If there’s one thing award-winning Canadian electronic artist, producer and events/label Vibe Raiders co-founder Jay Slay is certain of this holiday season (and beyond), it’s that it’s going to be A Very Vibin’ Christmas all-around.
Landing as the first in an inventive annual series reimagining holiday classics by way of electro, dance, and EDM flavours, so goes the title of the multi-talented DJ and classically trained pianist’s newly minted seasonal offering — available now.
The six-track A Very Vibin’ Christmas includes modern takes on the likes of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “The First Noel,” “Silent Night,” and more, and welcomes guests such as Los Angeles-based Nevve, one of the world’s top electronic vocal crews with over 1+ Billion streams, and NYC-based American Idol finalist Robbie Rosen to the featured roster alongside Victoria, BC-based Scarlett Darling and Edmonton, AB-based Kelly Alaina.
Best known for his breakthrough original track “All Night Long,” Jay Slay’s extensive roster plays host to upwards of 17 releases to date — including more than 1+ Million streams, tastemaker playlist adds, extensive radio play, podcast and media features, and more. Speaking of, the video for “All Night Long” won Best Music Video at The Indie Gathering International Film Festival 2021, and was an Official Selection at ~20 festivals, including New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Moscow.
In addition to writing and producing, as well as co-fronting the recently launched events company and record label, Vibe Raiders, Jay Slay — né Jonathan Robert Hamill — is also a noted conference speaker, author, and highly involved and valued asset to the music industry. Within his role as a medical educator, he has provided insight in the topics of “Emergency Divergency: crisis de-escalation demonstration” at the University of Calgary School of Medicine’s Mass Gathering Medicine Conference 2021 / Abnormal Psychology guest lecturer University of Alberta 2018, been a musician mental health speaker as the Virtual Electronic Music Summit 2020’s “Pandemic Panic Panel” facilitator, and a contributing author for the Music Industry Therapists & Coaches’ touring artist mental health manual 2021 funded by Live Nation, and more.
In an anti-holiday anthem for the ages, Canadian pop-electronic artist Lora Ryan wallows in wishful thinking with the release of her new single, “December”.
“This song is for those finding it hard to get into the holiday spirit,” Lora shares of the simmering seasonal offering. “Playing off titles of popular songs, I flipped the narrative of cheery classics, and made ‘December’ for anyone missing someone they love, but can’t be with during the holidays.”
Following the release of her 2020 debut LP, Reckless, and upwards of 70,000+ streams across Spotify alone, Lora Ryan joined forces once again with longtime producer Adam Royce when it came to the new track. “With a couple of ideas for how the verse and chord progression would go, I knew I needed to take it straight to the studio so Adam could put his magical touch on it,” she recalls.
The song is part of a series of what the Toronto-based singer/songwriter calls #sadgirlsongs — her dynamic channelling personal triumphs and tragedies when it comes to life and love into therapeutic tracks.
“Get ready to shed a tear at this one,” she promises — adding that the rest in the ongoing grouping “tell universal stories” that move audiences emotionally, intellectually, and physically.
“There are definitely different sides to my music, just like there are different sides, facets, and stages of life,” Lora muses. “Life is messy… Sometimes it’s happy. Sometimes it’s sad. Sometimes it’s sexy. Sometimes it’s tragic. It’s a little bit of everything, and can even be more than one thing at once.”
Same with Lora Ryan, whose genre-expansive palette of pop and dance-electronic music boasts soulful R&B-tinged vocals and earworm-worthy melodies. “My music is either sassy, sexy, or sad… But it all adds up to a reflection of me, in a pink, glittered package!”
This season, Lora Ryan’s “December” lands no differently.
Multi-Billboard charting Canadian artist Franklin McKay lends his soulful passion to those with the holiday blues, and says “Christmas Ain’t the Same (Without You)” with the release of his latest single — available now.
Celebrating the season with a freshly-minted tune has been top-of-mind for the singer/songwriter before, including a few varied versions of “The Best Day of the Year” and “This Christmas” — the latter of which hit #24 on the Billboard-charts.
This year, however, McKay switched gears when it came to “Christmas Ain’t the Same (Without You),” he says. Co-written with Harem Scarem’s Harry Hess, the release strays from McKay’s traditionally up-beat and happier-sounding holiday offerings, noting that “not everybody is jingle-bell happy.”
It’s “more of a reflective song, as opposed to a downer,” McKay shares. “Every Christmas isn’t happy for everybody; I think songs have places at different times in our lives and what we’re going through.”
While the languishing of the Covid-19 pandemic can be credited for at least some inspiration towards the track, McKay reveals he ultimately and most personally relates it to the passing of his mother, who passed in 2017 at age 85. “I think anybody who has lost a loved one can relate on that level. It’s applicable to anybody that has lost somebody in their lives that they’re used to having around.”
Originally hailing from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, McKay has worked with a multitude of notable musicians, performers, and writers over the course of his career; Harry Hess (Harem Scarem), Bill Champlin (Chicago), Marc Jordan (Rod Stewart), Heather Rankin (The Rankin Family), Greg Fitzgerald (Madonna, Hall & Oates), and more.
Currently at work on a forthcoming album, previous releases from the Los Angeles- and Toronto-based artist also see Billboard US Adult Contemporary-charting tracks such as “More Than A Memory,” “Someone,” and “Destiny” among them; the latter saw a reimagining that featured The Rankin Family’s Heather Rankin.
With more than 350,000+ collective streams across Spotify alone, his most recent release “Breath of Life” debuted at #50 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart this past February, 2021.
So good, but so little time. The Beastie Boyd had to cut this scene which was one of their favorites. The Beastie Boys Story is out now on the Apple TV app.
No matter how old we are, that sense of childlike wonder and hope, even if just a glimmer, is always sparked once the Christmas season comes around, and Toronto R&B artist JENNA Nation is igniting that very sentiment with her soaring new single “My Christmas Wish” — available now.
Written by JENNA Nation and Roger Ryan, and produced by Roger, “My Christmas Wish” has all the trimmings and trappings of a favorite Christmas ballad — the piano, the slow beats, the snaps, the strings that come in at just the right time for catharsis.
However, the true stars of this song are the full-range vocals and seamless harmonies sung with clear soulfulness and sincerity. When she asks you “Let’s not forget the child in us all/The magic we feel/On Christmas this year,” JENNA Nation isn’t trying to coax you into shedding a tear, she just wants you to get into the spirit, as simple – and as beautiful – as that.
“’My Christmas Wish’ has all of the warmth and comforting elements of a Christmas classic, while also bringing a new contemporary take on the Christmas music we all love,” JENNA says. “The song reminds us about the excitement and magic we feel on Christmas as a child, as we are never too old to dream and we’re never too old to believe.”
JENNA Nation is a Canadian R&B/Soul, jazz and pop singer/songwriter who has quickly gained momentum on the international music scene. Her album You Don’t Know received numerous accolades, including being named Canada’s Best R&B Album of 2017, No. 9 overall (Music Canada magazine), and one of the 10 Best Records of the Year (Village Voice).
She has performed for the Prime Minister of Canada and as part of the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, as well as at JUNOs official after-party, and as part of GRAMMY Week Showcase.
In addition, JENNA has performed internationally at various venues and famed music festivals including Live Nation HQ in Beverly Hills; RBC Bluesfest (Ottawa); MIDEM (France); New Skool Rules (Holland); the Toronto, Ottawa, and Beaches International Jazz Festivals; and has opened for Shawn Mendes, Lauv, Chromeo and Snarky Puppy. JENNA Nation has also been a finalist in several international songwriting competitions.
Sonic Reducers. 1 topic. 2 music nerds. 5 minutes.
We discuss Coldplay’s decision to stop recording in 2025, and wonder what motivated friendly frontman Chris Martin to reveal their plans so long in advance.
Sometimes you just gotta drop everything and get the heck outta Dodge, especially when staying put means staying close to the person who broke your heart. Such was the case for Canadian alt-rock artist Bryce Clifford when a sudden bad breakup fueled him to leave his adopted U.S. home in Austin, Texas, head back to Hamilton, ON, and the creative fire to write and record his upcoming album, Rebounder — with its scathing first single “Checkpoint Charlie”.
With its brawny guitars and breakneck tempo, “Checkpoint Charlie” speeds through a checklist of loss, anger, grief, and bewilderment that only a big change and a long drive may seem capable of soothing.
“The story of this record started three years ago,” notes Clifford. “I started driving up to Canada the day after a breakup in Austin. I was blindsided by it. Pretty wounded. It’s that expression… The ground dropped from under me.”
‘Loneliness, thicker than you think,
can’t cut it with water or a soft drink,
and you’re lying about how u feel,
every step u take ‘til u get behind the wheel’
After living, working, and making musical inroads in Austin, Texas for a decade, Bryce Clifford’s world turned upside down one day and he dropped everything to head north and home to Ontario the very next night.
“I’d been holding down good work in video, and living in a great apartment for eight years right beside the ACL (Austin City Limits) festival grounds,” he continues. “I guess I’d really been in love, because it jolted me to change up everything.”
That 2500-plus kilometre, 24-hour drive from Austin to Hamilton after the abrupt end of his relationship also jolted Clifford into a new musical beginning.
“I was feeling like I should steer all that adrenaline into making a new record from scratch,” he shares. “Make the best out of a bad patch.
“I’d been in a rut in my life and that disappointment gave me the kick I needed to remember that I love making music and should refocus back to that.
“Songs are happy to leave ya and go elsewhere if you’re not going to sing them.”
An astute observation, and one that prompted Clifford to spend his first few weeks back in Canada hunkered down in an RV on a quiet piece of land near London, Ontario with just an acoustic guitar and a laptop for company.
“I followed every idea I had without discernment for two weeks. I was wallowing in the loss behind me, but it also felt great to stay off the grid, off social media the whole time. I suppose writing music is like a vacation from life.”
Perhaps it’s a way of reaffirming life, too.
The 12 songs that comprise Rebounder are what came out of that solitary session, along with an artist determined to move forward and keep his creative feet planted in two artistically inspiring cities on both sides of the border. Clifford spent two years repeating that round trip from Hamilton to Austin and back to record the album, incorporating the talents of the many musicians and friends he’d made over the years.
“It came together slowly because I was trying to record it as professionally as possible and it costs a lot,” he explains. “I’d save up enough money sporadically to do one song at a time and then start over again for the next.”
That long term commitment to professional excellence also provided the opportunity to master Rebounder with producer Glen Marshall through a legendary studio console once used by Daniel Lanois to record one of Clifford’s favourite albums, Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, as well as works by Neil Young, Emmylou Harris and a laundry list of other greats.
“It’s perfectly banged up and dusty, all the character you’d hope for,” says Clifford. “So, I asked Glen to master/EQ my record through that board, hoping to get some of that glue and magic from it. I can still hear the subtle cool things that this console did to the record.”
Soaking up a wide array of influences to help shape his own music has always been key for Clifford; case-in-point, the album’s song, “Odd Man Out,” was recorded and played with Elliott Brood, and counts as the most ‘alt-country’ sound Clifford says he’s ever written.
In addition, Clifford toured Ontario in the ‘90s with his brother Brad in their band Pedestrian Status paying homage to post-punk heroes like Pixies, Elvis Costello, The Replacements and Hüsker Dü. Then, he made the leap to Austin and formed the genre-busting, big band Brother Superior with Canadian expat Kim Deschamps (Blue Rodeo/Cowboy Junkies).
With hooky melodic indie-rock, downtempo piano balladry, alt-country and echoes of revved up post-punk all woven into his new album, it’s apparent that Bryce Clifford continues to make his musical landscape borderless in style but always heavily focused on ‘the song’.
Rebounder and “Checkpoint Charlie” are available now.
There are lots of songs about Santa, but very few pay adequate tribute to just what a diligent, hardworkin’ guy he is. Multi-award nominated Canadian country crooner Lisa Richard is on a merry mission to do just that with the release of her fun, energetic new single, “Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick” — available now.
“I wanted to create a song that felt like a down-home country Christmas singalong, and have people feel like a kid again,” Richard says. “Something to put a smile on your face, tap your toes, and share with family and friends.”
The song starts out with the scratchy rotation of an old record, followed by Christmas bells, and then the guitar and the banjo chime in. That’s when we immediately figure out that Lisa Richard and her band are about to give us a proper country Christmas song. The pace picks up, and that’s when you realize it’s the kind that makes you want to grab your family and friends for a little line dance across the living room. You might even want to shout the lyrics along with the chorus.
Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick
He worked every day of his life
He loves what he does
For all the boys and the girls
Well, it doesn’t matter if you believe or not
He knows the spirit of Christmas
It can’t be stopped
Producer Warren Robert added all the (literal) bells and whistles to give the song its old-time country feel, including the sound of the record spinning at the beginning. “It gave it a very nostalgic feel,” Richard muses. “And don’t miss the sound of Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick laughing at the end of the song as well!”
Nominated for Country Artist of the Year at the 2018 Music Nova Scotia Awards, and selected for the Songbird Super Series Showcase at the 2019 East Coast Music Awards, and the 2019 WSM Grand Ole Opry Radio Songbird Jubilee in Nashville, Richard has notched a considerable resume of industry recognition.
Hailing from New Brunswick, but now based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she brings together the sounds of rock, blues and country, and is often compared to the likes of Cher, Wynonna Judd and Tracy Chapman. Her cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” which was performed in Nashville alongside Vince Gill and The Time Jumpers, has reached more than 130,000 people online. Tangled Up has garnered numerous industry nominations including Southern Rock Song of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Outlaw Country Song of the Year, and Video of the Year (2017 and 2018 Josie Music Awards).
Her Christmas single “Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick” is available now.
With undercurrents of genre-blending alt.pop, and overtones of burdening past relationships, multi-award winning Canadian artist Hailey MacIsaac creates a somber and gritty listening experience for her growing fanbase with the release of her searing new single, “Lumber” — available now.
An immersive and ominous sonic sojourn from start to finish, the song walks the listener through a dark landscape of troubled thinking and coping with heartache.
With its title, “Lumber,” being hyperbolic for the weight we feel when we are ‘Going Through It’ with a capitalized and underlined ‘GTI,’ the Toronto-based singer/songwriter seeks to offload a bit through her emotionally lyrical swan dive into a song of trials and tribulations.
Without being overtly about a bad relationship, the overall theme of being wronged or scorned by a loved one is deeply embedded into the lyrics of Hailey MacIsaac’s newest single.
‘But I got this Lumber – Up in my head like – I can let it go – It can’t sit with me – I just wanna take a piece off now.’
It’s imagery like this that describes a person who knows they need healing, but aren’t quite there yet in their grieving process — whatever the source of that grief may be. It’s this inauspicious message that carries a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ theme throughout – and we’re here for it.
Originally from Prince Edward Island, Hailey MacIsaac found herself in the heart of the Canadian music scene of Toronto, Ontario, discovering a niche for herself and her music.
Having won multiple awards over the course of her career, most recently she won Electronic Recording of the Year for her 2020 single, “Down2U.” On top of that, her album In A Dark Room received three nominations in different categories in 2019.
Known for adventuring beyond the bounds of genre, Hailey MacIsaac’s music carries a unique pop ambience around it all while infusing elements of pop-punk, rock, rap, and alternative themes. Creating a dark, granular, and boisterous sound, MacIsaac uses mainstream techniques to craft her complex work in a way that is fresh to the independent pop scene.
And when it comes to her newest single, “Lumber,” there is no exception to this rule.
Canadian singer-songwriter Alex Goupil sets out to soothe aching hearts with the release of this, his beautiful new single, “I Swear” — available now.
A non-traditional love song that navigates the emotional journey that’s faced when letting go of someone, the song provides a hopeful message embedded throughout, all while complementing the warmth of the Ottawa-based artist’s instrumentation.
With distinctive guitar work lending a tone to the musical composition that blends seamlessly with the lyrical aesthetic, Goupil not only explores the tribulations of relationships — but also the personal freedoms that come with taking a leap of faith.
“I swear that I’ve been doing just fine
I’m alright without you by my side
And I hate how long that took to realize
And I swear this is the last time that I
Spend the night with your name in my mind
It took way too long for me to realize
That I would be better alone
I’m doing better alone.”
Goupil’s musical prowess shines with maturity and softness that communicates the complexities of love with authenticity.
The same can be said about the careful considerations that guide Alex Goupil’s recording process… The creation and refinement of “I Swear” are due to the concerted effort of a small, but dedicated team that worked across time zones to realize Goupil’s unique interpretation of a love song, he reveals.
To achieve his signature sound, Goupil enlisted the help of trusted collaborators he’s worked alongside in Canada and during his time in the UK. Among them is recording engineer Steve Foley out of Audio Valley in Ottawa, Canada, where the single was recorded. The mixing and mastering would be done in London, England, by a producer with an ear for enhancing Goupil’s tone, Mat Leppanen.
Alex Goupil started his multi-disciplined music career like many inspirational artists that came before: jamming in his parents’ garage. While those around him became less interested in music, Goupil would double down on his talents and move to the UK to further hone his craft. After playing many shows, with six songs under his belt garnering over 100,000+ streams on Spotify alone, Goupil decided to move back to Canada and take his career to the next level.
“I Swear” is a sonic testament to the incredible progression that Goupil has made as an artist. If this latest single is any indication, there will be many more successful musical releases in the future.
