“My Status is the Baddest” ft. Bahamas by Old Man Luedecke

Old Man Ledecke…without a banjo?!

Yep! That’s the direction that Chris Luedecke is taking with his new album, at the suggestion of Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen)! His first new song in years “My Status is the Baddest” definitely has a Bahamas-esque tone to it, but with Luedecke’s signature songwriting, with this one reflecting on parenthood.

Good thing we didn’t fully lose Luedecke to the scallop boat (not joking) that he has been working on since the pandemic!

Christine

“Waiting For The Laughter” by iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ

Over the last few months we’ve been getting steady releases from iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, but now we finally have news of a full album! nīna is due out on April 12th, and is said to be “profoundly autobiographical”.

The latest single, “Waiting For The Laughter”, was co-written with akaMatisse of Keys N Krates, and is dense & sweeping, yet melancholic, with iskwē explaining: “Each time the mirror faces, I find brand new lines and deeper creases. The art of aging never changes; we all get older every day. Somehow women are told we age out faster, life spinning out so quickly, it can be hard to live up to all the beauty standards that keep changing along the way. I find it dizzying to think of the times I’ve loathed my body, how I pluck, colour, and cover the natural body I was born with. Will I stop? Probably not. Do I try to push myself as far as I can in order to love the body and being I was born with? Every day. I’m constantly searching for the laughter in it all. Laughter is medicine after all. Waiting for the laughter to drive the hurt away.”

If what we’ve heard so far is any indication, nīna is one of my most anticipated albums of the year so far, and I can’t wait to hear it!

Kirk

“Alone In America” by Hotel Mira

Ahead of their “I Am Not Myself Canadian Tour”, Hotel Mira has dropped a brand new video for “Alone In America”.

The earworm of a song is from their recently-released album, I Am Not Myself, and the new video follows the band’s exploits in Las Vegas, playing into “the glitz and sleaze of the distilled over-the-top grotesque idea of America.”

Their tour kicks off later this week, and includes a stop at the legendary Commodore Ballroom here in Vancouver, joined by Fake Shark!

Kirk

“Holster” by The Strumbellas

It’s just under a month until the new album, Part Time Believer, from The Strumbellas drops (Feb 9) and we have another new single from the record.

The band says the new album will be about either being depressed or optimistic, and the latest single “Holster” fits that bill.
Dave Ritter says that the track bounces between “feeling like a failure and feeling like a hero. I hear the cry of someone who always almost overcomes their demons–who stumbles at the crucial moment every time–but comes roaring back, still believing that maybe this time they’ll come out on top.”

The band is heading out on a Canadian tour in February starting in Vancouver on the release day for the record, at the Commodore with Michael Bernard Fitzgerald opening.

Christine