Julianna Riolino's sunny Americana bop, and 3 more songs you need to hear this week

Songs you need to hear is CBC Music's weekly list of hot new Canadian tracks. 

Scroll down to discover the songs our producers are loving right now.

On a Bluebird's Wing, Julianna Riolino

In 2022, we were introduced to Julianna Riolino's vibrant brand of power pop-meets-Americana on her debut, All Blue. Now, Riolino is finally gearing up for her follow-up release, Echo in the Dust (out Oct. 24), and On a Bluebird's Wing immediately draws you in as its first single. Over a boisterous mix of guitar, banjo, organ, tambourines and more, Riolino's voice soars like a sun rising on a hot summer day. The track is a celebration of growth, acknowledging the good and bad that have led you to become who you are today. That freedom of letting go of the past and moving forward is marked by Riolino's punchy songwriting, as she almost shouts, "And we will reap what we sow/ To grow is to be the fruit of our lowest lows!" — Melody Lau

Lipsync, Debby Friday

Debby Friday has added yet another bombastic strutting song to her arsenal. The Toronto-based vocalist and producer's new single Lipsync joins previous releases I Got It, Runnin, and C'est Quoi Ça? as a dangerously seductive, feisty track that'll bang from over-the-ear headphones while you stomp down the street in platform leather boots. On Lipsync, Friday knows she's the blueprint, calling the song "my ode to memetic madness and hating ass copycats." The sinister electro production evokes a clandestine catwalk, with Friday as the belle of the ball. It's a sonic departure from the previous singles on her upcoming sophomore album, The Starr of the Queen of Life — 1/17 is a trancey daydream and All I Wanna Do Is Party is a sweet dance pop anthem — but it's well-trodden territory for the artist who introduced listeners to her voracious bark and bite on 2018's Bitchpunk. Friday is currently on tour with experimental pop artist Spelling throughout the U.K. and Europe and will be performing at Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal on Aug. 3, the same weekend the new album is released. — Kelsey Adams

Assumptions, JayWood

Over a sticky trap beat, Winnipeg rapper JayWood pokes fun at the many ways impostor syndrome gnaws at him. "I got big big dreams, I got big big plans," he raps on new single Assumptions. The instrumentals dip into some psychedelic sounds, going from hazy, lo-fi hip-hop into a semi-bossa nova-inspired groove. At the 2:46 mark, there's a glorious beat switch and the track morphs into a higher plane, with JayWood flipping to singing in his upper register: "Used to be amazing, but I should not be here," he sings, acknowledging his spiral of anxious thoughts. Hand claps are healthily sprinkled throughout, giving an extra dose of percussion. At 3:23, the beat switches again, and the rhythmic pattern becomes less uniform and more bass-heavy as the instrumentals grow hazier, resulting in a trippy, dreamlike outro. Assumptions "feels like it's giving myself permission to step into some new sonic territory," JayWood said in a press release. "It's fun and playful while still being pretty focused and lyrically consistent, which is new for me." The track serves as the lead from his forthcoming album, Leo Negro, out Sept. 5. — Natalie Harmsen

If You're Gonna Change Your Mind, Logan Richard

Logan Richard's recently released second studio album, Character Traits, is full of intricate and intimate folk-pop gems, and If You're Gonna Change Your Mind is a standout among the nine tracks. It's clear the Charlottetown musician is having a hell of a time with the instrumentation on this grooving, rootsy number about the sunsetting of a relationship. There's a rawness to the track, like listening in on a jam session amongst friends. One can even imagine the stank faces, head nods and hollering Richard's tantalizing guitar solo would inspire. He co-wrote the song with his friend Chris Kirby, and they wanted to challenge themselves to "write a fun song that I could rip a guitar solo over." Mission very well accomplished. — KA