Rick White - Again
White’s brand of psychedelia has always leaned rural — not in genre, but in spirit. Again carries that same energy: songs that feel found rather than written, cracked open in a moment of solitude and preserved like amber. There’s no grand statement here, and there doesn’t need to be. Just one of Canada’s most enduring songwriters getting on a roll and riding it until the wheels fall off.
Bloodshot Bill - So Fed Up
On So Fed Up, Bill coughs, wheezes, sneezes and sputters 12 tracks of grit, grease, and sleaze into our olfactory. And it smells, dare I say, quite good.
Still Depths - Like Hell!
Like Hell! is an album that can appeal to listeners who are fans of wide-ranging artists such as indie rock like Car Seat Headrest and LCD Soundsystem, queercore like An Albatross or The Blood Brothers, or other fellow noise punks like Black Eyes.
First Night of Summer & Peace Museum Vol. 1
I’d like to say, “welcome back, Chad”, but the reality is that he never left. He’s been making incredible music all this time. A gentle giant somehow hiding in plain sight.
Elle Barbara - Word on the Street
Word On The Street is time-bending, evoking multiple eras with synths, drum machines, and dramatic key changes. It is bravely on the nose of this current moment in human history, and a triumph of independent artistry.
Debby Friday - The Starr of The Queen of Life
With The Starr of The Queen of Life, Debby Friday’s has fleshed out a depth of creative maturity and personal insight that allow her to embody the starr that she ultimately is. Not only is this the best Canadian release in 2025 so far for me, but it may be a contender for such a title at an international level.
Fortunato Durutti Marinetti - Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter
Between the smoky upright bass, the tasteful brass flourishes, and Marinetti’s tender baroque pop soliloquies, Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter is an album worth not just listening to, but experiencing.
VVonder - Stumble On
Stumble On is a satisfying listen for anyone feeling let down by the simpler formulas of streaming-friendly music, for those still hoping for a bridge, a crafty guitar solo, a riffy interlude between verses, a surprise modulation leading back to a singable chorus.
Fulfilment - Husky House
Husky House is math rock all grown up. It’s more thoughtful than angry. It’s wise and solemn. It should be hung on walls and played in bars. It’s my favorite part of the Stebner musical universe to date.
Penny & the Pits - Liquid Compactor
Penny & the Pits’ debut album, Liquid Compactor, is as dynamic and as fluid as the liquid it’s compacting.
New Chance - A Rock Unsteady
The sonic, lyrical, and formal congruence of A Rock Unsteady make it an unique listen for those who are invested in high art concept and sound design experimentation.
Eric’s Trip - Live in Halifax & Live at Pop Montreal
Their songs hit me differently than before. They weren’t just good songs from a good band. They were complicated and emotional, real and raw. Eric’s Trip were artful and tuneful. Every song they wrote mattered, from the very beginning. It’s all wheat and no chaff.
Epic & Deadly Stare - A library called Calder
Epic isn’t an outsider artist. Neither is Deadly Stare. They are insider artists. Hip-Hop historians. Rap superfans. A library called Calder is a love letter to hip-hop, a love letter to Canada, and a great example of artists creating art based on their love of art.
Bells Larsen - Blurring Time
Back in May 2024, I had the pleasure to attend the Land of Talk tour show at The Aviary, where I happened to stumble into Bells Larsen as an accompanying tour act. Soft spoken and with candid demeanour, Bells took the stage with what I’ve come to know now as some of the tracks featuring in his latest album Blurring Time.
Steven Lambke and Jimmie Kilpatrick - Friendship Traces
This album feels human and vulnerable. It is bleepy and bloopy. It sounds like a record made by two people who really like each other. Two people who are setting the other up for success.
Quinton Barnes - Black Noise
Now we are given a bit of a different take on Quinton Barnes’ creativity with the release of Black Noise only a few months after CODE NOIR was released. Both conceptually and in execution, this new album is a thoughtful interrogation into noise, improv, and experimental sound composition which started out of a casual 2022 tweet that he tossed into the aether: “‘I want to work with noise/improv musicians in some capacity … not sure how yet but the idea is there’.”
Eliza Niemi - Progress Bakery
Simone Atenea Medina Polo reviews the latest record from Toronto’s Eliza Niemi: Progress Bakery is an incredible sophomore album that shows off the breadth of what Eliza Niemi can do.
SENTRIES - Gem of the West
With this record, SENTRIES steps out of the bedroom and onto the stage—but it doesn’t feel like a departure. Instead, it feels like a natural expansion: same ghost, louder haunt.
Backxwash - Only Dust Remains
The question was left hanging at the end of the former trilogy: what would a new Backxwash release look like after that set of releases? The answer that the album offers is a reconstruction of Backxwash sound prior to God Has Nothing To Do With This informed by the accomplishments of the last decade of her musical career.
Mares of Thrace - The Loss
The Loss is an exercise in catharsis, but its fury is tempered at all times by grief, by uncertainty.