Reminiscent of 90’s alt-icons like Fiona Apple, Ash Molloy is vulnerable, raw, and unfiltered in her approach to music. A multi-instrumentalist with a degree in neuroscience, she’s full of surprises as she bares it all with her deep-cut takes on sexuality, body-shame, and life as a woman. Not fitting the mold in her small town of St John’s, Newfoundland, Ash is an absolute force of an artist, making a name for herself with her unique vocals, cutting lyrics, and sheer tenacity to get her message and music out into the world.

The majority of the music for her newest release, “Viv,” was already written for a woman by that name. Ash had never met her but loved how her name looked so she kept it. Now she has a song and a tattoo on her body named after a woman she only wound up meeting a month ago. It’s a song about losing yourself in the summer and that feeling you get when you’ve drank a little too much and start looking at people a bit differently.

Victoria, BC four-piece The Bankes Brothers – brothers Nelson and Morgan Bankes on vocals and guitar, lead guitarist Carson Cleaver, and drummer Gray Oxley – are readying the release of their debut In Waves EP, 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), In Waves culminates the band’s wide-ranging influences in a way that defies sonic parallels, yet remains welcomingly familiar.

“C’est La Vie,” the third single to be shared, drew inspiration from artists like Paul Simon Graceland, Talking Heads, and Little Joy to take on more of a Lo-fi character that helps distinguish the song in the collection. The Bankes Brothers approached the lyrics with a more phonetic approach to tell a story that also gets listeners moving.

Marcus Lowry is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer based in Montreal. Since earning his Bachelor’s degree in jazz performance from the University of Montreal in 2017, Marcus has worked with a wide array of Canadian and international jazz, folk and pop artists, such as Belle Grand Fille, Diane Tell, Alex Le Blanc, Aaron Dolman, Marthe Halvorsen and many more.

The title track of Lowry’s debut album, “Time, Time, Time,” uses evocations of a withering autumn to embody the album’s overarching theme of grappling with the inevitability of change. The song is reminiscent of artists like Nick Drake and Daniel Rossen, and exemplifies Marcus’ unique style of impressionistic folk that cross-pollinates the singer-songwriter tradition with strings, woodwinds, layers of effects and field recordings.

Tristan Rene is a sonic whisperer, a conjurer of ethereal melodies grasped from the collective consciousness, brought forth in a singular voice that’s at once reverent and deeply resonant.  

His voice is of the world, channeled through his family’s vast origins. Born in Montana to a Jewish West Indian mother and a Mallorcan father, he was raised in Washington D.C. before making his way to Montreal, where he was drawn to the city’s poetic energy and gothic aesthetic.

“Light Up Garden” was born from a guitar melody one summer ago in Mallorca. Tristan was sitting on the terrace of his father’s house, singing and playing guitar without any real intent. Lo and behold, the rest of the song came to him when he was alone again in Montreal. “Loneliness is the truth behind my music,” Tristan affirms.