Tate McRae's steamy ode to love languages, and 4 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.

'2 Hands,' Tate McRae 

Tate McRae is gearing up for a big 2025 with her third album, So Close to What (out Feb. 21), and a 50-date world tour. But as a parting gift to 2024, the Calgary pop star has given us one more sneak peek at her upcoming release. "2 Hands" follows the same sexy pop banger formula she's perfected in recent years, helmed by frequent collaborators Ryan Tedder, Amy Allen and Lostboy. Here, McRae makes it clear that her love language isn't words of affirmation or gifts; as the title sort of gives away, it's physical touch. "I just want your two hands/ at all times, baby," she sings on the chorus, with a sureness and yearning that justifies the followup lines: "Want your two hands on me/ like my life needs savin'." Of course it's not a McRae release without an equally engaging music video, featuring choreography that's already inspired many TikTok reenactments. Make sure to brush up on these moves before seeing her in concert next year. — Melody Lau 

'H.B.W.,' Saya Gray

Sharp and searing, Saya Gray's songwriting cuts like a knife. "H.B.W.," the latest single in the rollout for her upcoming debut album, Saya, begins with an eviscerating howl that melts into a glitchy sonic landscape — Gray's familiar playground. Gray's sound melds alt-folk, discordant R&B and electro-rock with her spectral and forlorn vocals. The production on "H.B.W" makes use of haunting Japanese koto, icy synths and muted drums, while Gray sings about the aftermath of a doomed relationship: "There's a graveyard in my dreams/ I lay a flower once a week for you and me." She's left the song's meaning up to a listener's personal interpretation, but shared in a press release that "H.B.W. is the pain of nightmares." There's a sense of being trapped by one's own circular thought patterns, of wanting to move past them, but instead dwelling on the nitty gritty of how the relationship fell apart in the first place. — Kelsey Adams

'Interstate,' Shae

A jazzy blast of horns kicks off Shae's summery love song "Interstate," as the emerging R&B singer takes listeners on a romantic road trip. Many songs have been penned about driving down interstate highways, but this new addition to the canon is a honeyed, idealistic trip. Her silky vocals ooze yearning as she switches between her lower register on the pre-chorus and then her falsetto on the chorus: "Driving interstate, call me babe, tell me 'bout the weather," she sings, as dreamy instrumentals float in. As the song coasts along, things fully take shape with the backing harmonies, which have an ethereal quality that gives the tune its sun-soaked feel. By the end, Shae sounds confident that her lover will be in her life "forever," even if eternity is just a quick zip down the expressway. — Natalie Harmsen

''Another Day,' Xia-3

The classical Chinese sound of the guzheng doesn't immediately come to mind when someone mentions post-rock, but melding her Chinese heritage with contemporary genres is exactly what guzheng player Jing Xia has always dreamed of. Xia joined forces with St. John's punk rockers Ritche Perez and Brian Downton two years ago to form Xia-3, a post-rock group centered on the guzheng, and "Another Day" is the trio's announcement that a debut album is coming. Anchored by Perez and Downton's guitar and drums, respectively, "Another Day" comes to life when Xia's guzheng enters the instrumental track, adding a lightness and energy that slides in perfectly atop the heaviness and distortion. Each player gets their time to shine on the four-minute song, and you can hear the beating heart of live performance in their music. Xia-3's debut album, Interworlds, will be out in February 2025. — Holly Gordon

'Ensemble,' Aliocha Schneider and Charlotte Cardin

Aliocha Schneider and Charlotte Cardin have a new entry for the canon of songs about long-distance love. "Ensemble" is a heart-wrenching number about the adversity that tests a relationship, and is a new version of a song Schneider released in 2023, now a duet including the subject of the original. Cardin and Schneider have been dating for eight years, and have known each other even longer, but this is their first official release together. The couple splits their time between Paris and Montreal, and as "Ensemble" highlights, it's not always easy to feel connected when the Atlantic separates you. The chorus asks what it means to be together if you're not physically together ("Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire d'être ensemble/ si on n'est pas ensemble?"), when all you have to hold on to is memories. The duet version is pared back — less guitar-driven, more mellowed-out piano ballad — which helps the lyrics hit even harder. Schneider's folksy rasp grounds "Ensemble," but the inclusion of Cardin's soaring alto really turns the goosebump meter up to 10. — KA

To hear more about these standout songs, tune in to CBC Music Mornings every Thursday (Canada-wide) with producer Nathan Gill and host Damhnait Doyle, and Here and Now with Ramraajh Sharvendiran every Wednesday afternoon (in Toronto). Both are available via CBC Listen.