Feist's ode to perseverance, and 5 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:

• Aiza.
• Charlotte Cardin.
• Clairmont the Second.
• Feist.
• Kubla.
• The Beaches. 

Scroll down to find out why you need to listen. 

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

To hear more about these standout songs, tune in to CBC Music Mornings every Thursday (Canada-wide) with producer Ryan Chung and host Saroja Coelho, and Here and Now with Gill Deacon every Wednesday afternoon (in Toronto). Both are available via CBC Listen.

'Cocoa Butter,' Aiza

Pure, unadulterated fun is the only way to describe the newest tune from Montreal-born, Toronto-based artist Aiza. The rolling Afropop rhythm will have your hips swaying before the chorus hits and Aiza's playful and braggadocious lyrics just amp up the energy. She wrote the song in 2020, while in COVID-19 lockdown, from the perspective of someone who couldn't wait to get outside to "embrace the desire to get debaucherous" again. Three years later and this fiery track is the soundtrack we need to carry us into a summer full of indulgence and never-ending thrills. Let the debauchery begin! — Kelsey Adams 

'Confetti,' Charlotte Cardin

Charlotte Cardin's self-described ode to introverts is a dark and bouncy single to soundtrack the nights you say you're too busy to come out — but are really just staying home to snuggle your pet. "I feel like a zombie, I'll die at the party/ yeah, you'll find my body fully covered in confetti/ I tried calling somebody to tell them, 'Come, get me,'/ but you'll find my body fully covered in confetti," the Montrealer sings on the chorus, describing a social anxiety-induced death before dropping that simple but sharp hook: "La-da-da-da-da." This is Cardin's first new release since her Juno-sweeping 2021 album, Phoenix, and it teases her upcoming August album, 99 Nights, which she announced this month on Apple Music's The Zane Lowe Show. With horn-adjacent synths and drama-inducing keys, "Confetti" is popping up just in time for party (or party-averse) season. — Holly Gordon

'Fill Isself,' Clairmont the Second

After releasing the short film for his Full Circle EP last month, rapper and producer Clairmont the Second dropped his latest bouncy single, "Fill Isself." On the funk-inflected track, Clairmont rides the beat with mischievous glee, his raps bursting with energy: "Imma dip out and never come back," he announces. The verses are rapid-fire, as he boasts about doing what he wants, the glowing results of his skincare routine and getting paid. Gassing himself up over the quirky melody with choppy beats and alien-like synths, he takes you on a joyride. The infectious chorus and trippy instrumentals make for a hair-raising listen all the way to the end, when Clairmont whispers his final line, "My name's on it, lemme get that, get that," as the music fades away. — Natalie Harmsen

'Borrow Trouble,' Feist 

Multitudes, Feist's sixth studio album that dropped April 14, is anchored in a still quietness, a reflection of the solitude in which she wrote the album during the early days of the pandemic. The songs are mostly campfire songs or lullabies, but the album isn't without its bursts of sound and energy, as exemplified by opening track "In Lightning" and late-album highlight, "Borrow Trouble."

"It began as a contemplative acoustic morality tale," Feist said in a press release, "and shaped itself into the sound of trouble itself." Layering strings, vocal harmonies, pounding drums and even a beautiful saxophone solo, the track starts off tamely but builds to an inferno, just as anxious thoughts can pile up into an immovable obstacle in your mind. In the end, Feist doesn't provide an answer on how to properly find yourself at the other end of this feeling, but her repeated offer of "I'll take all of it that you've got to give," is equal parts benevolent and encouraging, reminding listeners of the perseverance that lives inside all of us. — Melody Lau

'LadyLove,' Kubla

For someone who spends part of every morning immersed in an ice bath, Toronto-via-Victoria singer-songwriter Kubla (Kiaran McMillan) sure knows how to craft warm, soothing R&B songs. On "LadyLove," his third single of 2023, Kubla channels Jacksoul and Mac Ayers with fulsome guitar accompaniment, a soulful bassline and gently hair-raising vocals. "Casting your sweet spell on me," he rhapsodizes about the lady in the song's title, "I'ma take your ass to outer space" — perhaps not the most romantic turn of phrase, but one that propels his gorgeous singing to another sphere. Watch for Kubla's new album, Close to the Sun, due out on June 2. — Robert Rowat

'Everything is Boring,' the Beaches 

The Beaches' latest single, "Everything is Boring," describes a type of day that almost everyone has experienced before. Zoning out, feeling low on energy, sinking deeper and deeper into a malaise as the minutes and hours roll by; at its best, it's just a case of boredom, but at its worst, it could be a bout of depression where you're pleading, "Doctor, please, just pill me, so I can feel something." But don't let the subject matter fool you: "Everything is Boring" is a propulsive jolt of energy, a song that both empathizes with anyone feeling down while also encouraging you to get up and shake off the blues. — ML