Kristen Anzelc is a dynamic songwriter and vocalist who immerses herself in music and pop culture. Her artistic journey began early, propelling her to become a Top 10 finalist in Johnny Wright’s “Search for the Next Super Group.” Demonstrating her passion for songwriting, Kristen co-wrote a song that earned the artist she helped write for a coveted spot in the semifinals of Eurovision 2018.
Alongside her music, Kristen‘s work in media highlights compelling stories and emerging talents. She has interviewed top-tier actors and musicians and is passionate about engaging in meaningful conversations.
Kristen is excited to release her upcoming debut EP and is now sharing its first single, the melancholic and resilient, “Scars.” Proudly funded by FACTOR Canada, this project marks a significant milestone in her artistic evolution. After taking a break from music, she feels that the timing is finally right. As a big fan of horror movies and Halloween, it feels serendipitous that her return to music aligns with her favourite time of year.
Following the release of collaborative LP, Always By Your Side in March 2024, the survivor-led Bracebridge, Ontario-based project, Chorus of Courage, is sharing new music featuring Cait Alexander.
Alexander penned “Two People” following a horrific experience where her ex-boyfriend nearly murdered her. “This song was written immediately after the shattering of my life. Following a violent act of abuse, writing music was the only thing that made sense to me,” she explains.
The stripped back piano and voice of “Two People” relays lyrics that capture an intimacy, juxtaposed with raucous and distorted guitar which represents the extremity and chaos of an abusive pattern. Alexander and Chorus of Courage sought to translate the entire spectrum of emotion that is often part of the abuse cycle: “the journey within is unpredictable and layered with intention and intensity.”
As obsessed with pop culture as he is detached from it, Toronto singer-songwriter and filmmaker David Jane brings a versed insight to the contemporary perspective, writing songs that are grounded in disconnection, uncertainty and desire. His voice is as honest as the thoughts and emotions he writes about.
Following the 2020 release of David’s debut Welcome to Today EP, he discovered new found inspiration in his lingering passion for film and enrolled at the Vancouver Film School. There, he found an amalgamation of community, creativity and adventure, fell in love for the first time and met many kindred spirits. Upon his return, David wrote, directed and produced his first short film, Apnea, which will officially premiere at Toronto’s acclaimed Blood in the Snow horror festival next month (November 2024).
Personally, however, the return home came with many new challenges. In Vancouver’s uncanny aftermath, David returned to a home that no longer felt like home, as if his life in Vancouver was left stranded outside of time. In reconnecting to the world and to himself as a person, however, David reconnected with himself as an artist as well, and, to process this transformative experience – the love, adventure and loss – he turned back to songwriting.
Brand new single, “Garden Out Back,” paves the way for a new set of songs that showcase a moment lost in time, reminiscing in hues of melancholic beauty flushed with a desperate yearning to return. Inspired by David’s year in Vancouver and the slow fade ending of a relationship that began there, it begins by chronicling the helpless sense of futility in a long distance relationship before exploding into a desperate yearning to return to that lost time.
Sleepkit is a band who can genuinely be described as mind-expanding; from the nucleus of their songwriting to the texturally-ornamented arrangements, they manage to imbue each aspect of their music with a sly veneer of otherness. Sprung from the minds of songwriters, singers & co-founders Ryan Bourne (Chad VanGaalen, Ghostkeeper, Plant City Band) and Marie Sulkowski (Texture Twins), Sleepkit’s repertoire showcases a band whose serious understanding of the pop song is buffered by beautifully detailed texture and a penchant for the slightly skewed.
Bolstered by the addition of drummer Eric Hamelin (Alvvays, Ghostkeeper) and multi-instrumentalist Joleen Toner (Crystal Eyes, Plant City Band), Sleepkit are sharing their sophomore album, Camp Emotion, a nuanced and emotionally unarmoured refinement of their singular brand of experimental pop. Produced by Scott ‘Monty’ Munro, a prolific producer and multi-instrumentalist known for his work with Preoccupations, Chad VanGaalen, Lab Coast, and Ghostkeeper, Camp Emotion actualizes their idiosyncratic art-pop vision in a shimmering opus that explores the outer edges of song creation – functioning as well as a dancefloor soundtrack as it does a hazy, late-night headphone session through inner space.
The music behind “Camp Emotion,” the LP’s title track, came out of a late-night solo campfire session where Bourne was jamming on a little Yamaha Portasound keyboard. “The dubby feel of the demo reminded me vaguely of “Ghetto Defendant’’ by The Clash, so I asked Hamelin if he’d be our Allen Ginsberg,” Bourne explains. “He recited these great automatic phrases – partially addressing his son Sonny – into this giant old sampler Monty had gifted us, which we then messed with using varispeed and delay until they sounded totally demented.” The original campfire recording book-ends the track.
The work of Montreal (Tiohtià:ke) neoclassical and new classical composer Erik Lankin is a testament to his talent, passion, courage and dedication to forging new paths for classical music to be expressed in the world. Forthcoming debut full-length, The Icarus Album (out early 2025), hears Lankin reinterpreting the myth of Icarus and Daedalus as a metaphor for losing his father to mental illness.
Combining classical orchestration with contemporary sound design, he channels the full spectrum of emotion into instrumental soundscapes which are compellingly narrative and evocative. Latest single, “Aloft on Broken Wings,” is told from the perspective of Icarus who is in shock, having just witnessed his father’s death. His ears are ringing and he is plummeting downward, only to catch himself with a reflexive beat of his wings at the last moment. The cello enters alone over the sound design as Icarus, also alone, begins weeping. As the cello rises and descends, so does Icarus. He flies dangerously low and dangerously high.
In the second half of “Aloft on Broken Wings,” Icarus is joined by a comforting presence on the violin. It tells him “things are not okay right now but they will become okay again.” At the close of the piece, the violin teaches him the Icarus theme which will open the next track and shape the remainder of the album.
Shealagh Rose is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Hamilton, Ontario. Developing her voice and songwriting in Toronto at Humber College’s Bachelor of Music program, she worked with mentors like Rik Emmett (Triumph), and had the opportunity to record backup vocals with legendary producer Ken Scott. She was a regional finalist in CBC’s 2017 Searchlight competition with her song, “Dream,” off of her debut EP Island. Lush with soulful vocals, addicting progressions, and beautiful string sections, the record boasts the aesthetic of indie folk anthems.
Shealagh’s sophomore release teases of her earlier works, while introducing grittier sounds, and blending the lines between folk music and contemporary pop.
“Radio Silence,” the first single off of her sophomore EP, was released this September to critical acclaim. Latest track, “Tunnel Vision,” is a beautifully apathetic look at modernity and short term narrowed thinking in our environment. “I think technology has harmed the way we as a society feel empathy,” Shealagh elaborates. “A lot of us have either become apathetic or have developed a narrow sense of thinking (tunnel vision).”
Hailing from Maple, ON, emerging indie pop artist Julian Daniel now divides his time between Toronto and Los Angeles, working full-time on his music. His blend of meaningful lyrics with upbeat instrumentals offers a fresh fusion of indie pop and rock and draws inspiration from artists like Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, and Gus Dapperton. Since debuting in 2019, Julian has released over 20 songs, including the viral track “Lemontree,” which earned attention from The Chainsmokers. His music often explores coming-of-age themes, love, and dirty secrets, and his songwriting process focuses on creating vivid, cinematic visuals through sound.
New single, “do you feel me?,” is a breathless confession, wrapped in rhythm, meant to touch your soul or heart. Every note feels like fingertips tracing your skin – soft, slow, electric. Inspired in part through hearing about friends and family’s past relationships, Julian wanted to write a song that would feel timeless in which people would listen and instantly recall memories of their former loves.
Leahy is a powerhouse Celtic music group and one of Canada’s most renowned musical families. To date, they have sold more than half a million albums worldwide and achieved Double Platinum status in their home country and won three JUNOs. Leahy‘s story began with a family of 11 siblings whose musical abilities gained them attention from around the world. Their life became the subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary that foretold the success that would follow (The Leahys: Music Most of All). Playing everything from fiddle, piano, guitar, drums, bass, and accordion to singing, step dancing, and composing, the Leahy family were steeped in a world of music.
From early days, Leahy has been known for their innovative approach to music, merging time-honoured Celtic melodies with modern rhythms and instrumentation. They toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, earning a reputation for having one of the most exciting and musical live concerts. A timely performance at the JUNO Awards led to the band opening for another famous Canadian, Shania Twain, on her record-breaking Come On Over World Tour, putting their powerful performance in front of millions of people throughout North America and the UK.
Leahy‘s newest recording, LEAHY Live In Concert, is the 10th addition to the platinum-selling band’s celebrated discography. The tracks on this record were captured during a live performance in Kingston, Ontario and the performance was filmed as part of a video series, LEAHY: From the Inside, where the group shares an inside look at the creative process that brings their music to life.
Featured live recording, “Roots,” is a powerful song that highlights the group’s unique blend of traditional Celtic music. Interjected with modernity, the song boasts electric guitar and bold drumming.
Singer-songwriter Billie Zizi of Edmonton, Alberta, is unveiling her long awaited new record, Levitate, out October 25th. The collection of dreamy songs which range from earnest folk rock to eerie singer-songwriter capture the artist’s experience navigating life through her tight knit community in her hometown.
Zizi herself explains: “From the gas station love affairs of pitbull-walking, rhinestone adorned Edmontonians to the spiritual levity of transcendence, this album is a glimpse into my strange mind and the life I’ve lived. Loss, radiant love, transience, delirium and indefatigable hope are some of the themes. I dreamed this record into being over many years. It’s a love letter to Edmonton, to delighting in the simple things like hot dogs and friendship and the prairie sky and the absurdity of it all. To all the Dirt City angels, the big dreamers, the lovers, and the dancers, this is for you: I hope you like it.”
The album includes focus track, the invigorating and tenderhearted “Midnight Sun,” which was borne out of a writing prompt to reference a natural phenomenon.
Zizi ran with the concept of the midnight sun, one where we are “soaked in a manic 24 hour sun,” and in turn the “gardens of our love would proliferate wildly and we would be intoxicated by the honeyed light.” Yet inevitably, the winter would come and with it the love would wither and die.
Shane Pendergast has folk music in his blood. Growing up in Prince Edward Island as a lifelong musical artist, he hails from a lineage of storytellers and musicians. Drawing inspiration from the landscapes and lore of his Maritime home, and university years in Toronto performing at pubs. 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. His 2021 album, Second Wind, won Contemporary Roots Album of the Year at the Music PEI Awards while his 2023 live album, The House Before the Bridge, was nominated for Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards.
Shane’s home is nestled next to a river. Whenever he looks out his window, he sees an ever-changing landscape which lent inspiration to the songcraft on “Only Drifting By,” his latest single about significant people in one’s life becoming strangers, and the complex feelings surrounding that. “I was contemplating the people I have drifted away from over the years,” Shane explains. “It was one of the rare songs for me that was written in one sitting.”
With performances at renowned festivals like Celtic Colours International Festival and Small Halls Australia, Shane has brought his music to audiences across the globe. Currently residing in Corran Ban, PEI, he is set to release his fourth album, Winter Grace, in January 2025.
Shaped by two decades of work as a climbing arborist, London, ON’s Fraser Teeple approaches music like a tradesman: he respects the strong tradition he stands within, and works carefully and with dedication to master the skill of telling a story, creating an image, or crafting a melody.
His upcoming album, We Built a Fire, sees Fraser collaborate with producer Matthew Johnston at Slow Magic to create a record that is at once ethereal and rooted, dirty and clean. Something that feels built in the tradition of songwriters like Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Springsteen, but sounds completely like itself: northern, soulful, gritty, rural, well-traveled, honest, desperate, hurt, generous, hopeful, warm.
The music Fraser makes is tied to the country music tradition, in that it tries to respectfully hold a light to stories of broken people, of anti-heroes, and of folks on the outside. He delivers his songs with as much soul, courage and vulnerability as he can. The gritty and soulful new single, “Went Off,” taken from We Built a Fire, offers an observance of the opioid and cost of living epidemic ravishing North America.
Ontario’s Unknown Voidz was founded by Zan Khan who recruited Ryan “Gooby” Goonoo on the drums and Jon Couzelis on bass. Together, the band was previously signed to Spuds Records and has gone on to play across Ontario and in Montreal, QC. The band will open for Being Dead on an upcoming Ontario tour to promote their second EP, Deception By My Side.
Deception By My Side is Unknown Voidz‘s first studio recorded EP. Produced by Toronto scene pillars Keegan Porter and Ty Begley at Metrolab Studios, it features noticeably more mature and honest songwriting compared to the trio’s debut. The EP was partially written during COVID lockdowns and speaks on mental health/life problems.
Lead single, “Lack of Everything,” is titled in regards to the person who inspired its creation. Zan wrote it in an angry state of mind while realizing that he was being taken advantage of and used by someone who did not reciprocate empathy or support.
