Tei Shi's ethereal farewell to a lover, 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.

Best Be Leaving, Tei Shi

"I'm absolutely nothing to you" is the devastating realization that Tei Shi comes to in the opening verse of her new single, Best Be Leaving. The dulcet tones of her vocals, paired with an ethereal soundscape, give the song a dream-like quality. Tei Shi wrote Best Be Leaving last fall, during a weeklong retreat on Vancouver Island, with her co-producers Noah Beresin and Tommy English. She shared on Instagram that she wrote the song about "letting go of someone you love, but who you don't recognize anymore. It's about the lonely fact that sometimes relationships hit a place where the best thing you can do is walk away." Best Be Leaving is both heartbreaking and optimistic, Tei Shi's voice floating up and away as she lets go of what she's been holding on to so dearly. — Kelsey Adams

Van Gogh, Mike Shabb

The instrumentals on Mike Shabb's chill jazz rap song Van Gogh crackle with the pops, clicks and rattles of old vinyl spinning around, transporting listeners to the past. The Montreal rapper embraces a languid flow over skittering hi-hats as he airs out his grievances with police, his roster of lovers and potential foes: "Don't say my name, you better not diss me in your raps," he warns. While fighting to stay afloat in an ocean of personal complications, he eventually lightens the mood with humour, referencing Dirty Dancing ("I be dirty dancing with my life like I'm Swayze"). Mike Shabb's words tumble out of him in a stream of consciousness, as he circles back to his main love interest and gloats about keeping her close despite petty fights and jealousy. By using his art to express himself and work through his troubles, the rapper shows just how connected he feels to the famed Dutch post-impressionist, from whom the song takes its name. — Natalie Harmsen

Hymn of the Medical Oddity (the Weakerthans cover), Boniface

"Make them remember me," rings the familiar closing line of the Weakerthans' Hymn of the Medical Oddity, a song about the late David Reimer. The Winnipeger was born one of twin boys, forced to live most of his childhood as a girl due to a botched surgery and medical advice that his parents could choose his gender. The Weakerthans song — released in 2008, four years after Reimer's suicide at the age of 38 — is a heavy weight, as John K. Samson's distinctive voice makes the final plea. Today though, in the hands and voice of Boniface, a.k.a. Michele ii, a trans artist from the same city, the song is a reclamation. The anxious guitar is buoyed by a danceable drum loop and a soaring would-be chorus, as Michele ii breathes new life into a song about a boy who wasn't allowed to live as himself — an increasingly present threat today. "I chose the song partly because my parents were big Weakerthans fans and I have the fondest memories of being driven around as a kid listening to Reunion Tour," Michele ii explained via email. "As someone that deals with gender dysphoria and the feeling of being restricted by gender binaries, the themes of the song resonated heavily with me as I grew up." 

Recorded as part of Women in Music's newly released project Her (204): Stories of One Great City Revisited, an album of Manitoba songs covered by women and gender-diverse artists, Boniface's Hymn of a Medical Oddity is the reinterpretation we need today. — Holly Gordon

Wifey Riddim, Shygirl feat. Jorja Smith and Sadboi

Shygirl, Sadboi and Jorja Smith are heating things up in preparation for spring's arrival. With the release of her latest EP, Club Shy Room 2, British artist Shygirl will have the club girls eating good for the rest of 2025. She enlisted the help of Toronto's Sadboi for some saucy verses on Wifey Riddim, a song that's both a dance-floor heater and confidence booster: "Don't want to make you fall too quick/ known to make the boys cry and shit." Although British singer Jorja Smith is more widely known for evocative R&B, she's been dabbling in electronic sounds of late, making her an exciting addition to this trio. Over glitchy synths and a propulsive drum beat, all three trade braggadocious and flippant verses about their abilities to bag any man they please. The EP also includes songs featuring two other buzzy Canadians: Bambii and Isabella Lovestory. — KA