Dayna Shereck
Two Feet On The Ground
Toronto country singer-songwriter Dayna Shereck has released her sophomore EP, Chasing The Moon — a four-track collection of newly handcrafted and heart-spun material. It’s a much more personal release for Dayna this time around; written and recorded in just under a year, she continues to use her critically acclaimed songwriting to express perspective in areas of family, life, and growth.
Emmanuel Patterson
Silver Eyes
Written in the middle of a sleepless night many years ago, this is a song about the feeling of becoming lost in life and how social interaction can help remedy that feeling. This is his first song, and it’s likely deeper than most artists are creating with a few years under their belt. Nice one, and keep going.
Faux Canada
Projector
If you loved the Secretly Canadian record label of the early 2000s, you’re going to dig this. I wonder if that’s where the name comes from? In any case, the San Francisco indie-pop-rock foursome sounds as fresh and new with fine knowledge of where they came from. It’s whimsical, and a serious signpost to where the next generation of guitar bands will sound like.
Pat DiMeo
Tiny Dancer (Live in Studio)
I can’t be the only one that will forever picture the scene in Almost Famous whenever I hear this song, right? Pat explores the fears and concerns much deeper than Elton John did on the original, and he’s got a world-weary voice that bring yearning and searching to a while new process. I just might be thinking of his version when I watch the movie now.
The Curls
Prickly Feelings
The new single from Chicago-based art rockers’ debut record SUPER UNIT, they’ve already got fans like Adrian Belew, and add me to the list, too. It’s instantly accessible and radio friendly on an FM station willing to take the shot as it’s still slightly weird, but cool enough for repeat listens. It’s mysterious, and I’m still not sure the mechanics of how a song like this is even put together from someone’s mind, but I’m thrilled these artists exist in our world.
Matt Shill
Spain (Live)
I love it when artists cram their band in the small space and film it like this. Matt didn’t get to where he is today by fooling the listener into anything other than a great song and players surrounding him. There’s going to be plenty more where this came from, I am sure of this.
Martian Subculture
Lonely And Free
The opening track to Martian Subculture’s 5th EP, Sleeping, hauls the real Evan O’Malley into the quiet, introspective moments in John Lennon’s catalogue without any giant-rockstar baggage. A wizard of hearing the difficult and making it sound simple, there’s a lot going on here, and he’s probably amazing just on the acoustic guitar. The whooshes and space sounds give a wonderful energy that makes you want to listen again and again.
Daniel Elia
I Know It Very Well
Really cool simple arrangement of firm complexity that hits right to the heart, the mind, and the feet, the way Marvin Gaye and Kendrick Lamar does so well.
Chamber Band
The Chain (Fleetwood Mac cover)
It’s really hard to perform a Fleetwood Mac cover without thinking of the tremendous back stories of the members involved. The Chamber Band use this knowledge and get into the joy and pain of the song wth affection and enduring respect. Equally comfortable to listen to this song, or the original, that’s how strong their version is.
Tom Forest
Monster
The latest track from forthcoming debut album Hope, was, says Tom and Isabel Gracefield, “from the perspective of a girl with anorexia, then it became about anxiety and vanity. It’s also about being the victim in any toxic relationship, and the abuse of power.” Heavy topics, indeed. I’ve got mixed feeling about the song – not because it’s not brilliant, because it is – but they carry it off so well, and as it’s a real topic, I’m waiting to keep the faith that things are going to work out for the better. In this case, I’m not sure it does, but at least it makes you feel something, dammit, and isn’t that what the greatest artists try to do every single time? Tom Forest gets it right.
Rasmus Gozzi
My Money
Rasmus Gozzi has been one of the fastest growing producers within the Swedish music scene. He’s got over 30 million streams and having over 320,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, but don’t look for his fellow Abba or Max Martin in here. This is Rasmus’ move outside the nation with even greater commercial success. This is easy a high-water mark for him, and look for him to crack it in 2018.
