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Collingwood’s Shjaane Glover Earns Honourable Mention At International Songwriters Day Song Contest With “Effervescence”

Eric Alper
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Collingwood’s Shjaane Glover Earns Honourable Mention At International Songwriters Day Song Contest With “Effervescence”

Southern Ontario singer-songwriter Shjaane Glover has earned an Honourable Mention at the 2026 International Songwriters Day Song Contest for his song “Effervescence,” as announced on April 9 – International Songwriters Day itself. The contest, which drew entries from Norway, Taiwan, Austria, the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, the US, and across Canada, celebrated the most inspirational works in songwriting, and placed Glover in distinguished international company. The recognition arrives at an especially charged moment: his vibrant new single “Conjure This” and the full six-song EP of the same name are both out now.

The timing feels like more than coincidence. “Effervescence” and “Conjure This” are, at their core, expressions of the same creative conviction – that music can hold complexity and joy simultaneously, that resilience has a sound, and that an honest song is always worth writing. To receive this international acknowledgement in the same week that his EP arrives is a testament to the momentum Glover has been quietly and purposefully building.

The contest, which runs annually from December 1 through April 2, is judged by a panel of music industry professionals and recognises works across the categories of song, lyric, and music video. This year’s panel included industry figures Mike Gormley, Martin Isherwood, Brent Backhus, David Eaton, and Diana Williamson – voices with the breadth of experience to understand that “inspirational” is not a genre but a quality of attention.

“Conjure This,” the EP’s title track and lead single, was written during a surf trip in Nicaragua – born from the striking emotional paradox of standing on a beautiful beach while navigating heavy news from home. That collision of sensation and circumstance became the song’s engine: a sun-drenched, rhythmic anthem to staying present when life feels most unpredictable. “The air you breathe it is real / Don’t try to change how you taste it / Or tell me how to feel / I’ll try a new vacation yeah,” Glover sings – lines that carry the same insistence on lived, immediate experience that earned “Effervescence” its recognition.

The production of “Conjure This” – helmed by collaborator Craig Smith and animated by drummer Jenna Applewhaite and Jay Stiles’ buoyant organ work – marks a dynamic evolution in Glover’s sonic palette, expanding his earlier introspective textures into a lush, full-band landscape that sits at the intersection of indie-alternative grit and folk-rock polish. The same warmth and emotional precision that characterise “Effervescence” are present here, now filtered through a fuller, more celebratory sound.

Based in Collingwood on the shores of Georgian Bay, Glover has built a reputation for music that lives at the junction of atmosphere and raw emotional clarity – songs shaped by geography, experience, and an unwillingness to look away from what is true. His high-energy live presence transforms studio recordings into immersive events, and audiences have come to expect performances that are as honest as they are galvanising.

Glover celebrated the EP’s release with a hometown show at Side Launch Brewing in Collingwood last week and will make a summer appearance at the Four Winds Music Festival on July 11.

Canadian Blues Music Award Winner OLLEE OWENS Announces New Album With Grammy-Winning Producer Colin Linden And Tour Dates

Eric Alper
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Canadian Blues Music Award Winner OLLEE OWENS Announces New Album With Grammy-Winning Producer Colin Linden And Tour Dates

Ollee Owens is having a year. The Calgary-based blues and Americana artist has taken home the inaugural Canadian Blues Music Award for Emerging Blues Artist or Group of the Year – recognising her album Nowhere to Hide and cementing her place as one of the most vital new voices in Canadian blues. With over 2.5 million social media views in 2025, a Roots Music Report chart run that placed her album in the Canadian Top 10 for over 35 weeks including five at #1, and now a national award to her name, Owens is no longer an artist to watch. She has arrived.

And she is already looking ahead. Owens has announced that she will be recording her next album in Nashville with producer Colin Linden – a pairing that signals serious artistic ambition. Linden is one of the most decorated figures in Canadian and American roots music: a Grammy winner for producing Keb’ Mo’s Oklahoma, the recipient of nine Juno Awards from 25 nominations, a Maple Blues lifetime achievement award winner, and the musician whose guitar runs through the soundtracks of the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Inside Llewyn Davis. He has produced and played alongside Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, and Gregg Allman, and served as musical director for the ABC series Nashville.

For Owens to enter the studio with Linden is to step into a lineage of blues and roots recording that runs deep – and the match of his soulful, genre-rooted instincts with her commanding voice and unflinching songwriting is one of the most exciting prospects in Canadian blues right now.

Owens’ journey from a small farming community in Manitoba to award-winning artist is extraordinary. Inspired by blues legends and gospel greats, she began writing songs at eight and picked up the guitar at twelve – before stepping back from music to raise her three daughters. The music never left her, and in 2022 she returned with Cannot Be Unheard, proving her voice was built to be felt. Since then, she has shared festival stages with Dawn Tyler Watson and Matt Andersen and performed at B.B. King’s Blues Club in Memphis. Nowhere to Hide, produced at Nashville’s Sweetbriar Studio with Bobby Blazier and an all-star lineup including guitarist Will McFarlane, bassist Tommy Sims, and keyboardist De Marco Johnson, earned praise from Blues Matters, Blues Music Magazine, and Americana Highways, which called it one of the strongest surprises of 2024.

The video for the title track – shot in a cavernous warehouse with a massive projection screen juxtaposing historic and contemporary struggles – made an immediate impact, and her previous video ‘Shivers and Butterflies’ amassed nearly 800,000 views in a single month. Draped in bold red to symbolise courage, Owens delivers a searing performance with the urgency of a woman who has walked through fire and come out stronger. “I wanted to create a visual bridge between history and the challenges we face now,” she explains. “The troubles we sense, see, and experience may change shape, but the fight remains.”

Owens brings her celebrated live show back to western Canadian stages this spring and summer. A vocal powerhouse whose passion for authentic connection is unmistakable in person, she will appear at Hard Knox Brewery in Diamond Valley on April 18, Kinfest in Millarville, AB on June 20, Summer in the Park in Lacombe on June 24, the Camrose Blues Festival on July 17, the Venue Summer Concert Series in High River on August 2 and Nanaimo Blues Festival on August 8.

The blues has always been about finding strength in the struggle. With a national award, a legendary producer, and a summer of stages ahead, Ollee Owens is making it clear she is just getting started.

Tour Dates:

June 20 at 7:45 PM – Kinfest – Millarville, AB
June 24, 2026 at 6:00 PM – Summer in the Park – Lacombe, AB
July 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM – Camrose Blues Festival – Camrose, AB
July 30, 2026 at 6:00 PM – Private Event – Calgary, AB
August 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM – The Venue Summer Concert Series – High River, AB
August 8 at 3:00 PM – Nanaimo Blues Festival – Nanaimo, BC

Howdytoons, The Toronto Band With 1.5 Billion YouTube Streams, Releases Ferocious New Single “Smilodon” And Debut Album ‘Megafauna Metal’

Eric Alper
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Howdytoons, The Toronto Band With 1.5 Billion YouTube Streams, Releases Ferocious New Single “Smilodon” And Debut Album ‘Megafauna Metal’

Howdytoons – the Toronto-based band behind the most-streamed dinosaur music on the planet, with over 1.5 billion YouTube streams and more than 50 million Spotify plays to their name – today release “Smilodon,” the lead single from their debut full-length album ‘Megafauna Metal,’ out now. Written by Mike Whitla and his son Jake, the track is a prowling, snarling portrait of the prehistoric sabre-toothed predator – delivered with the kind of riffing intensity that has earned Howdytoons a place on Spotify’s editorial Hard Rock playlist and the respect of some of the biggest names in metal.

“Smilodon” arrives as the culmination of a creative evolution that began with a one-man recording project and has grown into something far larger. “My eyes are burning bright / I’m the prowler in the night / Listen and you’ll hear my song / Sabertooth tiger, is the Smilodon,” the track opens – before the song builds through a chase sequence of escalating ferocity, each verse tightening the coil until the kill is complete. It is a master class in narrative heavy metal, and a showcase for Jake Whitla’s emergence as a formidable songwriting force in his own right. “Smilodon is Jake’s fantastic contribution to this album,” says Mike. “He’s a jazz prodigy now turning his talents to metal – and he relishes this chance to live out his boyhood dream of making rockin’ dinosaur music with his dad.”

‘Megafauna Metal’ is the first full-length album from the Prehistorica series, the Howdytoons project co-written since 2017 with guitar virtuoso James Reid. The album is a genuine all-star achievement: Marco Minnemann – the drummer of choice for Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Nuno Bettencourt – plays on every track from 2020 on, having first joined Howdytoons for the recording of “Megalodon.” Billy Sheehan, the legendary bassist from Mr. Big and David Lee Roth’s band, adds his unmistakable authority to “Mastodon.” And Rody Walker of Protest the Hero – who discovered Howdytoons while listening with his young son and reached out to collaborate – delivers a performance on “Quetzalcoatlus” that Sleeping Village Reviews describes as possessing “a certain pedigree,” noting that “the kinetic songwriting itself sucks you in.”

The album also functions as a tribute. “Mastodon” is an explicit homage to the metal band of the same name – a gesture of respect toward a group that has inspired Howdytoons deeply and that speaks to the seriousness with which this band approaches its craft. That seriousness is everywhere on ‘Megafauna Metal:’ in the scientific accuracy woven through every lyric, in the animation created in close collaboration with Kolkata-based artist Soujoy Kumar Bhowmick, and in the album’s ambition to deliver prehistoric natural history through the most electrifying vehicle available – heavy metal.

The Howdytoons story began in 2011 when Mike Whitla released Dinostory: The Ultimate Dinosaur Rock Opera, a song-cycle following Terri the Triceratops that would eventually spawn billions of streams and millions of subscribers across multiple YouTube channels. What started as a solo project has grown into a three-person songwriting ensemble – Mike Whitla, James Reid, and Jake Whitla – with a live debut planned for 2027 that will bring the full energy of these recordings to the stage for the first time. ‘Megafauna Metal’ is their most powerful statement yet: proof that kids’ music and genuine metal credibility are not opposites – and that the prehistoric world has never sounded this alive.

Mandy Faye Releases Joyful New Children’s Jazz Album ‘My Friends’ Celebrating Community

Eric Alper
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Mandy Faye Releases Joyful New Children’s Jazz Album ‘My Friends’ Celebrating Community

Mandy Faye (they/them), formerly Music With Mandy, the beloved Calgary-based children’s artist best described as “The Wiggles meets Diana Krall” – is thrilled to announce the release of their new album, ‘My Friends,’ out May 10. A richly layered journey through the many facets of friendship, the album travels across jazz, swing, bossa nova, and beyond, showcasing Mandy’s signature gift for crafting music that delights children while pulling grown-ups into the joy right alongside them.

Recorded with an all-star ensemble of Alberta’s finest jazz and children’s musicians – including Matt Morris on piano, Kodi Hutchinson on bass, Jim Johnston on drums, André Wickenheiser on cornet, Carsten Rubeling on trombone, Keith O’Rourke on clarinet, and even Bob Fenske on spoons – ‘My Friends’ is a genuine collaborative achievement. Each track is a carefully crafted invitation into a world where imagination, kindness, and togetherness take centre stage. From the rollicking energy of “Sugar Rush” to the tender warmth of “A Little Time,” the album pulses with authenticity and genuine musical sophistication – the kind that earns it a rightful place on grown-up playlists, too.

The heart of the album is community – the kind that forms across distances, across differences, and across kitchen tables laden with holiday food. The track “Celebrate Over Supper” captures this spirit with vivid warmth: “We’ll celebrate over supper / Laughin’, eatin’, talkin’ with friends / Celebrate over supper / Then we go play in the den.” The song was inspired by Mandy’s upbringing as a “Misplaced Manitoban” in Medicine Hat, Alberta – where their family, far from extended relatives, built a chosen family of friends who gathered each Christmas to share traditional foods, hot tub misadventures, and the particular magic of belonging. It is storytelling that resonates across generations.

That theme of connection across distance runs beautifully through “Travelling,” one of the album’s most tender moments. Drawn from Mandy’s own experience of a family scattered across Canada – with parents in Manitoba and a brother in the Yukon – the song captures the pull of the road trip and the joy waiting at the end of it: “I’d drive all day long / And some of the night / Cross the miles between us / So we can reunite.” It is a song that speaks to anyone who has ever counted the kilometres to someone they love – and it lands with resonance for young listeners navigating friendships across school transitions, neighbourhoods, and life changes.

Mandy Faye’s path to becoming one of Canada’s most distinctive children’s artists is as singular as their sound. Grounded in jazz studies at MacEwan University and honed through years of teaching music across Alberta – they are currently a vocal instructor with the Calgary Stampede’s Young Canadians School and an early childhood music instructor at Chinook School of Music – Mandy brings a rare educator’s intentionality to every song they write. Their performances have captivated audiences at the International Children’s Festival for the Arts, Red Deer Children’s Festival, JazzYYC, Calgary Pride, and the National Music Centre, earning multiple YYC Music Award nominations and a WCMA nod along the way. Beginning in early April, Mandy is also releasing weekly interdisciplinary lesson plans that are aligned with Alberta Curriculum on their YouTube channel to help Alberta teachers bring music curriculum alive – a testament to their belief that music education is not a supplement but a foundation.

“Kids’ music has the power to be nostalgic and innovative at the same time,” says Mandy. “I get to write songs that inspire the next generation, while also creating moments where adults can reconnect with joy and play alongside their kids. What could be better than that?” ‘My Friends’ is the fullest expression of that philosophy to date – an album conceived in the spirit of togetherness and built in collaboration with some of Alberta’s most gifted musicians. Songs like “Vacation in the Stars” and “Sugar Rush,” which grew out of songwriting sessions with young collaborators, have already inspired Mandy to launch a songwriting workshop that has been presented dozens of times across Canada, proving the music’s capacity to spark creativity in kids everywhere.

To celebrate the release, Mandy Faye will bring ‘My Friends’ to stages across Alberta this spring. The album release concert takes place May 3, 2026 at cSpace King Edward in Calgary, followed by performances at the International Children’s Festival of the Arts in St. Albert on May 29–30, and the inaugural Chestermere Children’s Festival on June 20. These shows promise to be everything Mandy Faye does best – high-energy, heartfelt, and utterly magnetic for audiences of all ages.

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ABOUT MANDY FAYE

Mandy Faye (they/them) is equal parts musician, educator, and coffee. Best described as The Wiggles meets Diana Krall, their high-energy stage presence and thoughtful songwriting have won the hearts of audiences across Canada. Nominated for multiple YYC Music Awards and a WCMA, Mandy performs as both a children’s entertainer and a jazz-rooted educator, with an ongoing commitment to making music accessible and transformative for young audiences and the teachers who guide them.

TOUR DATES

May 3, 2026 – Album Release Concert | cSpace King Edward | Calgary, Alberta. Tickets here.

May 4, 2026 – Album Release Concert I cSpace King Edward | Calgary, Alberta. Tickets here.

May 29–30, 2026 – International Children’s Festival of the Arts | St. Albert, Alberta

June 20, 2026 – Chestermere Children’s Festival | Chestermere, Alberta

Ottawa Guitarist TERRY GOMES Releases Debut Single “Tego Agogo,” A Sun-Drenched Blast Of Go-Go Satire And Vintage Groove

Eric Alper
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Ottawa Guitarist TERRY GOMES Releases Debut Single “Tego Agogo,” A Sun-Drenched Blast Of Go-Go Satire And Vintage Groove

Ottawa-based composer, guitarist, and one of the capital’s most inventive musical voices – today releases “Tego Agogo,” the first single from his vibrant new EP ‘2 Open 3 Closed,’ out now. Brimming with cha-cha rhythm, vintage rock energy, and a gleeful sense of its own ridiculousness, the track is part satire, part tribute, and entirely fun – an invitation to stop thinking and start moving that arrives wrapped in some of the most infectious grooves Gomes has ever committed to tape.

The title itself tells you everything you need to know about Gomes’s spirit. “TEGO” is a blended word – “Te” from Terry, “go” from his last name, initial “A” from Anthony his middle name, and “Go-Go” of course refers to the clubs and dancers of the 1960s. The result is a word that is simultaneously a self-portrait and a love letter to an era. “You want a banger you can dance to? / One to really shake your pants to / And groove along right in a trance too,” Gomes sings, before the track pivots into a roll call of 1960s dances – the Watusi, the Frug, the Swim, the Mashed Potatoes, the Peppermint Twist, the Stroll, the Jerk – each delivered with the comedic timing of a man who has been waiting his whole life to make this particular song.

Musically, “Tego Agogo” is a study in deliberate collision. Gomes intentionally fused cha-cha and rock elements to reflect the dual streams of his musical identity – the Latin and Caribbean influences of his Guyanese heritage running headlong into the 60s rock and roll he has loved for just as long. The track features percussionist Arien Villegas on drums and timbale, giving the rhythm section exactly the kind of bilingual authority the song demands, alongside Alex Mastronardi on bass and Nick Dyson on trumpet. The whole thing was recorded and mixed at Audio Valley Studio by Ottawa Faces award-winning engineer Steve Foley and mastered by Jason Fee at Conduction Mastering.

The accompanying music video – a month in the making, involving all the footage, creative decisions, and editing Gomes could throw at it – features the composer himself dancing. “The dancing was a blast to do but took some practice before it was shot,” he admits. That willingness to be genuinely, unguardedly playful is characteristic of an artist who spent 26 years as an elementary school teacher before fully committing to music – and who brings to everything he makes both the discipline of a lifelong craftsman and the irreverence of someone who knows that fun is its own kind of art form.

“Tego Agogo” opens ‘2 Open 3 Closed,’ a five-track EP whose title refers simply to the fact that two pieces are sung and three are instrumentals – a ratio that reflects Gomes’s long career as a primarily instrumental composer. Having earned an Honours Music degree at the University of Ottawa in classical guitar and composition, he went on to release three singer-songwriter albums before pivoting in 2012 into the intricate, evocative instrumental music that has since earned him airplay on CBC across Canada, steady rotation on Stingray’s Smooth Jazz and JAZZ.FM91, and positive press in Exclaim!, Cashbox Canada, The Whole Note, The Daily Vault, and FYI/Billboard. “Tego Agogo” marks his first vocal recording in 14 years – and he sounds like he never stopped.

Singer-Songwriter Syd Taylor Steps Out Solo With Raw, Self-Produced Debut ‘After the Fact’

Eric Alper
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Singer-Songwriter Syd Taylor Steps Out Solo With Raw, Self-Produced Debut ‘After the Fact’

Syd Taylor spent ten years making music with her twin sister Emilia Paige in Stereo Jane. Then she locked herself in her Los Angeles apartment for three months and made something entirely alone. ‘After the Fact,’ her debut solo album, is the result, twelve tracks written and self-produced from scratch, with no outside direction on genre, production, or presentation.

“It’s the first time I’ve been able to sit down and make something truly for me,” Taylor says. “No one telling me what genre to lean into, what producer to hand my demos to, or even how to present myself. I know I’m not perfect, so why pretend to be some perfectly polished pop version of myself? I wanted to get as far away from that as possible. And in doing that, I made something that feels perfect to me, which is imperfect.”

The album traces a pivotal period of exploring identity and honesty within the kind of isolation that forces real self-examination. Taylor describes it as “a journey of self-discovery and self-understanding,” and the raw, empowering quality of the songwriting reflects exactly how much was at stake in making it. It’s an introduction to her voice as a solo artist, and the vocal ability on display across twelve tracks makes a strong case for where she goes from here.

The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, model, and producer has completed a supporting run with Goldie Boutilier across the US, building her live presence in rooms that rewarded exactly the kind of direct, unguarded performance ‘After the Fact’ calls for.

‘After the Fact’ is out now.

‘After the Fact’ Tracklisting:

  1. After the Fact
  2. Time to Go!
  3. Heaven
  4. Honeycomb
  5. The Wind
  6. Leave Me Out of It
  7. Dream About You
  8. My Man
  9. Love of Your Life
  10. You’re a Woman
  11. La da da dee die
  12. Jane

Chicago Alt-Rock Rising Force Brigitte Calls Me Baby Bring ‘Irreversible’ to Sold-Out Rooms Across North America

Eric Alper
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Chicago Alt-Rock Rising Force Brigitte Calls Me Baby Bring ‘Irreversible’ to Sold-Out Rooms Across North America

Brigitte Calls Me Baby wrote most of ‘Irreversible’ in transit. Lyrics in hotel rooms, melodies over headphones, voice memos traded while the rest of the world slept. The Chicago alt-rock four-piece spent the years between albums on the road with Morrissey, Muse, and Fontaines D.C., selling out rooms across the US, UK, and Europe, and all of that time moving shaped what the record became.

‘Irreversible’ is out now on ATO Records, produced by Yves Rothman and Lawrence Rothman (Blondshell, Yves Tumor) and recorded live at Lawrence’s home studio across intentionally brief four-hour sessions. The songs arrived at the studio already knowing what they wanted to be. Eleven tracks, more layered and less direct than the debut, with more texture, tension, and room to sit inside emotional extremes.

“Our first album taught me that you’ve got to reach as far down into your soul as possible and be willing to show something real and raw to the world,” says vocalist Wes Leavins. “With this album that felt even easier and more natural. There was a time when I tried to bury the kind of feelings we’re displaying on this record, but now I’m at the point where I don’t feel the need to hold anything back.”

The two singles out ahead of the album make the emotional range of ‘Irreversible’ clear. “Slumber Party” was written about the kind of person who isolates until leaving home becomes a chore. “I Danced With Another Love in My Dreams” started as an attempt to write something happy and ended up about infidelity played out in a dream, leaning into the bright, shiny surface of something that cuts underneath. Both tracks were tested live before they were finished, refined in soundchecks and set lists until the crowd’s reaction confirmed what the band already sensed.

Brigitte Calls Me Baby formed in 2022 and their debut ‘The Future Is Our Way Out’ landed in 2024 to critical acclaim, building a diehard following fast. Television performances at Kimmel, Kelly Clarkson, and CBS followed. The North American headline tour is currently underway with remaining dates running through late May across Texas, the South, the East Coast, and Canada.

‘Irreversible’ is out now on ATO Records.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

4 May — Dallas, TX — Puzzles

5 May — Austin, TX — Antone’s Nightclub

6 May — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)

8 May — Nashville, TN — The Basement

9 May — Atlanta, GA — Vinyl at Center Stage

11 May — Washington, DC — The Atlantis

12 May — Philadelphia, PA — The Foundry at The Fillmore

14 May — New York, NY — Bowery Ballroom

15 May — Boston, MA — The Red Room at Cafe 939

16 May — Uncasville, CT — Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Resort

19 May — Toronto, ON — Longboat Hall

20 May — Ferndale, MI — The Loving Touch

21 May — Indianapolis, IN — HI-FI

‘Irreversible’ Tracklisting:

  1. There Always
  2. Slumber Party
  3. I Danced With Another Love in My Dreams
  4. The Pit
  5. Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
  6. These Acts of Which Were Designed
  7. Sillage
  8. I Can’t Have You All To Myself
  9. I Can Take the Sun Out of the Sky
  10. The Early Days of Love
  11. Send Those Memories

UK Metal Four-Piece Cage Fight Deliver Their Most Personal Record Yet on Second Album ‘Exuvia’

Eric Alper
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UK Metal Four-Piece Cage Fight Deliver Their Most Personal Record Yet on Second Album ‘Exuvia’

Cage Fight’s second album ‘Exuvia’ is out now on Spinefarm, and it’s a different record from anything the UK four-piece have made before. Not because the hardcore foundations have shifted, but because vocalist Rachel Aspe wrote every lyric herself for the first time, and the results are deeply, specifically personal.

The album covers anxiety, assault, grief, toxic manipulation, and the slow process of healing from all of it. “Élégie,” the expansive closing track, addresses the loss of Aspe’s grandfather and the weight of things left unsaid. The title track was written with her grandmother, who is currently battling cancer, and directly shaped its lyrics. The album cover, a radiation mask photographed by Manuel Acquualeni, ties both threads together visually. ‘Exuvia’ as a word means a cast-off skin or outer shell, and the album earns that definition across every track.

Lead single “Un Bon Souvenir” addresses a previous experience in a band controlled by what Aspe describes as “a toxic, manipulative person.” She’s clear about the intent: “Bringing people down won’t elevate you.” The accompanying video, depicting the unraveling of a false world built on manipulation, makes the same point without softening it.

“Pick Your Fighter,” featuring Julien Truchan of Benighted on guest vocals, takes a sharp left turn, inspired by a French pop song, though the result is thoroughly crushing. It’s the kind of move that signals a band comfortable enough in their own sound to play with it.

Recorded by Sam Bloor at Lower Lane Studios and mixed by Jim Pinder (Sleep Token, Malevolence), ‘Exuvia’ keeps the meaty grooves and pummelling rhythms that Cage Fight built their live reputation on, while pushing into broader melodic and atmospheric territory. Their Bloodstock 2025 main stage performance of “Pig” has accumulated 2.1 million Instagram views, a number that reflects exactly how much momentum this band has built through relentless live work alongside Sepultura, Cro-Mags, Napalm Death, and Employed To Serve.

The festival schedule runs from June through August across the Czech Republic, France, and the UK.

‘Exuvia’ is out now on Spinefarm.

‘Exuvia’ Track Listing:

  1. Confined
  2. Oxygen
  3. Pig
  4. Pick Your Fighter
  5. Un Bon Souvenir
  6. Deathstalker
  7. Le Déni
  8. Exuvia
  9. The Hammer Crush
  10. IHYG (I Hate Your Guts)
  11. Élégie

Upcoming Festival Dates:

27 Jun — Basinfire Festival, CZ

26 Jul — Mozhell Open Air, FR

31 Jul — Radar Festival, UK

1 Aug — Xtreme Fest, FR

2 Aug — Sylak Festival, FR

14 Aug — Motocultor Festival, FR

21 Aug — Furiosfest, FR

Three-Time GRAMMY Winner Victoria Monét Returns With “Let Me” and Joins Bruno Mars Across European Stadiums This Summer

Eric Alper
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Three-Time GRAMMY Winner Victoria Monét Returns With “Let Me” and Joins Bruno Mars Across European Stadiums This Summer

Victoria Monét has been quiet for two years since ‘JAGUAR II: Deluxe,’ and “Let Me” is how she breaks the silence. Out now via Lovett Music/RCA Records, the single is produced by Camper with co-production from Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, Branden “B Mack” Rowell, and Cashmere Brown. It’s the first look at a new era, and the timing couldn’t be sharper.

The JAGUAR chapter earned Monét three GRAMMYs in 2024, including Best New Artist, Best R&B Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, making her the first Black woman to win that last category. ‘JAGUAR II’ crossed one billion streams worldwide. “On My Mama” alone sits at over 123 million streams with 69 million video views and viral content reaching 804 million. That’s the platform “Let Me” is launching from.

The new single marks a deliberate step forward. The JAGUAR era closed with ‘A Jaguar II Christmas: The Orchestral Arrangements’ in December 2024, transforming fan favorites into live orchestral pieces alongside holiday classics. What comes next is what Monét has been building toward, and “Let Me” opens that door.

This summer, Monét joins Bruno Mars as special guest on ‘The Romantic Tour’ across Europe and the UK, starting June 20 in Paris. The run covers stadium dates in Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, and six dates at Wembley Stadium in London. Anderson .Paak appears as DJ Pee .Wee across all dates.

Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Adele, SZA, and Anita Baker are among the artists who have publicly praised Monét’s work. Rolling Stone named ‘JAGUAR II’ one of the top 10 albums of its year. TIME named her to the Time 100 list as one of the most influential figures of 2024. The critical and commercial record behind her is substantial. “Let Me” signals she’s ready to add to it.

“Let Me” is out now on Lovett Music/RCA Records.

2026 Tour Dates (w/ Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak as DJ Pee .Wee):

18 Jun — Paris, FR — Stade de France

20 Jun — Paris, FR — Stade de France

21 Jun — Paris, FR — Stade de France

26 Jun — Berlin, DE — Olympiastadion

28 Jun — Berlin, DE — Olympiastadion

29 Jun — Berlin, DE — Olympiastadion

2 Jul — Amsterdam, NL — Johan Cruijff ArenA

4 Jul — Amsterdam, NL — Johan Cruijff ArenA

5 Jul — Amsterdam, NL — Johan Cruijff ArenA

7 Jul — Amsterdam, NL — Johan Cruijff ArenA

10 Jul — Madrid, ES — Riyadh Air Metropolitano

11 Jul — Madrid, ES — Riyadh Air Metropolitano

14 Jul — Milan, IT — Stadio San Siro

15 Jul — Milan, IT — Stadio San Siro

18 Jul — London, UK — Wembley Stadium

19 Jul — London, UK — Wembley Stadium

22 Jul — London, UK — Wembley Stadium

24 Jul — London, UK — Wembley Stadium

25 Jul — London, UK — Wembley Stadium

28 Jul — London, UK — Wembley Stadium

Rosalía Drops Desert-Filmed Video for “Sauvignon Blanc” From Landmark Album ‘LUX’

Eric Alper
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Rosalía Drops Desert-Filmed Video for “Sauvignon Blanc” From Landmark Album ‘LUX’

Rosalía’s ‘LUX’ arrived as one of the most ambitious pop albums in recent memory, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daníel Bjarnason, and the new video for “Sauvignon Blanc” captures exactly what makes the record worth that level of attention. Directed by Noah Dillon, who also shot the album cover, the visual is stripped back and spare, a quiet love story played out against a desert backdrop with an invisible partner.

The song itself sits at the center of ‘LUX’s emotional architecture. Rosalía describes it as exploring the release of material things in favor of deeper connection, where emotional and spiritual intimacy become the currency. The visual mirrors that thesis without overselling it. Dillon keeps the frame open and the performance unguarded.

Rolling Stone called ‘LUX’ “her most astonishing offer yet.” Pitchfork described it as “a heartfelt offering of avant-garde classical pop that roars through genre, romance, and religion.” AP News put it plainly: “If there is a single avant-garde saving grace in the pop music landscape, it’s here.” The album opened at No. 1 on Spotify’s Global Top Albums Chart, the biggest streaming debut ever for a female Spanish-language artist on the platform, and the strongest commercial debut of Rosalía’s career.

‘LUX’ features collaborators including Björk, Carminho, Estrella Morente, Silvia Pérez Cruz, Yahritza, Yves Tumor, and the Escolania de Montserrat i Cor Cambra Palau de la Música Catalana. The scale of the project reflects a songwriter who knows what she’s capable of and built the album to match it.

The LUX TOUR 2026 launched in March and is currently running across Europe, North America, and South America. Rosalía is also set to appear in the upcoming third season of Euphoria, her acting debut, and recently appeared as cover star for Vogue U.S.’s Spring 2026 issue.

This is an artist operating at the absolute top of her field across every dimension simultaneously.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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