“Sweetheart” by Said The Whale

Just weeks ahead of the release of Dandelion, Said the Whale is giving us yet another tease of the new album with “Sweetheart”.

Singer Ben Worcester says the song is “an exploration of secrets. How (and why) we keep them, who we keep them from, and how they affect our relationships. This song doesn’t refer to a specific moment or circumstance in my life, but instead speaks to the idea in general - how revealing our innermost thoughts and fears can serve to weaken some bonds but other times can actually strengthen them - the beauty of sharing a secret with a lover, keeping something hidden from the world, a covenant of mutual trust.”

Have a listen below, and make sure to check out their tour dates, which include not one, not two, but three! consecutive Vancovuer shows, playing venues near & dear to the band’s hearts.

Kirk

“Spanish On The Beach” and “Jaywalker” by Andy Shauf

Whoops, i dropped the ball last week (well, I was working the election so I couldn’t post my songs!) and couldn’t express my excitement at the announcement of a new album from Andy Shauf!

Wilds was released this past Friday and is a collection of songs that he wrote when composing his last album The Neon Skyline. That was one of my favourite records of 2020, so I cannot wait to delve into this one.

The first two singles “Spanish On The Beach” and “Jaywalker’ are below for your rainy day listening pleasure.

Christine

“On The Beach” & “Oleander” by Jasper Sloan Yip

Speaking of beaches (oh, I wish), Jasper Sloan Yip released two new tracks from his upcoming double EP, Strange Calm / Blushing Autumn: “On The Beach” and “Oleander”

Both EPs revolve around the themes of life and death, and these two songs in particular are about gratitude. They’re lovely tunes and another set of ones I curled up with some tea to listen to this morning with the rain in the background.
The albums will be released on October 26th via Tiny Kingdom.

Christine

“Pourquoi faire aujourd'hui” by Lisa LeBlanc

Lisa LeBlanc has returned with a super catchy ode to procrastination, “Pourquoi faire aujourd'hui”, her first original song since the ‘016 album Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen?

A disco-tinged tune with an incredibly infectious synth line — and sparkling video to match — the new single teases a brand new album next year, and I can’t wait to hear more.

Despite the title, you should take a listen today!

Kirk

“Caroline” by Lowell

Apparently I’ve got all the slow jams this week.

Holy moley, I missed Lowell. This little nostalgic pop ballad, “Caroline”, is beautiful and showcases just how talented she is lyrically. It hits on her childhood memories of: “sleeping bags and landlines, grass stains and pool parties, sneaking into cabinets and finding your parents' booze”.

I was happy to see that this single is going to be on an upcoming album in 2022, so hopefully we’ll get more from her soon.

Christine

“Surrender” by Royal Canoe

Hot off the release of their album Sidelining, Royal Canoe is dropping a brand new video for the song “Surrender”, as well as announcing some tour dates!

Directed by Vince Tang, the video is what can only be described as a ‘dance heist’ video, with a few fun twists and turns.

The tour sees them crisscrossing the country in April of next year, including a date here in Vancouver on the 20th at the Fox Cabaret, and finishing with a pair of shows in their hometown of Winnipeg.

Kirk

“Maudlin Days (Robocop)” by Gold & Youth

Okay, so I’m just gonna go ahead and fully copy-past the story about this song, “Maudln Days (Robocop)”, from the Gold & Youth press release, because nothing I write could do it justice:

”A substantial part of the lyrics for 'Robocop' are a near verbatim transcript from when I was sucked into a conversation at a party last year with some finance bros who kept insisting they had found truth (“about, like, everything man") after doing ayahuasca together on a boys trip. The entire exchange was one of total earnestness on the part of the bros, oblivious to tact, cultural sensitivities or fashion sense (one of them was wearing a pink and gold Givenchy tracksuit into the Ayahuasca hut) and I engaged with thinly veiled contempt and entirely in bad faith in a deeply embarrassing battle of wits. It wasn’t until later, when rehashing the story with my girlfriend, a story in which I was so sure I was doing’s God’s work in raining down ridicule and condescension with a half smirk (and to be clear, this story absolutely deserved ridicule and condescension), that it became obvious that I had slipped into just as much of a caricature as they had: The Lululemon wall street jabronis vs the smug lefty band guy who claims to love humanity above all else but rolls his eyes at actual humans (even finance bros are humans after all right). Low stakes and who cares right? Not exactly profound. But, it was a great jumping off point for writing about a real sense of alienation I’ve felt in so many social situations in my life and constantly wondering how much of it has been self imposed. How often am I preemptively detaching myself from potential human connection to preserve some abstracted convictions about what my chosen friend group might say about me? Aren't these convictions about love, empathy and understanding just empty high minded rhetoric if I don’t try to actually love, understand and empathize with the actual humans in my life? 'Aren’t people all we’ve really got man?!'. Deeply solipsistic bullshit. The name of the song is equally self involved. Any time I go cold and detach my girlfriend calls me 'Robocop,' which she stole from my bandmate's nickname for me on tour. Aloof, ultra stoic, but incredibly capable of driving from Vancouver to San Diego in a single go."

See? What did I tell you?
Gold & Youth’s album Dream Baby is out November 5th.

Christine

“Something Sweet” by Graham Wright

Tomorrow Graham Wright’s album The Cost Of Doing Business comes out, and this single really is “Something Sweet”.

The track is full on 90’s goodness, to which Gram says he “really went for it”, and that “the more ‘90s affect I piled on, the more exciting it got”. I have to agree, it’s pretty damn perfect and super catchy.

Christine

“Here’s To The Future” by Sam Weber

This new tune by Sam Weber is probably the best way to end this week’s Songs Of The Week.

Beautiful, slow, and includes a mini saxophone solo (which I’m always a sucker for), “Here’s To The Future” is Sam’s first release since 2019. He calls it “a toast and a prayer to the better and brighter days ahead”, which I can get on board with.

Here’s to more music from him in the future!

Christine