Vancouver’s Petunia & The Vipers‘ genre-transcendental sound is an eclectic and engrossing bar room mix of style and innovation. As described by Saving Country Music, “Petunia & The Vipers are one of these creative generators and innovators, and their music and moxy can be found defining the cutting edge of what is considered creative in country and roots today, while still keeping alive what made country music great in the past.”
Inspired by the sting of unreciprocated love, latest single, “Loved in Vain,” is a unique and swaggered blend of yodel, folk, western and bold Latin horns, fitting of a sun-soaked cantina with a psychedelic-infused patronage.
I played “Loved in Vain” for the first time down there to a crowd of 200 Argentines. The audience started clapping a latin rhythm in time after about three seconds! I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I had written a song that galloped along in traditional Argentine folk time. I had written a Chacarera. The applause after the song was stupendous. I felt like finally, I had found a home for this song. – Petunia & The Vipers
Sydney based Dark Pop maestro JOSHUA has unveiled his new single ‘Oxygen’.
Rephrasing his usual synth heavy tracks, the track opens with just an acoustic guitar and a few aeroplane samples before the more electronic layers steadily enter the scene and fill the space, evoking the more raw sides of Charlie Puth and Nightly.
The single showcases the artists darker side and was written, produced and mixed solely by JOSHUA.
“This one is extra special for me. It kind of follows “Ghost” which I put out earlier in the year, wherein it’s about other people not dealing with their own trauma. I’d been thinking about how I could write this song, and I loved the idea of using the oxygen masks in planes and how they tell you to put your own mask on first before helping other people. I thought that was such a great metaphor for how we deal with mental health because I find people are happy to help fix other people’s issues but at the cost of their own.”
Since his debut, JOSHUA multiple singles and an EP which have received airplay on radio stations across the globe whilst enjoying positive coverage from the likes of Happy Mag, The Music, AusPop, AAA Backstage, Buzz Magazine, Plastic Magazine, Pop Passion, Illustrate Magazine, Triple J Unearthed, and Australian Music Scene.
New single ‘Oxygen’ is available on all major streaming services.
Toronto singer-songwriter Angela Saini captivates audiences with instantly-memorable country roots pop, celebrating courage and finding joy in surprising places. With several Canadian tours under her belt, as well as treks across Germany, England and The Netherlands, the positive and upbeat songstress has been called “massively talented” by BBC Radio. A 2020 Independent Music Award Finalist for “Best Alt Country” and 2017 Toronto Independent Music Award winner, she uplifts and inspires audiences with songs that make you want to take a leap of faith and trust in the process.
Saini’s empathic and upbeat new single, “Wanna Be You,” blends mandolin with acoustic guitar and warm production to strip back and interrogate the patterns of comparison we engage in far too easily thanks to social media.
Sunshine Coast based singer/songwriter Charley BT has just released his debut single ‘Lemon’, which was premiered exclusively via Backseat Mafia.
The intoxicating single tells the tale of love lost and is for fans of Sticky Fingers and Dominic Fike.
“Lemon is inspired by a feeling of contempt, overly stimulated and comfortable in a materialistic world. This girl I was seeing had a rough past and wanted change but didn’t want to be told or helped, stuck in her old habits I had to depart as we had exhausted all avenues.”
Growing up on the Gold Coast, Charley spent his formative years surfing and skating the days away. After playing in several different local bands over the years, Charley decided to start penning his own music as a form of therapy.
Charley recently teamed up with ARIA award winning producer Troy Brady (Amity Affliction) to record his endearing debut single ‘Lemon’.
New single ‘Lemon’ is available on all major online stores and streaming services.
Edmonton’s The Bobby Tenderloin Universe is a band, a community and a movement, but most of all it’s an excuse to don your western wear and give yourself over to the song and dance at the heart of every BTU show. Bobby enraptures his audiences with his deep, rich voice and thoughtful, tender lyrics, rustling up a fresh new take on the old country we all love. Some say he exhibits the sincerity of Johnny Cash, the wit of Roger Millar, and vocal stylings and production sensibilities of Lee Hazlewood. He and his band are lifelong friends and it shows in the way they bring the songs to life.
Their 2019 self-titled debut album led to tours with Orville Peck and Charley Crockett. The Bobby Tenderloin Universe is now releasing their sophomore full-length, Satan is a Woman; a self-described “woman” themed album that includes songs about Bobby’s grandmother, romantic lovers, death, loss and guilt.
The record’s focus track, “Marigold,” features a divergent non-4/4 timing and is a voyeuristic song about yearning love set in a garden. Bobby uses floral imagery to create a metaphor relating the natural beauty of marigolds with the euphoria two lovers feel when close to each other.
Shane Pendergast has folk music in his blood. Growing up in Prince Edward Island, he hails from a lineage of storytellers and musicians. He began singing and playing guitar at a young age, and performed frequently at small halls across PEI with his family.
Shane moved to Toronto to study Documentary Filmmaking and English at York University. While there, he performed in pubs on weekends, gradually honing his craft and finding his voice as a songwriter. Drawing inspiration from the landscapes and lore of his Maritime home, Shane‘s songs began to take shape, resonating with themes of community, history, and the sea. In 2020, Shane returned to PEI, where he founded the Jack Pine Folk Club – a monthly gathering inspired by the coffeehouses of the 1960s, featuring a mix of traditional music and poetry. Under Shane‘s guidance, the Jack Pine stage has become a vibrant hub for folk music, attracting talent from across Canada.
Shane‘s latest single, “Crossing the Bridge,” sparked its conception when he witnessed a seagull eating a starfish; an odd and messy sight, the gull struggled but overcame to get its meal. This made Shane think about the quirks of his home – an idyllic place but its real life rough edges are what makes it interesting. I walk over the bridge every day, but the title “Crossing the Bridge” suggests a shift in perspective. Seeing the beauty in the rough edges, and going with the flow a little more instead of seeking perfection.
Odd Marshall is that strange guy in the backwoods. His songs speak of world travels, but it kind of feels like he’s come out of nowhere. Don Kerr has produced his upcoming debut album, Sand & Glue, with Mike O’Brien on lead guitar and Jason Haberman playing bass. If they’re not known as Canada’s ‘Wrecking Crew,’ they should be.
Sand & Glue is a collection of songs with a wide range of moods. From start to finish, the album takes listeners around the world with a strong back beat and infectious hooks. The record’s latest single, “Nobody Wins,” follows Odd Marshall‘s songwriting themes of “losing” as he describes. Though negative in connotation, the song is a cathartic exercise in the frustration life presents us. A refreshingly open work, “Nobody Wins” features Blue Rodeo’s piano player, Mike Boguski, on keys.
The song covers three categories of failure. Personal failure. Relationship failure. Global failure. The chorus – not too subtly – deflects blame from me. Like we all do. The “no one” in the song is not so subtly me. – Odd Marshall
Ekelle is an artist and songwriter from Toronto, ON who rhymes about what she knows best – her real-life experience. Key music themes include money, sex, drama, and identity through a black feminist lens. Her genre of choice is a style that she created called Hood Pop – popular music with a street edge. Hood Pop combines elements of hip-hop, pop music, and R&B. Ekelle‘s previously released 2023 track, “Flo,” produced by Andre Kaden Black and Jon Karkar, currently sits as her most streamed song on Spotify. It received acclaim as one of Complex‘s Best Canadian Tracks of the Week and received radio play on Vibe 105 and Flow 98.7.
Ervin Mitchell is a songwriter and rap artist from Memphis, Tennessee who is currently based out of the hotbed of urban culture – Atlanta, GA. He has quickly gained over 4,000,000 monetized streams and hundreds of thousands of Shazams of his songs. Ervin‘s overarching theme is the power of the mind to manifest our reality. He internalizes the philosophy that the job of a true artist is to convey meaningful messages and emotions in the simplest way.
On “Games,” Ekelle & Ervin Mitchell team up to deliver a sexy single that’s inspired by the swipe culture of online dating. Although we usually have an idea of who we’d like to be with, there’s this energy nowadays where everyone thinks they’re going to find someone better so they keep looking. The song’s protagonist (Ekelle) doesn’t necessarily want to be in the streets anymore, but is forced to because of the current culture.
Over the past 15 years, Graeme Cornies (Kodiak Arcade, Cabin Fever Orchestra) has composed music for over 40 television series, contributing to more than 1,000 episodes. Best known for his work on acclaimed shows like Paw Patrol, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and the Total Drama franchise, his music has reached millions. Graeme has also scored documentary features for the BBC and National Geographic, contributed to Triple-A video games and, alongside his writing partners, established himself as one of the most widely heard composers in the world.
Graeme’s passion projects, Kodiak Arcade and Cabin Fever Orchestra, mark a creative departure from his traditional process. Instead of composing music to complement visuals, he now creates visuals to accompany his personal compositions, sharing them on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. These projects are at the cutting edge of AI and human collaboration in generative art, while musically, they allow him to explore new palettes and expand orchestration techniques honed through his work in visual media.
