Single Servings: March 29, 2021
Each week Single Servings brings you a balanced diet of the freshest Canadian tracks, spanning Electronica to Rock, Folk to R&B, and everything in between. Remember to support the artists by purchasing their music or adding them to your playlists!
By Jason Schneider
Each week Single Servings brings you a balanced diet of the freshest Canadian tracks, spanning Electronica to Rock, Folk to R&B, and everything in between. Remember to support the artists by purchasing their music or adding them to your playlists!
Cadence Weapon – Eye To Eye
Release Date: March 26
Label: eOne Music
Last week we highlighted Cadence Weapon’s contribution to the new single by The Zolas, and this week Edmonton’s poet laureate has revealed his new album Parallel World will be arriving April 30. The first single Eye To Eye is an expectedly thought-provoking response to the current state of race relations. Essential listening.
Miesha & The Spanks – Mixed-Blood Girls
Release Date: March 26
Label: Independent
Calgary garage-rock duo Miesha & The Spanks has their new Singles EP teed up for April 16 and are offering another preview with this powerful track based on guitarist/vocalist Miesha Louie’s Indigenous heritage. Sounds like an anthem in the making, and given they have the seal of approval from the likes of L.A. radio legend Rodney Bingenheimer, big things seem on the horizon.
Justin Rutledge – Nautical Disaster
Release Date: March 26
Label: Outside Music
Venerable singer/songwriter Justin Rutledge has never hidden his admiration for The Tragically Hip, releasing a full album of covers (Daredevil) in 2014 and collaborating with guitarist Rob Baker. Rutledge’s new album Islands finds him re-interpreting some of his own classics, such as Good Man, but he couldn’t resist including his version of what some argue is The Hip’s finest moment.
Sook-Yin Lee & Adam Litovitz – Re-Veil
Release Date: March 23
Label: Mint Records
There’s certainly some sadness surrounding the upcoming release of Lee and Litovitz’s album jooj two on April 9, given that he took his life in 2019 after bowing out of the project. Nevertheless, Lee was determined to finish it as a tribute to their relationship, and the avant-garde spirit she and Litovitz shared. Re-Veil is a prime example, drawing from ’60 French pop and modern electronic music in equal measures.
ZENESOUL – That Love
Release Date: March 23
Label: Independent
Brampton, Ontario’s ZENESOUL (pronounced “Zen-Soul”) has been steadily releasing top-notch R&B since 2019 and this latest track is no exception. Showcasing her sultry vocal styling, That Love sends the message that she won’t settle for anything less than the best when it comes to a romantic partner. Expect to hear a lot more as she works on following up her 2020 EP Coffee.
Mike Plume – Remember To Forget
Release Date: March 26
Label: Royalty Records
Coming off his recent nomination for Roots Artist of the Year at the Country Music Alberta Awards, Plume’s latest single Remember To Forget is a timely reminder of why his 2020 album Lonesome Stretch Of Highway has been called a career high point. An upbeat number that showcases Plume's vivid storytelling skills, the track touches on those moments we've all had when things in the past suddenly take on a different perspective through the passage of time.
Alex Little & Suspicious Minds – Big Lies
Release Date: April 2
Label: Light Organ Records
This Vancouver outfit boldly displayed their love of New Wave on their 2019 debut EP No Control—even pulling off a brilliant shot-for-shot recreation of The Pretenders’ Brass In Pocket video for their own Black Haze—and they’re doubling down on their new full-length Waiting To Get Paid. Big Lies is an energetic power pop gem, sure to conjure memories of Blondie and The Go-Go’s.
I M U R – Case Of You
Release Date: March 26
Label: INgrooves/Fontana North
Vancouver’s I M U R makes genre-bending make-out music, weaving alt-R&B and avant-pop into undeniably catchy songs that fit just outside the box. Comprised of singer/songwriter Jenny Lea, producer/guitarist Mikey J Blige, and producer/multi-instrumentalist Amine Bouzaher, I M U R’s sound is a cinematic blend of smooth and sultry, tussled together with texture and bounce. That’s definitely evident on Case Of You, the first taste of their new album My Molecules, out June 25.
velours – Your Sweater
Release Date: March 23
Label: Independent
Enigmatic Saskatchewan pop artist velours released her debut EP Identity last fall and it immediately garnered attention in her home province with a nomination for Rock/Pop Artist of the Year at the 2020 Saskatchewan Music Awards. She’s keeping that momentum going with a new single from the EP, Your Sweater, an earworm bearing all the hallmarks of producer Ryan Stewart (Carly Rae Jepsen, CARYS)
Bryce Thomas – Perpetual Motion Machines
Release Date: March 26
Label: Independent
Veteran Toronto singer/songwriter Bryce Thomas returns from five-year hiatus with his new album Across the Neuro Seas, made almost entirely on his own during the first wave of pandemic lockdown. As a showcase for his skills both as a multi-instrumentalist and producer, it’s a powerful statement, but the album’s heart lies in its hopeful lyrics, as in Perpetual Motion Machines, inspired by Thomas’s growing family.
