Phantom Orchid, CJ Wiley, Shae Tull, Mallory Chipman
Phantom Orchid - Pure Mother
Phantom Orchid (a.k.a Kira Sawatzky) has become a favourite of the Cups N Cakes Network over the last year or so (so much so, in fact, that we did video premieres for the first two tracks on Pure Mother). The brand new tracks on the EP live up to the high standard set by Phantom Orchid’s single releases throughout last year. They serve as a further exploration of the sheer variety of textures that Sawatzky can summon, in service of quietly emotional and well written pop tunes.
CJ Wiley - “No One Like U”
The latest single from CJ Wiley is a nearly perfect slice of late 90’s/early 2000’s slacker rock, produced by Winnipeg’s Boy Golden. Everything about the songwriting, performance, and production is just so goddamned tasteful, and the song manages to somehow feel like mainlining dopamine without being too sweet or overpowering to come back for seconds.
Shae Tull - “Hands Do Things”
I discovered Shae Tull as a result of the release of the music video for “Hands Do Things” from their 2022 record Shae Tull Gets Out of Bed. Even though it’s a little further back than we normally like to go for Quick Picks, the song is genuinely extraordinary, as is the brand new video for it. It brings to mind the Elephant 6 collective, both in the controlled chaos of the arrangement, but also in the spirit of experimentation that’s obviously present in the songwriting and production. And the video! What a beautiful, creepy, weird piece of art.
Mallory Chipman - “Soft Shoe”
Mallory Chipman has a reputation for sort of being able to do, well, anything, whether it’s being one of the most dependably great jazz vocalists in the city, being one half of alt-country project The Goddamsels, or her fusion rock project Mallory Chipman and the Mystics. “Soft Shoe” is the second of 12 monthly releases from Chipman to come in 2024, and it finds her refining what a solo Mallory Chipman release sounds like. There’s a specificity to the lyrics and melody that’s quite special, whether it’s the density of images Chipman presents us with, or the winding melody over the pedaled bass in the verses. It makes for a song that is emotionally powerful, and strikes the balance that most great folk music does between “wow, this is beautiful” and “wow, this makes me sad”.
- Sean Davis Newton