apollonio’s new EP, time in between, drops as the electro pop artist emerges from a mental-health struggle: much of his last decade was swallowed by obsessive-compulsive disorder. But things are looking up.

During the pandemic, apollonio — his mind regained, the worst of the OCD behind him — wrote the songs of time in between… reflections of what he went through and what he sees, looking forward.

The focus track “Scars” is bittersweet – though it’s leaning more towards the sweet. It’s a song about two people meeting and being super excited about each other – all the  more so because they know that they’ve been through difficult times and can connect over those experiences. They’re open to showing each other their emotional scars and their bodies. 

apollonio wanted to capture some of his experiences from the last decade. Although it was tough at times, things started to look way up by the end. This five track EP contains a bit of everything. 

 

Lot D is an electronic producer and DJ who primarily focuses on house music production or instrumentals for other artists. Now, he unveils his own EP, Midtown at Midnight. He felt inspired by his recent move to Toronto; the new experiences that were juxtaposed by a pandemic. Contrast is the underlying theme of the project, like finding warmth in the cold.

The dark and melancholic track, “Midtown Tempo,” elicits that feeling of finding comfort in discomfort. It essentially started with field recordings in varying environments, capturing the sounds of the subway and ambient city, coffee shop noise and random conversations. You’ll hear a heavy nod to the complexity and rule breaking of jazz but also the subtle simplicity of early Chicago House, all under a lo-fi veil.

Since emerging in 2014, The Franklin Electric (TFE) have logged over 400 shows, canvassing the world alongside artists such as Mumford & Sons, Ben Howard, Half Moon Run and City and Colour before headlining their very own tours around the world. Along the way, their 2017 album Blue Ceilings marked a major milestone, leading to a nomination at the 2018 JUNO® awards in the category of “Breakthrough Group of the Year.”

On TFE’s new single “Call Me,” frontman Jon Matte feels at home, finding his way back to an extremely open and vulnerable place with acoustic-based instrumentation and raw, honest lyrics. The song was written in a small coastal town in Nayarit, Mexico, as a live improv jam recorded on his phone, and then produced at his home studio just outside Montreal. 

The single is accompanied by a breath-taking music video filmed while Jon was traveling around Portugal. The video captures gentle moments of a mother’s love, portraits of local fishermen and lifestyles, and sceneries of Portuguese coastlines.

River Town Saints have a lot to show for the past few years, including millions of YouTube views and Spotify streams, a Top 10 hit with their single, “Bonfire,” CCMA nominations, CMAO and Canadian Radio Music Awards, tours with Tim Hicks, Kip Moore and more. Their single, “Long Time Coming,” reached the Top 40 charts and was selected by a Stingray group of stations as their Trending Track for June/July 2021. Following on its heels, “What Ya Doin’ Tonight” was picked as Rogers’ One to Watch in November 2021 and also cracked the Top 40.

Evocative new single, “Breaking Up,” was inspired by the collective experience of thinking you’re over an ex but winding up back together with them. Sometimes there’s that person who you feel like you never really got over and could probably fall back into at any time. You give in because you don’t think you have a choice, and you hate that you don’t really hate it.

When they escaped from Toronto and set out for a small island in the pacific northwest in May of 2020, the musical duo of Eric “The Duke” Duquette and Jena “Goldie” Gogo didn’t quite know where their musical journey would take them. As longtime members of Blue Sky Miners, the duo had released two albums, toured North America, and enjoyed national radio play. Still there seemed to be uncharted musical waters on the horizon. 

While Jena was honing her own unique songwriting style, Eric was beginning to experiment by writing his own songs inspired by the music of the 60’s and 70’s. Fire lit jams, a newfound connection to nature and deep reflection on their roles as settlers in this land gave spark to a six song EP that the now Vancouver-based pair will present as Duke & Goldie on May 12th, 2023. 

“Courage,” the first single to be shared, initially came to Goldie in an attempt to recapture a natural high, and the incredible feelings that come with moments of creative fulfillment and release. It can be difficult to carry that feeling forward with you into the more challenging, every day slog that inevitably follows. Finding the courage to face the behaviour and circumstances that were causing the severity of the come downs.

Victoria, BC four-piece The Bankes Brothers—brothers Nelson and Morgan Bankes on vocals and guitar, lead guitarist Carson Cleaver, and drummer Gray Oxley—formed in a pool hall one Friday night in 2017. Within three days of the first show, they had written a handful of original songs. The result is In Waves, a six-track shot of dopamine spilling over with irresistibly catchy melodies, exhilarating vocals, and joyous indie-rock instrumentation. Produced and recorded by indie legend Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, The Zolas, Mounties), the EP culminates the band’s wide-ranging influences—from Elvis to The Strokes, Paul Simon to The Pixies—and comes together in a way that defies sonic parallels yet remains welcomingly familiar. 

The honest simplicity of the Bankes’ lyrics leaves space for the energetic melodies to pick you up and sweep you away, again and again and again. The EP’s title track just begs to be belted out, whether driving in your car or locked arm-in-arm with your best friend at one of the band’s electric live shows. It addresses the highs and lows of life, serving as a reminder that things come “In Waves” and you’ll get through it