Cloud Cover, Glen Allan, June Thrasher, and Wish Whip

Written By Wren Hale

Cloud Cover - Subarctic

Subarctic has quite easily climbed the ranks of my favourite releases this year. It’s the debut EP from Edmonton band Cloud Cover, a shoegaze prodigy. Everything I feel while listening to Subarctic is reminiscent of my all-time favourite setting: those moments late at night in the dead of winter when you’re walking down an empty street, with a heavy snowfall dampening all the sounds around you. Even with the biting cold, it’s always magical. Winter can be pretty tough in Edmonton a lot of the time, but Cloud Cover has turned their experience with it into something worthwhile. I am eagerly waiting to hear more from them.

Glen Allan - Suburban Battlezone

On a map, Glen Allan is a neighbourhood in Sherwood park, a small part of the greater Edmonton area. More importantly, Glen Allan is the artist behind the bedroom indie rock EP Suburban Battlezone. Buzzing distorted guitars underneath pensive, introspective lyrics makes it feel deeply personal and restless. “The bridges” is my favourite of the four, it evokes a real sense of aimlessness and acts as an excellent conclusion to a paragon of bedroom rock.

June Thrasher - Prairie Thrash

It’s a well-known fact that any type of music can come from the most unexpected places. Even so, for some reason I never expected to hear an EP like this out of Saskatchewan. Prairie Thrasher is the newest release from June Thrasher, an ambient-electronic artist out of Saskatoon. Every track on the EP was recorded live using sequencers, with inspiration from long drives through the prairies. Expansive fields, layered synths, and drums repeating like fence posts seen from a window.

Wish Whip - Spellbook

Calgary’s Wish Whip have conjured a witchy blend of electronic, and dark wave. Spellbook is full of dreamy vocals, haunting lyrics, and sinister synths that come together to give the EP a very deliberate atmosphere. If you’ve ever considered that a witches broom might have a stereo system, I can almost guarantee that Spellbook would be the brooms most played release.

Wren Hale

Driven by endless curiosity for the world around him, Wren is always on the search for new experiences through travel, food, culture, music, and the people encountered along the way. The only guaranteed constant throughout his days is the set of earbuds pumping music directly to the inner ear, and the camera documenting it all.

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Hillsboro, Meltt, Birds of Prrrey, and Hydracat