Single Servings, Sept. 13, 2021
On this week’s Single Servings, Jr. Gone Wild returns from a 25-year absence, Alessia Cara goes metal, Portion chalks up a win, and much more!
By Jason Schneider
On this week’s Single Servings, Jr. Gone Wild returns from a 25-year absence, Alessia Cara goes metal, Portion chalks up a win, and much more!
Billy Talent – End Of Me (feat. Rivers Cuomo)
Release Date: Sept. 10
Label: Warner Music Canada
The veteran Toronto rockers have a new album called Crisis Of Faith due in January, and they’re offering a sneak preview in the form of this collaboration with the Weezer front man. Cuomo gets the upper hand overall on End Of Me, bringing Billy Talent deeper into the pop-rock realm than they ever have before.
Pre-Order here
Jr. Gone Wild – Girl In The Crowd
Release Date: Sept. 10
Label: (weewerk) / Stony Plain Records
The venerable Edmonton alt-country institution will release its first album in 25 years, Still Got The Jacket, on Nov. 12, and this first taste shows that Mike McDonald and co. haven’t lost a step. Blending Byrds-ian jangle with punk energy, Girl In The Crowd is being simultaneously released with the band’s spot-on cover of the Chilliwack classic Fly At Night. A long overdue return.
Pre-Order here
Serena Ryder – Used To You (feat. Shawn Hook)
Release Date: Sept. 3
Label: Warner Music Canada
This track was heard earlier this year on Ryder’s latest album The Art Of Falling Apart, but now it’s received a remix featuring electro-pop artist Shawn Hook, who’s helped turn it into a legitimate dance floor banger. In the spirit of getting people up and dancing again, the video features a host of recognizable Canadian faces, from Tessa Virtue to Jully Black, shakin’ what they got.
Stream/Purchase here
The Human Rights – Workin (feat. Ras Yunchie)
Release Date: Sept. 3
Label: Independent
After teasing their new album Reggae Strong with the single Peace Gun earlier this year, Toronto roots Reggae stalwarts The Human Rights have shared this new track as the album release dates approaches on Oct. 1. Workin is tailor-made weekend anthem, showcasing the smooth vocals of Tréson, the toasting of MC Friendlyness, and additional rapping by rising Toronto Reggae star Ras Yunchie.
Stream/Purchase here
Portion – WAVE
Release Date: Sept. 3
Label: Warner Music Canada
With his latest single, the Toronto hip-hop artist Portion says he hopes it makes listeners feel as if they’ve won a championship. “No matter what mood I’m in I play this song and I’m confident again. I want people to use this song as motivation to keep going and give people something to feel confident. We all want to flex sometimes, and this is the soundtrack for that.” Expect more along these lines as he works on the follow-up to his 2017 breakout hit Fif’s World.
Stream/Purchase here
The Halluci Nation – Mother Mother
Release Date: Aug. 31
Label: Independent
One of the standout tracks from their new album One More Saturday Night, Mother Mother continues to show the Indigenous hip-hop duo pushing sonic boundaries while paying tribute to tradition. Featuring multiple guests, Mother Mother is a by-now expected head spinning experience that more than lives up to the group’s new name. They’ll be on tour across North America starting in October, with shows confirmed in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and London.
Stream/Purchase here
Men I Trust – Serenade Of Water
Release Date: Aug. 24
Label: Independent
There’s a ton of buzz at the moment surrounding this Montreal trio and their latest full-length effort, Untourable Album. A lot of it has to do with how they’ve built an impressive international following without any outside help, apart from endorsements from the likes of Tyler, The Creator and Flying Lotus. Musically, their appeal lay in a chilled out sound with jazzy textures, highlighted by the atmospheric vocals of Emmanuelle Proulx. Indeed, it’s hard not to be seduced by all of these elements on Serenade Of Water.
Alessia Cara & The Warning – Enter Sandman
Release Date: Sept. 10
Label: Audiam
To mark the 30th anniversary of their era-defining self-titled “Black Album,” Metallica has authorized a massive tribute collection, The Metallica Blacklist, with the intent of having artists from across the musical spectrum reinterpret each of its songs. The effect ultimately reinforces how genres have become meaningless, further underscored by Canada’s current Queen of Pop Alessia Cara nobly tackling the original album’s biggest hit with the help of female Mexican rock trio The Warning.
Stream/Purchase here
Bahamas – I Got You Babe (feat. The 400 Unit)
Release Date: Sept. 10
Label: Brushfire Records
Speaking of interesting collaborations, Afie Jurvanen (aka Bahamas) is following up his last release, Sad Hunk, with Live To Tape, Vol. 1, the first collection of his quarantine sessions over the past year that found him teaming up with a variety of different players. I Got You Babe (not the Sonny & Cher hit, but his own song from the Barchords album) features Jason Isbell’s band The 400 Unit, making for an exciting roots rock romp.
Stream here
Janet Cull – Fly
Release Date: Sept. 3
Label: Independent
St. John’s soul music artist Janet Cull continues to turn heads with her new album Hear It, a throwback to early ‘70s Memphis sounds, with aching, true-to-life lyrics. Fly is the latest single from it, displaying Cull’s full dynamic vocal range. Soul from The Rock indeed.
