This Week!! Featuring

The Guardian

In Canadian singer-songwriter Brendan Hendry’s self-directed video for Lonely – made with “$2, a box of wigs, some friends, and a 90s music video dream!” – he starts by placing a battered cassette in an equally battered boombox. What follows is a frayed-around-the-edges post-bar house party featuring flying wigs, snogging and the briefest flash of a bottom encased in leather chaps. The throwback visuals are anchored by a song that fits perfectly with our ongoing obsession with bratty, emo-coded power pop, from Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts album to Kelly Clarkson’s viral chat show cover versions to the return of 00s UK pop-punkers Busted. Hendry also continues the video’s queering of that 90s aesthetic, pairing a lo-fi drum machine, earworm acoustic guitar and big crunchy riffs with his tale of gay dating woes – essentially men are flaky and freakout at the first suggestion of real emotions. If the early verses grapple with the choice between dispassionate sex or no sex at all – “every now and then I still miss you in my mouth” Hendry sighs at one point – then the pogoing, top-tier chorus, which ramps up the emotional catharsis as the song grows sweatier, reaffirms the idea that being alone is better than being a fool. Michael Cragg

Bar Italia – Jelsy

bar italia –  “Jelsy” from Twits

bar italia, is a London-based rock band who released not one but 2 albums in 2023.  Both Twits and Tracey Denim are rather marvellous.  If you are fan of Wet Leg and the  Velvet Underground, this is a band for you.  All three memebrs contribute deadpan vocals with lots of fuzzy guitars.  “Jelsy” is the latest single from the November release Twits.  https://www.stereogum.com/2238511/bar-italia-jelsy/music/

Exclaim! review

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8. ‘Flatline,’ Tobi

CBC

I really like this song. Once heard, it is hard to forget. This selection is part of a CBC 3-hour feature – The top 100 Canadian songs of 2023 by Pete Morey. Haven’t listened to this yet, but you can get the whole broadcast here.

they even give you a breakdown of the show:

Joined by friends and special guests, host Pete Morey rewinds the musical highlights of 2023 and cues up what 2024 has in store. The 23 best Canadian albums of 2023 at 00:00:00 The breakout stars of 2022 at 55:50:00 Albums to look forward to in 2024 at 1:21:15 Songs turning 20 in 2024 at 1:33:54 The top 10 Canadian songs of 2023 at 1:50:13

“Flatline” is the embodiment of Tobi’s self-described style of “unapologetic soul music.” Exploring the theme of power — who has it, how one seizes it, etc. — the Toronto rapper weaves the personal and political into one bold, ambitious track. Jabbing piano notes anchor “Flatline” as Tobi effortlessly raps around the beat, covering a swath of topics including the Land Back movement and Black death, as he unabashedly points out: “How they gon’ steal the wave? We on stolen land.” Pain is inevitable, but here, Tobi encourages listeners to transform that pain into power: “Flatline” is the motivational anthem that we needed this year. 

Carly Rae Jepsen – Psychedelic Switch

Carly Rae Jepsen  is a Canadian pop star who of course had an international mega hit with “Call Me Maybe” in 2012.  Her sixth album The Loneliest Time, was released in October 2022. It’s  companion album, The Loveliest Time, followed in July 2023.  This record is a collection of B-sides and tracks left off The Loneliest Time.  The track we chose is a wonderful pseudo Daft Punkish disco number “Psychedelic Switch.”  Don’t ponder the lyrics, just dance!

from Pitchfork

5 Olivia Rodrigo, ‘Guts’ (Album)

All American Bitch

The next two selections come from the Rolling Stone list – The 100 Best Albums of 2023

This is a great list that I want to return to for our next show. We have played lots of these artists over the year so we must be doing something right. I had to add Olivia Rodrigo, I just really like the sense of humour in her music. AND, this album is mentioned in the piece by the Guardian above.

On Guts, Olivia Rodrigo captures the insurmountable challenges of coming to fame while coming of age, with its romantic betrayals, vampiric exes, and fair-weather friends. Throughout the album’s heart-tugging ballads and sneering pop-punk cuts, the 20-year-old maintains a cutting lyrical precision — while unafraid to poke fun at her own shortcomings and social faux pas — that has cemented her as one of her generation’s best pop songwriters. As if to push herself out of the predictable path of “torch singer” and reject the well-mannered vision of femininity she skewers on “all-american bitch,” she delivers the full emotional breadth of teenager girldom through manic screaming, sarcastic sing-speak, and rage-fueled grit. —M.H.K.

Janelle Monáe – Only Have Eyes 42 –   The Age of Pleasure

Janelle Monáe Robinson  is of course is an immensely successful  singer, songwriter,  and actor. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy .  In April 2022, she came out publicly as non-binary.  The song “Only Have Eyes 42” is about being in a polyamorous relationship and being open about it.  According to Songtell, the lyrics appear to be an account of a consensual and satisfying threesome.

More here

The song samples Derrick Harriot’s 1967 rock steady reggae classic , The Loser  

and Dick Powell’s 1934 version of I only have Eyes For You 

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​​6. Paramore, ‘This Is Why’

Right after Olivia Rodrigo, a song that caught my attention. Don’t know anything about the band, but that’s pretty normal for me. But, read below – this band has been around for twenty years.

Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro made their return on This Is Why as masters of existentialism, and their deep familiarity with impending doom and self-destruction made from some rich emotional mining. Set against expertly executed post-punk and New Wave, they explore their fascination with the complexities of the human condition. Williams wonders about what it means to be a good person who isn’t able to save everyone, including herself. As the first album in the band’s 20-year career that was made with the same lineup as their last one, it was the first new Paramore LP that didn’t require them to rebuild themselves from ruins. What better way to begin building on that newfound foundation than by using the external world as a lens for self-examination? —L.P.

Lankum – Newcastle – False Lankun

Lankum  are an Irish folk music group from Dublin, consisting of Ian Lynch, Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat.  They have released the albums Cold Old Fire in 2014 and Between the Earth and Sky in 2017. In 2018, they were named Best Folk Group at the RTÉ Folk Music Awards.  The band were nominated for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year in 2017 for their album Between the Earth and Sky, and won the prize in 2019 for their album The Livelong Day.  The band’s fourth studio album, False Lankum (2023), was released to widespread critical acclaim and  was nominated for the Mercury Prize and placed highly on several end-of-year lists. The selected track “Newcastle” is an absolutely haunting centuries old ballad.

Lankum – “Newcastle”

The Guardian gave a 5 star review to a recent performance. 

I Wanna be Your Right Hand,’ Nemahsis

This is another selection of the CBC list. A new artist, she seems to be putting out lots of music including the EP track (Eleven Archers) that we played at the beginning of the show.

This song makes it to #10 which is pretty impressive.

Palestinian Canadian pop artist Nemahsis expresses her love language on “I Wanna be Your Right Hand,” with her voice desperately reaching out to someone as she begs to be of service — to be useful in the name of showing her love and devotion. Over an acoustic riff that’s reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979,” Nemahsis sounds equal parts steadfast and free, playing with her voice in ways she hasn’t in previous releases. While she’s already established her talent for writing heart-wrenching ballads — as displayed on her 2022 EP, Eleven Achers — “I Wanna be Your Right Hand” proves that the rising star has a much wider range that has yet to be fully explored. We can’t wait to hear where she takes her music next. (Songs You Need to Hear, March 22)

Here is a link to her interview with Tom Power