Charlotte Day Wilson's personal epiphany, and 3 more songs you need to hear this week

Here at CBC Music, we're always on high alert for new songs by Canadian artists.

This week, we're listening to new tracks from:

• Marie-Pierre Arthur, François Lafontaine and Olivier Langevin.
• Sunsetto.
• Dizzy and Overcoats.
• Charlotte Day Wilson.

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

What new Canadian tunes are you currently obsessed with? Share them with us on Twitter @CBCMusic.

Hit play on our Songs You Need to Hear stream, filled with songs that CBC Music's producers have chosen for their playlists, and tune into CBC Music Mornings every Thursday to hear CBC Music's Jess Huddleston and Saroja Coelho reveal which of these tracks is the standout new Canadian song.

'Tout recommence,' Marie-Pierre Arthur, François Lafontaine, Olivier Langevin

There's something so hopeful about the steelpan that kickstarts "Tout recommence," a.k.a. "Everything restarts." Quebec artists Marie-Pierre Arthur, François Lafontaine (founding member of Karkwa) and Olivier Langevin (founding member of Galaxie) are longtime friends and oft collaborators on each other's projects, but this new single is the first time they've created music that stands on its own — possibly marking the start of something new entirely. "On a enfin fait ce qu'on disait qu'on ferait depuis longtemps, c'est-à-dire composer ensemble les trois," Arthur wrote on Facebook, saying the trio finally did what they'd been promising for so long: composing together. With seamless harmonies, the luscious layering of drums and guitars and hints of that tropical steelpan breeze, "Tout recommence" is the perfect, nuanced soundtrack to whatever new chapter we're all stepping into this summer. And with any luck, it won't be the only thing we hear from this trio in the near future. — Holly Gordon

'Good Connection,' Sunsetto

He may hail from rural Nova Scotia, where, according to a recent video, he had to go to Starbucks for Wi-Fi, but Sunsetto has recently crafted a pair of perfectly urbane alt-R&B songs, first "Don't Leave" and now (speaking of Wi-Fi) "Good Connection." The latter is a drowsy, down-tempo meditation on being attuned to, and respectful of, the one you love. "I think about you way too often/ you know I don't plan on stoppin'," he sings with an undulating melody. The production employs a variety of distortion effects to cast his words in different lights, while a throbbing bass line grounds the song's gently waltzing pulse. — Robert Rowat

'Beatrice St. E,' Dizzy and Overcoats

When Oshawa, Ontario's Dizzy couldn't tour its second album, 2020's The Sun and her Scorch, the band went back to the studio to give five of the album's songs new life and new collaborators. Separate Places, the resulting EP, was released on June 11, and it's the song "Beatrice St. E," featuring New York duo Overcoats, that has my heart stuck in my throat. A stripped-down version of source song "Beatrice," "Beatrice St. E" holds that space when a relationship is over, but you're not quite ready to let go. "Would you call me/ when you get this?/ I know that there's nothing left to fix/ I just wanted to hear your voice/ Would you meet me on Beatrice?," Dizzy lead singer Katie Munshaw begins over delicate piano. Overcoats join her on the second verse, their gossamer harmonies blending beautifully with Munshaw's vocals. When the three take centre stage for a chorus almost void of instruments, it's a heartbreaking moment of stillness. — HG

'Keep Moving,' Charlotte Day Wilson 

It's been about five years since Charlotte Day Wilson released her first single, but this summer the Toronto musician is finally ready to drop her highly anticipated debut album, Alpha (out July 9). Her latest single, "Keep Moving," is said to set the tone for what's to come, its video a "compelling exploration of self-discovery, earnest declarations, recollecting Charlotte's inner struggles of love, growing and breaking that she's finally speaking to in a greater way," as a press release describes. 

Featuring cameos from Toronto drag queen Tynomi Banks, musician Bambii, Dykes on Bikes and more, it's clear that one of these themes is of unabashed queerness, from the beautiful visuals of voguing in the subway and couples holding onto each other, to Wilson softly singing on the track, "Yeah, I need you to love me like that, babe/ free and openly, my girl/ 'cause all this time we spend inside to keep it right, it hurts." This journey of opening up requires forward momentum, as Wilson repeats on the post-chorus: "I gotta keep moving, keep moving." Over patient '80s pop/funk production, Wilson's silky vocals take their time to unfurl over the course of the song, but never lose sight of what's ahead: catharsis, release, and a personal (and musical) epiphany. — Melody Lau