Photo by Léa Taillefer Tomorrow marks the release of the first new music from Montreal’s N NAO since being longlisted for the Polaris Prize last year, with their new EP Miroir hitting streaming services tomorrow. We’re pleased to premiere the lead single and music video from that EP, the title track “Miroir”. Produced alongside Sylvain Deschamps (Klô Pelgag, Flore Laurentienne), the new EP features three songs that revolve around themes of withcraft, secrecy, and spirals. It’s a rare privilege as a music writer to be at a loss for words, but “Miroir” and it’s accompanying video leave me in su ..read more

The Cups N Cakes Network is extremely pleased to be celebrating the release of The Sylvia Platters’ new record Vivian Elixir, which was released today. We’ve been fans of the band for a few years now, reviewing “Kool Aid Blue” off of this record for our Quick Picks column in February 2024, with writer Sean Davis Newton calling it a “vividly drawn recording that you can’t help but get stuck in your head”. Vivian Elixir is a relatively quick listen, coming in under 25 minutes, but the band manages to pull from nearly every era of classic songwriting and production, never leaning into one era or ..read more

The Cups N Cakes Network is pleased to premiere the first single from Montreal band Laughing’s debut record Because It’s True, out June 28th, 2024 via Celluloid Lunch. The band is made up of past and current members of Nap Eyes, Monomyth, Human Music, and Fountain, and the first single “Bruised” sets the stage for a revival of the kind of melodic, guitar driven pop music familiar to those of us who grew up in the early oughts. The music video channels that exact same era as well, with the DV cam style footage creating a nostalgic feeling that compliments the song. “Bruised” is, in many ways ..read more

The territories often receive short shrift when it comes to coverage of their music scene, but not for lack of really great bands. Case in point: today, Whitehorse art rock outfit Cryptozoologists are releasing a live video for “Someone Egged My Car”, a delightful scuzzy garage rock jam that manages to feel charmingly unserious and literate at the same time, almost like the lovechild of James Murphy’s lyricism and Daniel Romano’s rock n roll spirit. The band is led by songwriter Zach McCann-Armitage, with backing from Dawson Beaulieau, Fabian Brook, and Ben Craymer. Their 2020 album Pond Life ..read more

Edmonton’s Sam the Living (A.K.A Dylan Greenhough) released his latest single “Everything Fades Away” on March 29th, and today marks the release date of a music video for the song. Though he’s a veteran of the prairie music scene (he was a member of Archaics and Perpetuals), Sam the Living is Greenhough’s first proper solo effort, and “Everything Fades Away” serves as a tantalizing taste of good things to come under the new moniker. The song is a slice of earnest 70’s influenced indie rock, all held together by Greenhough’s ethereal tenor singing voice. The somewhat ghostly quality of the rec ..read more

It’s just about the best sign of things to come that within the first 30 seconds of the new single from Edmonton’s Bad Buddy, I’ve already caught an enormous grin sneaking it’s way onto my face. The band has just about as good of a claim as anyone to being the best band in the city, and the release of “Q.B.” marks their welcome return after 2020’s incredible self-titled debut (and a dare-I-say underappreciated single from 2021, “Mind Control”). “Q.B.” is the first single from their upcoming album, which, while formally unannounced, will be hitting the shelves in June of this year. As always ..read more

Following up on the release of the first couple singles from Alix Fernz’ upcoming album Bizou, the Cups N Cakes Network is pleased to host the exclusive premiere of the music video for his next single “Rouge à lèvres". Bizou, which comes out on April 19th, 2024 via Mothland, is the first studio release from Alexandre Fournier, the singer songwriter and producer behind Alix Fernz. "Rouge à lèvres" is an absolutely thrilling listen. It’s jagged and unsettled, with an underlying groove that still binds everything together in a way that feels like a ton of fun. The unpredictability of the son ..read more

We are excited today to host the exclusive premiere for “Toeing the Line”, the debut release from West coast behind-the-scenes legend Kenton Loewen. He’s best known as one of Canada’s premier improvising drummers; you’ve likely heard his work with Dan Mangan + Blacksmith, Gord Grdina, or, if you were hanging out in Vancouver at the right time, you may have also seen him play with Mother Mother (he was the band’s original drummer). “Toeing the Line” is a collaboration with longtime friend and producer Jesse Zubot, and sees Loewen diving head first into singer-songwriter territory. The track is ..read more

Today, the Cups N Cakes Network is pleased to premiere the new single “Remember You” from Calgary based hip-hop artist The Blue (a.k.a Hemen Tor-Agbidye). It’s the first we’ve heard from The Blue since the release of their 2022 record Things Could Be Worse, and Tor-Agbidye returns in full force here with a two-and-a-half minute missive on legacy, the passing of time, and how things change. There’s a melancholy to the song, whether it’s in The Blue’s reflection on the music scene in the first verse, or the broader questions about how people remember those who pass through their lives. The firs ..read more

Today, Calgary’s Sunglaciers are announcing their long awaited third LP Regular Nature, due out on March 29th via the excellent Mothland. The announcement comes with the first single and music video from the forthcoming album, for the song “Cursed”. We recently featured the band on our “Most Anticipated of 2024” list, with Cups N Cakes founder Jeff MacCallum saying that “Sunglaciers have moved away from being one of the more exciting bands in Calgary to one of the more exciting bands in the country”. The video, shot and edited by lead singer Evan Resnik, has a surreal, dreamlike quality, with ..read more