RGM presents the Maple Leaf Roundup #12
Welcome to the Maple Leaf, the regular RGM column that brings you news of the best sounds emerging from Canada. Since the decade turned we’ve been deluged with music but have meticulously sifted to bring you a carefully curated consignment of Canadian confections. Or something.
The in-and-out power pop of ‘Hundred Bucks’ from Ontarian trio James Blonde is, as you may have guessed, a reminder that money isn’t everything and this guitar-driven, singalong, handclap-fest is a bundle of fun, reminiscent of the mighty Butch Walker. If you’re clamouring for more, then the band’s 2017 debut album is well worth a listen, as is the equally tongue-in-cheek single ‘Sh!tshow’ from 2019.
And if brevity is your thing, then point that short attention span towards singer songwriter Rachel Beck . Her new single ‘Warrior’ does more in two and half minutes than a lot of artists manage across a whole LP. Inspired by Beck’s four year-old daughter, the piano-driven song grows into an expansive tribute to formidable females past and present. It comes as no surprise then that it carries echoes of both Tori Amos and Kate Bush in all their big-reverbed gloriousness. If Greta Thunberg ever needed a theme song, this would surely be it.
While we’re on the subject of formidable females, they don’t come much more formidable than Kinley (aka Kinley Dowling) whose sound has a warmth in common with The Weepies and Lucy Kaplansky. Dowling’s music has been (literally) instrumental in educating PEI’s school children as well as being used to encourage repatriation to the province. ‘Washington’ is inspired by the ongoing struggle for gender equality and follows 2019’s excellent single ‘Run With You’. Both are taken from Kinley’s self-titled second album, released on February 21st.
Boasting a high alto the like of which I haven’t known since Christopher Cross, Mattie Leon sings his latest single ‘Carolina’ with an uncommon smoothness, in keeping with his extremely tidy acoustic guitar playing. For want of a less crass description, this could be what it sounds like when yacht rock and Americana finally get hitched. He’s teamed up with Juno award-winning producer Gavin Brown for his latest EP and the track follows the equally sublime road song ‘Silver Line’ released late last year.
A different kind of smoothness is on offer from Brielle Ansems via her new mini-album This New Hurricane, which is out on March 6th. The singer songwriter from PEI shares a luxurious vocal style with the likes of Sarah McLachlan and the record’s lead single ‘More Than My Heart’ is a particularly tempting taster, building from a brooding piano opening to an opulently arranged middle, boding very well for the rest of the album.
And it is there, fair reader, that we must leave you. Thank you for joining us once again for the Maple Leaf - we hope you found something you enjoyed. Until next time, keep ‘em coming, Canada, RGM always has ears for you…
The Maple Leaf is a Rich Barnard production for Red Guitar Music.
And we’re back! “From whence?” I hear you cry, in your florid way. Back from Canada, of course. We swam all the way, on our backs, our music-loving arms filled with a freshly picked bunch of hot new songs, gifted to us from our creative compadres ‘cross the waves. Imagine that. And we did it all for you.