Moneyphone's triumphant dance-rap banger 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:

• Billianne.
• DJ Shub and Handsome Tiger featuring Northern Cree.
• Liza.
• Milla Thyme, Jonny Tobin, Phoenix Pagliacci.
• Moneyphone.
• Tona, Shad, Drezus.

Scroll down to find out why you need to listen. 

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

'No Wonder,' Billianne 

Like many viral sensations before her, Billianne gained an online following for her captivating covers of songs like Tina Turner's "The Best" and the Beatles' "Let it Be." In just a year, the Milton, Ont., artist has amassed over half a million TikTok followers, a million monthly listeners on Spotify and can count Taylor Swift and the Lumineers as fans. "No Wonder" is our first glimpse at Billianne as an original songwriter, applying her beautiful voice to lyrics of her own for once. Over a moving piano part that ascends to almost gospel heights, Billianne honours her parents who were admittedly afraid to let their 20-year-old child take a giant leap into adulthood with this latest career move. "I can hear your voice questioning/ The sea of things and if I can face it," she sings on the opening verse, which she later responds to on the chorus with, "Pulling the thread and I'm tearing the seams/ I'm ready to go." (The chorus also makes reference to the songs her parents gave her, shaping her love of music, such as the Tragically Hip's "Wheat Kings.") "No Wonder" is a gorgeous ode to her roots and her blossoming artistic career, and an excellent debut that hopefully sets an exciting tone for what's to come. — Melody Lau 

'Ombaashi,' DJ Shub, Handsome Tiger feat. Northern Cree

If you're a DJ in Indian Country, chances are that you've rocked a party with other Native DJs — there's cross-pollination happening everywhere. This week, we're premiering a brand new collab on Reclaimed from two heavyweights in the Indigenous electronic scene: DJ Shub and Handsome Tiger. The two produced it together, and to add even more impact to the dynamic, they enlisted a sample from the powerhouse drum group Northern Cree. This song's got the hallmarks of Handsome Tiger's speaker-rattling bass music, plus killer slices of DJ Shub's slowed-down, tripped-out powwow step. Run up the volume on this one! — Jarrett Martineau, host of Reclaimed

'I Lost a Friend,' Liza

We've all had that one friendship that ended really, really badly. R&B singer Liza lends a hand in sharing that pain, teaming up with producers John Fellner and  Akeel Henry to bring "I Lost a Friend" to life. As she sings, "You're gone with all my secrets/ hope you'll never let them out/ just because we're strangers now," Liza bleeds her most genuine emotions, making the track easily relatable. Henry's production accompanies the grim reality of friendship; it doesn't overpower Liza's vocals, but adds a depth that makes the hurt sound beautiful. With "I Lost a Friend," Liza continues to provide a soundtrack to love and pain, her vulnerability has become her superpower, and it couldn't sound any better. — Ryan Chung

'Smooth it Out,' Milla Thyme, Jonny Tobin, Phoenix Pagliacci

Here's a tremendous tri-city collaboration between Montreal-based producer/bassist/rapper Milla Thyme, Vancouver keyboardist/producer Jonny Tobin and Toronto vocalist Phoenix Pagliacci. They unite for a soulful, disco-inflected celebration of the dancefloor: "We don't need nothin' but a groove," Pagliacci sings with expansive phrasing, "Free your mind, let your body move." Evidently enamoured of the late '90s/early '00s sound of artists like Lauryn Hill, the Black Eyed Peas and Talib Kweli, Milla Thyme produces hip-hop with a jazz sensibility and raps with endearing precision: "Me and Phoenix got 'em hooked to the intravenous/ Now they actin' fiendish, screamin' in arenas/ What I mean is, every line is seamless/ Baby, you're my world, but we gon' take a trip to Venus." And hats off to Nate Drobner (Potatohead People), whose masterful guitar-playing incarnates the song's title. — Robert Rowat

'Mink,' Moneyphone

Every new release from this Toronto duo feels like an exhilarating step above their last. We've already called them "the future," and they continue to prove that as their artistry evolves. Their music is loaded with freedom, from their genreless approach to production to the adaptability of their lyricism. "Mink" is the second single from their upcoming album, World Peace Inside Me, a foray into dance music that was written during the pandemic. It was produced with help from Monsune and Bad Child and has irresistible drum patterns, vocal samples and looped synths that craft a buoyant foundation for Eno Ncube's stylistic rapping and David May's soaring hook: "Home is so far away/ I can treat you better, I swear/ 'cause when you split the sea/ I can go the distance."

The accompanying two-channel video, directed by May, is a capsule of the multitudes of life — from triumphant milestones to the most intimate moments. Interspersing dance sequences, VHS family videos, their friends' daily lives, galactic scenes and family photos, the video is meant to "explore the perception of self throughout the passage of time." In a press release, Ncube shared that to him, the video is a celebration of life, a celebration of the joy we feel being here, a celebration of all the memories we live and leave behind when we pass." — Kelsey Adams

'Triple Crown,' Tona, Shad, Drezus

Scarborough rapper Tona surprise-dropped the followup to 2021's Good Energy this month — and it's a high-energy gift of a record filled with collaborators and "gems I haven't let go as of yet," as he wrote on Instagram. There's a lot to love on GE20, but "Triple Crown" is, fittingly, the jewel on top. Featuring Shad and Anishinaabe Cree rapper Drezus, it kicks off with sparse percussion and a teasing flute, setting the three rappers up for respective verses about their truths. "Respectfully I don't ever ask for respect/ if you give it, that's how I know you have some respect/ I already got it./ We're accepting cash or a cheque/ land back and the foot off the back of our neck," raps Shad, before passing the mic to Drezus. It's a powerful earworm from three of the best rappers we know — but don't let it be the only track on GE20 that you check out. — Holly Gordon