New Music

Following the September 2025 release of her debut EP I Kill Spiders and the subsequent single, “To Her,” Montreal singer-songwriter Libby Ember shares “Let Me Go,” a melancholic, dreamy indie-folk single that sits in the uncomfortable space between holding on and letting go. Nostalgic and emotionally raw, the track captures the quiet contradictions of a relationship that lingers long after both people know it isn’t right.

Inspired by a complicated relationship rooted in mutual fear, Libby reflects on the tension of staying when leaving feels just as painful. “I felt like someone was holding onto me because they were afraid of letting me go,” she explains. “Even still, I knew that it was wrong to keep dragging the relationship on when we knew it was wrong for the both of us. It also touches on the fact that the opposite feels wrong. Both letting go and not letting go feel wrong.”

Japan-born, Canada-raised artist Justin Maki returns with “Old School Heart,” a moody, groove-forward R&B/pop-rock single that confronts unrequited love and emotional ambiguity head-on. Dark, passionate, and deeply self-assured, the track finds the FCLMA–winning singer-songwriter drawing a clear line in the sand, demanding commitment in a dating culture increasingly defined by non-answers and half-measures.

“I was on my first writing trip in Nashville when I accidentally encountered a new posse of friends at a networking bar called Red Barn,” Maki recalls. After a few drinks and a spontaneous suggestion to write together, Maki linked up with Laura Ann Short and Steven Martin, booking a session just days later at Round Hill Music. “I started jamming out to a sample drum loop that made my head bop. I then came up with this John Mayer-esque riff and after some more time of refining the musical idea, I recorded the guitar. That became the foundation of our creation.”