Toronto-based singer-songwriter Brodie Christ returns with a thoughtful and gently uplifting single, “Born Middle End,” taken from his upcoming record, Big Feelings, out on October 15th.
Warm, textured, and full of familial reflection, “Born Middle End” is a song about growing beyond the labels of your upbringing—and learning to be kind to yourself in the process.
“I was thinking about how comparison is the thief of joy,” says Christ. “I have a friend born two days after Christmas—imagine trying to compete with that—and another friend with a super successful brother. They’re both great people, so it got me thinking that comparison starts the day we are born and that it can be hard to shed.”
Built on Neil Whitford’s beautifully understated guitar work and lifted by rich organ licks, the track shines through a stripped-down yet layered production style. Christ is joined by powerhouse vocalist Elise LeGrow on the final chorus, with support from Mireya Gonzalez in the background—adding warmth and elevation to a song that embraces complexity with grace.
Paige O returns with “Thaw By June,” a delicate and daydreamy indie-folk single about loving the idea of someone who doesn’t really see you. With poetic lyrics and Paige‘s signature mix of wistfulness and wit, the track explores one-sided longing, imagined connection, and the quiet delusion of waiting for something that may never arrive.
“There are too many love and breakup songs, but not enough about being unnoticed about falling in love with the idea of someone you’ve built in your head – even though you don’t really know them,” Paige shares.
Set against the backdrop of shifting seasons, “Thaw By June” uses summer as a metaphor for emotional warmth and softening. “I’ve always felt like summer brings a certain emotional warmth,” Paige elaborates. “People seem softer with each other when the weather shifts. That inspired the concept of wanting someone’s emotions to slowly thaw by June.”
The song ends with a quietly devastating line: “June 31st, heard it’s coming soon” – a date that doesn’t exist. “It plays on the delusion of waiting for something that doesn’t actually exist,” Paige says. “June 31st isn’t a real date, but I’m still holding on to the idea that it could be.”
Toronto composer, songwriter, and producer Kai Korven invites listeners into a whimsical, heartfelt world with his new single, “Bug on Head.” Playful, dynamic, and elating, the track blends indie pop and folk sensibilities with theatrical storytelling, capturing the warmth of friendship and the joy of creative collaboration.
“‘Bug on Head’ is really about the voices of my friends,” Korven explains. “This is by far the song I’ve collaborated with the most people on, and the depth of light and joy that comes from their voices is really present in the track. It feels like a burst of light – like everybody’s invited to join in! Look at us!”
The song emerged from a subway melody Korven heard in the spring of 2024, influenced by his immersion in Irish jigs and reels. From the line I had a fever dream about a bug, the whimsical narrative took flight, evolving into an allegorical tale that reflects on emotional mechanisms and codependent relationships with humor, warmth, and honesty.
Hamilton-based punk rock trio The Penske File return with “Lions,” the first single from their upcoming album Reprieve, out October 3rd, 2025 via Stomp Records. Fierce, hopeful, and charged with the energy of youth, the track is a call to keep life on track while celebrating the beauty in change.
Written by drummer and vocalist Alexander Standen on a quiet Sunday morning, the song captures a reflective moment turned anthem. “There’s a line near the end: ‘we were titans, we were thorns, now we wait for babies born.’ I wrote this before any of our friends had kids but I could feel it coming. Now, most of them – and some of us – do. It shows how much can change in a few short years and there’s a lot of beauty in that,” Standen explains.
The band recorded the track with a “first instinct wins” type of mentality, laying down all the main parts live in a room together to maintain the urgency and excitement of a newly written song. Longtime friend and producer Adam Michael, who engineered and produced the record, championed “Lions” as the ideal lead single.
Willem James Cowan‘s new single, “You Will (A Brief Reminder to Look Up),” is a warm, Laurel Canyon–inspired ode to optimism – a gentle reminder that no matter how heavy life feels, things will get better. Breezy yet reflective, the track blends folk, rock, singer/songwriter, and Americana influences to create an uplifting space that feels both timeless and personal.
The spark for the song came in an unlikely place – a movie theatre. “A couple months after ending a long-term relationship, my brother and I went to see the movie Beau is Afraid,” Cowan recalls. “The movie as a whole didn’t have a huge impact on me, but I was really inspired by the dream sequence about three-quarters of the way through where a woman is prophesying a character’s life. Each sentence starts with the phrase ‘you will’ as she details the events to come, and I really liked the way it sounded. I had to pull my phone out and write the idea down (against theatre etiquette – sorry everyone). I went home and wrote the lyrics with the same idea. This song is a reminder to myself and others that no matter how down you feel, things will get better.”
Toronto-based trio Next Week’s Washing make a bold statement with “Empty Pages,” their expansive, genre-blending new single. Drawing on elements of shoegaze, Britpop, and alternative rock, the track combines a nostalgic emotionality with forward-looking sonic ambition – pairing shimmering walls of guitar with front-and-centre, harmony-laced vocals. It’s a huge, euphoric number from a band you didn’t know you needed until now.
Written during their earliest sessions as a group, “Empty Pages” helped solidify the band’s collaborative spark. “It started with a nostalgic chord progression, and we built everything else around that feeling,” they explain. Lyrically, the track reflects on the idea of potential and perspective by seeing life’s “Empty Pages” as either a void or an invitation.
Engineered by Dylan Frankland (Tallies) and mastered by Noah Mintz, the song also highlights a rare sibling harmony moment between members Miles and Julian Duffy in the chorus, adding an emotional layer to the band’s widescreen sound.
