7 songs you need to hear this week, Asian Heritage Month edition

For Asian Heritage Month, we're devoting this week's edition of our Songs you need to hear feature to new and recent tracks from these exciting Asian–Canadian musicians:

• Century Egg.
• Robotaki and Jamie Fine.
• Ciel and Kilig.
• Luna Li and Jay Som.
• Kimmortal.
• Philip Chiu.
• Estyr, remixed by Casey Yugo.

Scroll down to find out why you should listen, too.

What Asian–Canadian artists are you currently obsessed with? Share them with us on Twitter @CBCMusic.

To hear more about these standout songs, tune in to CBC Music Mornings every Thursday and Toronto's Here and Now every Wednesday afternoon, both available via CBC Listen.

'Little Piece of Hair,' Century Egg

Last year, when Halifax pop-rock group Century Egg released its EP, Little Piece of Hair, the band said its songs were "about finding yourself, understanding your value in the present and celebrating the changes life delivers." That last part about changes is perhaps best represented on the title track, for which the band enlisted Australia's Knuckles Animation Studio to create a music video. (The video has been screened at various film festivals around the world including Montreal, Melbourne and Prague, but is receiving a proper release now.) "Middle age, so the story's told," singer Shane Keyu Song sings, "Hair changes colour to show it's old." Song also compares pieces of hair falling out to the changing of the seasons as autumn leaves succumb to age and gravity. Altogether, this can sound grim, but when paired with the band's joyous melodies, change sounds like something that should be embraced. — Melody Lau 

'Harbinger,' Robotaki, Jamie Fine

The partnership behind 2018's soulful "Butterscotch" is back with an uplifting pop-rock anthem perfectly timed to get us out of our pandemic funk. "The darkest nights on the coldest eves shine the brightest stars that you ever seen," sings Jamie Fine in verse 1 of "Harbinger," her latest collaboration with producer/DJ Robotaki (a.k.a. Preston Chin.) Fine's grainy voice has always been compelling, but even more so here as she explores this rallying "it's always darkest before the dawn" theme. Robotaki's signature is apparent through imaginative touches like a sitar intro, robust guitar choruses, a bridge that's accompanied by hair-raising keyboard arpeggios, and a crystal-clear bass line. Sway along in solidarity as you face a brighter future. — Robert Rowat

'Free,' Ciel and Kilig

When this track was first released in March, it was done so anonymously. If you wanted to know who was behind this immersive, unexpected journey of a song, you'd have to order the limited release vinyl and find the answer to the mystery in the record sleeve. That's just how London-based record label unknown - untitled releases music. Luckily, for those of us not fortunate enough to snag the three-song EP on vinyl, the label eventually reveals the producers names online and lo and behold, this iteration included three tracks by Toronto-based producer, pianist and DJ, Ciel.

Ciel is known for her exploratory DJ sets and untethered production styles, and "Free" sits squarely in the vein of her previous releases. A collaboration with U.K. producer Kilig, the song incorporates vocals reminiscent of old-school house with birdsong, and breakbeats — the coldness of the production a perfect counterbalance to the warmth in the vocal sample. It may seem a bit unusual for an artist to want to release music without their name on it, but there's something to be said about letting the work speak for itself. In an Instagram post, Ciel shared, "I didn't want my music to be judged based on elements that had nothing to do with the music itself, so when UU first reached out to me, I absolutely jumped at the opportunity." — Kelsey Adams

'Boring Again,' Luna Li and Jay Som

Toronto's Luna Li, a.k.a. Hannah Bussiere Kim, released her debut album, Duality, in March, and this track with L.A.-based singer-songwriter Jay Som has been dreamily floating in our heads ever since. The singers kick off "Boring Again" as a team, releasing an inviting chorus of "oooohs" before the backbeat and twinkling keys swoop in to carry us through their traded verses (all expertly connected by Som's guitar playing). While the jaded lyrics may not match the weightlessness of the melody ("Where the dust settles in, I'm boring again/ where the dust settles in, the orange begins," Kim sings), it's just one of many juxtapositions held within the album title — and maybe the reality of making and releasing your debut album during a pandemic. Duality, and "Boring Again," is also a celebratory space: Kim's identity as a mixed-race Korean-Canadian is at the heart of her album, and her choice of collaborators — all women of colour — reflects what she wants to see more of in music. "I want this album to be something you can dance around in your room too, and like a safe space of belonging for those who don't feel like they fit anywhere," she said in the album's press release. Start your dive into Duality with this collaboration, but don't stop there. — Holly Gordon

'K I'm Mortal,' Kimmortal

Back in March, Vancouver artist Kimmortal got an unexpected boost from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when the U.S. congresswoman rapped along to their 2019 track, "Sad Femme Club." Shortly after that, Kimmortal released a new song, "K, I'm Mortal," our first glimpse at their upcoming new album slated to drop later this year. Described as "probably the most honest track I've ever written," Kimmortal's latest breaks down their anxieties, their battles with perfectionism, but also their quest for growth and being compassionate to one's self as they make mistakes along the way. While Kimmortal's bars are packed with specificity — from the "burden of representation" that they feel, to their fear of intimacy — it's their determination to evolve and learn that feels relatable and motivational to listeners. If we're all willing to be brutally honest while still being kind to ourselves in the process, there's nowhere we can go but up, and Kimmortal's words are there to remind us of just that. — ML

Maurice Ravel: 'The Fairy Garden' (arr. for piano), Philip Chiu

I can't say enough good things about Fables, the gorgeous new album from Montreal pianist Philip Chiu on which he champions both the time-honoured (transcriptions of Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F Major and Mother Goose) and the timely (Mnidoonskaa: an Abundance of Insects, a five-movement suite he commissioned from Barbara Assiginaak.) Chiu exhibits remarkable restraint, drawing you into the sinuous melodies with perfectly balanced voicing and a crystalline tone rather than showy displays  — although those do come here and there, nowhere more impressively than in "The Fairy Garden," the always satisfying conclusion to Mother Goose, with its powerful chords and stirring glissandi. — RR

'High on a Feeling' (Casey Yugo remix), Estyr

This remix of Estyr's "High on a Feeling," from her 2021 EP All Tied Up evolves the delicately emotive track into a hazed-out, upbeat pop tune. The purity in the Toronto-based singer-songwriter's voice still shines through but it's a complete tonal shift. "Everyday feels like a dream/ With no beginning or ending/ You've got me floating off the ground/ And nothing feels heavy" — the levity in Estyr's lyricism takes on new meaning with this rework. Toronto-based producer Casey Yugo taps into the inherent optimism in the original song and lets it soar, with reverbed vocals and drums that dare you to clap along. — KA