lost friends) he’s been proved that was a wise decision for us all. Produced by Frank Dukes and James Blake, the 23 year …
See: Bodywash Tease New Video Ahead of Debut Album
Montreal dream pop quintet Bodywash premiered the haunting video for their new single, ‘With Heat’, ahead of the release of their debut album ‘Comforter’ on August 30th via Luminelle Recordings. The fuzz guitar-dominated song apparently deals with the feeling of being unable to escape something toxic. You can check it out here. No details of …