RGM presents the Maple Leaf Roundup #13
While life for all of us is pretty weird, here at RGM we’ve been taking comfort in the things that never change. Spring keeps springing; socks still inexplicably disappear in the laundry and singers - in their thousands - keep singing songs. That remains as true as ever for the musicians of Canada, the very best of whose recent releases are gathered here for you in this, the thirteenth instalment of the Maple Leaf Roundup.
Let’s start in Toronto with Ben Kunder whose excellent, slowburning single ‘Berlin’ is about finding inner strength and having hope for the future, inspired by the singer’s time in the German capital. The song is taken from Kunder’s forthcoming album Searching For The Stranger, which follows 2018’s acclaimed Better Human LP. The record is co-produced by Aaron Goldstein, Chris Stringer and Kunder himself, with the three playing all the instruments between them. If ‘Berlin’ - with its siren guitars and euphoric middle eight - is anything to go by, the trio have got their collective mojo working a treat and the album will surely be a special thing.
Photo credit: Denis Lipman
If you need a soundtrack to your new daily workout then look no further than ‘Good Lies’, taken from Kadeema’s upcoming debut release, Napoleon Tornapart. The track is a sizzling slice of stadium-ready pop rock, or what the young people around here like to call a ‘total banger’. It follows the equally energetic ‘Gotta Get It’, released in January. The duo from Southern Ontario worked alongside producer Isaac Carpenter on the album and ‘Good Lies’ muses on honesty (or the lack thereof) in relationships in the bounciest way possible. If you’re dancing around to Kadeema indoors (which I suspect you will be) then please take care not to injure yourself in the process.
There’s an open-voiced Glen Phillipsness about ‘Collide’, the latest single by Toronto’s David Madras who sees the track as ‘space western’ chronicling the loneliness of a desperado piloting a rocket ship. It’s certainly a piece of meditative escapism that I suspect has a place in all of our lives right now and is an excellent introduction to Madras’s skills as a songwriter. If ‘Collide’ hits your sweet spot then you’ll probably enjoy David Madras’ 2018 debut Early Bird Special, which is also yours for the listening over at Bandcamp.
Photo credit: Jen Squires
Meanwhile, in Montreal, Emily Rockarts’ new record Little Flower (out 24th April) really has something for everyone; chicaning between the Aimee Mann deadpan of ‘Right Now’ through the dreamy, Feistian reflection of ‘Vistas’ to the charging, rock riffage of ‘Stay’. The latter is the record’s lead single and is a slice of pop à la Haim that is impossible not to tap your toes to. Going back to the record as a whole, I’ve certainly not heard anything this varied or intriguing in a good while, so if you like your albums to go a little deeper, then this Little Flower is destined to brighten your day.
If you find yourself - understandably - wallowing a little more than usual during these strangest of days then Zaac Pick’s ‘Lighter Side Of Blue’ offers some fellow-feeling. The song, taken from the Vancouver-based singer-songwriter’s upcoming album, Passages, manages to celebrate the healing powers of music without being over-earnest and cringeworthy, which is an achievement all by itself. With a lightly husked (and ever-so-soothing) vocal and an expansive yet light production, the song aims to bring, in Pick’s own words, “some peace, especially if you’re in the middle of a dark place.”
As I add to my growing list of places I need to visit when we reach what I’ve started to call ‘other side’, the above represent five more good reasons to overwrite, highlight and double underline Canada as one of my top destinations. I hope you’ve similarly found something here to inspire. Keep ‘em coming, Canada. We’re as happy as ever to hear you singing from across the sea and we look forward to the time when we’ll see you - or you’ll see us - on the road again.
The Maple Leaf Roundup is a Rich Barnard production for RGM.