Feature Friday

With starry-eyed love songs and scorned-lover anthems saturating the airwaves, it can be easy to forget that that pop can be earnest and still be catchy as hell. It’s refreshing, then, that Ottawa-based singer-songwriter Kelsey Hayes’ new EP, In My Mind,  serves as a sterling reminder, proving that the best indie-pop can convey complexity and […]

When carefully crafted and properly executed, music can be truly powerful: it can connect with you, alter your mood, and evoke deep emotions. The first EP by Ottawa’s XiL, “If I Should Live Forever, Then Know That I Am Dead Inside”, achieves all of this within the space of its six profoundly affecting tracks. It’s […]

Let’s get two things out of the way before I talk about how Jon Creeden and the Flying Hellfish’s newest offering, “Stall”, blew me away. First: I’m not usually a fan of band names that have a “So and So and the So and So’s” format, because I always feel like the band is getting […]

Ottawa fans of indie, neo-psychedelic, and low-fi, rejoice! Empty Nesters and Soft Life recently released Empty Life, a split EP that evokes feelings of teenage idleness, depression, and violence all vis-à-vis distortion, mellow vocals, and kaleidoscopic sound—quite a feat! Empty Nesters’ first track, cryptically named “???”, starts with an upbeat guitar rhythm that hints at […]

If you’re looking for an eccentric and earnest musical adventure, Sophie Bijjani is the perfect guide, helping you along the path to Feu d’grand vent, her soon-to-be released debut album. Following a stint of performances in California, the Gatineau-based artist has made her way back to her hometown in order to release this eclectic collection […]

If the brilliantly eclectic blend of styles and genres that make up Double Magnum’s self-titled debut leaves you feeling a bit intoxicated, it’s not a coincidence: the key to this Ottawa band – made up of brothers Nic, Max, Alexis and Felix Boivin – is right there in the name. “When people hear the name […]

Isn’t it fun to have your heart wrenched? Every intense note and word of the Elementals’ second album, “Mother Nature and Her Bipolar Tendencies”, plows into your chest with mighty aplomb. With heaps of shifting time signatures, tuneful arpeggiated wonderfulness, and drums that punch like Tyson, this seven-track beast is the result of an incredible […]

Returning with their much anticipated second EP “Even This Glow”, local indie rock band Galapagos is back and bigger than ever – quite literally – as original duo Adam Ferris and Matthew Wood team up with drummer Jamie Orser, and bass guitarist Gerardo Mantecon. The result of this new lineup is a rich, nostalgic sound […]

Cultivating the radiance and finesse that is becoming her trademark, Sarah Bradley is sculpting her sound into something entirely distinctive and uniquely her own with For the Kill. This new EP is just the most recent sign of the momentum Bradley has been building through her career, and this solo work bears the marks of […]

Are you looking to start off 2018 with some great new tunes from our ever-expanding local music scene? Then look no further than our first Feature Friday of the year as we check out Okies, an incredible local band with a stellar new release. You might recognize “Okies” as a Great Depression-era reference to migrant […]