“Cold Night” by Begonia

One of my most anticipated albums coming next year is the newest from Begonia, Powder Blue.

“Cold Night” is the second song we’ve heard from the album so far, a gorgeous song that Alexa Dirks describes as “the breakdown of a horrible life-changing relationship in three parts”, which builds to a hair-raising explosion of strings.

She elaborates: “Like...stages of grief I guess? Verse one is when you’re not ready to let go and just the thought of being ‘left behind’ makes you feel so desperate and detached, like you’re not even human anymore. Verse two is reflecting on the reality of the relationship itself and particular stories that come up only with time to reveal the truth. The last part of the song after the strings hit is all about accepting it for what it is and moving forward. Like sitting in your despair and sadness, but also knowing that it needed to be over and that you did the right thing by walking away. Deadmen [producers Matt Peters and Matt Shellenberg, of Royal Canoe fame] really knocked it out of the park with their string arrangements on my upcoming album, and this song in particular is one of my favourites so I'm so glad to be releasing it as a single.”

Check out the video below!

Kirk

“None of Us Are Free” by Kuba Oms

Vancouver’s Kuba Oms is back with a new cover of the Solomon Burke song “None Of Us Are Free”.
This release is a return to his R&B/Soul roots, and was recorded live off the floor, through vintage gear, and then straight to analog tape.
I hope this is a sign of more things to come from Oms, because I’m really feeling this vibe!

Christine

“All Comes Crashing” by Metric - CVCHE Remix

Gotta love a good remix, and this CVCHE version of “All Comes Crashing” by Metric nails it.
Of it and the decision to have it remixed, Emily Haines says:
“It was intensely gratifying to play 'All Comes Crashing' live on the Doomscroller tour and see how the audience responded. I know the lyrics are morbid on the surface, but when the band plays it, the energy in the room lifts and everyone who wasn't already dancing suddenly is, and it feels like we're all suspended there in the disappearing present moment. It's such a high and I wanted to try to capture it in a dance remix of the song. I did some digging and was lucky enough to get the famously reclusive CVCHE on board. They have this insane unreleased electronic album, I got a test pressing of it on vinyl and am now obsessed. I worked with Justin Broadbent on a visualizer 'remix' video too, and I'm just really happy we get to release this right now as a bouncy sendoff to 2022.”

Christine