Ruby Waters' fiery love song, and 5 more songs you need to hear this week
Listen to fresh Canadian tracks from Saltwater Hank, Fontine, Aysanabee and more
Here at CBC Music, we're always on high alert for new songs by Canadian artists.
This week, we're featuring tracks from Indigenous artists across the country in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day:
- F--ked Up and the Halluci Nation.
- Ruby Waters.
- Fontine.
- Saltwater Hank.
- Aysanabee.
- Boogey the Beat featuring Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Scroll down to find out why you need to listen, too.
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.
'Electroshock,' F–ked Up and the Halluci Nation
Last month, Toronto punk-rockers F–ked Up and powwow-step duo the Halluci Nation embarked on a co-headlining tour across Canada. To mark the occasion, the two acts released a pair of covers that merged their different sonic styles together. "Electroshock" is their take on the 1980 hit by Mexican post-punk band Dangerous Rhythm, and the result is a bright and fun performance that pushes everyone out of their comfort zone. For F–ked Up, that meant tamping down the heaviness of their usual punk fare (though the choice of song cover leans a bit more to their advantage), while the Halluci Nation molded their electronic soundscapes into something edgier so their beats ride effortlessly alongside the former's unruly riffs. "It is two musical directions meeting up with each other," F–ked Up frontman Damian Abraham told the Georgia Straight. It may feel unexpected on paper, but in practice, it sounds so great that we can only hope for more collaborations in the future. — Melody Lau
'Flash Flood,' Ruby Waters
The euphemisms are so thin in this new Ruby Waters track that they're almost non-existent, but "Flash Flood" is not here to coddle: it's here to make "sweet, passionate, fiery, nasty-ass love." Over a grungy guitar riff and crashing drums, Waters coils her voice around each verse, laying out exactly what she wants — and how she wants it. "Oh, it's escalating/ my heart is racing/ and oh, I feel so connected/ I'm in the mood and I wanna be disrespected," she near-growls on the pre-chorus. Released just before Indigenous History Month, "Flash Flood" is also featured on Waters' playlist as Spotify's June Equal Global ambassador, a program that aims to "combat gender disparity in the music industry by amplifying the work of women creators around the world," according to the press release — and it's a title held by Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Lu Kala and more. The Métis Juno nominee's curated Equal playlist also features fellow Canadians Charlotte Cardin, Ouri and Katie Tupper. — Holly Gordon
'This Mess,' Fontine
It wasn't just for fun
And now I've changed my mind
I wish I had her back
But I can't change that
On the closing track of her Yarrow Lover EP, Fontine comes to terms with some tumultuous feelings. The Cree singer's melodic and enchanting voice ambles over twangy banjo as she reveals the emotional mess that she finds herself in. She has said goodbye to a lover, a decision she thought was the right one at the time and the narrative unfolds as she realizes sometimes even making the right choice can still send you brain and heart for a whirl. Storytelling is so central to folk music, and Fontine has such a lyrical ability to spin a story with evocative imagery that really brings you into the moment with her. "This Mess" is understated but dripping with so much emotional weight thanks to Fontine's heart-rending writing and clear and piercing vocals. — Kelsey Adams
''Nii Wila Waalt,' Saltwater Hank
Jeremy Pahl's upcoming album, G̱al'üünx wil lu Holtga Liimi, is a work of reclamation, resistance and love. The Ts'msyen musician from Kxeen, also known as Prince Rupert, B.C., spent the last five years learning his ancestral language after moving back to the port city, getting his pronunciation and grammar just right for a language that he started singing in as a teenager in death metal band Gyibaaw, but has only recently become his first instinct for songwriting. Pahl leans into his country and folk influences under the moniker Saltwater Hank, and kicks off single "'Nii Wila Waalt" with a bluesy guitar riff, which quiets to make space for Pahl's lyrics and later fuses with his fiddle playing, a twining of genres that fits just so. The song "speaks of the Ts'msyen belief that the seaweed harvest should be finished before stripping cedar bark, since stripping the bark brings moist wind and weather," according to the press release. "It's a practical lesson to follow what the old people said," Pahl added.
G̱al'üünx wil lu Holtga Liimi will be released on July 1, which Pahl chose with intention: "It's not so much a celebratory day, especially for Indigenous people, whose land has been compromised, whose genocide has occurred," he told CBC in May. Releasing his first album entirely written in a language that currently fewer than 70 people speak, according to Pahl, is a moving way to take that day back. — Holly Gordon
'Somebody Else,' Aysanabee
Last year, we named Aysanabee one of 10 Canadian musicians who broke out, but the Oji-Cree artist's star has continued to rise in 2023, first with a Juno Award nomination and more recently earning his first Polaris Music Prize long list appearance for his debut album Watin. Hot off the heels of his critical success, Aysanabee has released a brand new single, "Somebody Else." Memory is a consistent theme throughout his music — Watin was an ode to his grandfather and connecting stories from his past with Aysanabee's present — and it's explored once again on this new track, but through the lens of a romantic relationship. In a statement, Aysanabee says "Somebody Else" is "about two people holding onto the memory of something that no longer exists. This song is for people who love hard, until the bitter end." That fight to keep going on can be heard in his voice as he builds into its emotional chorus where he starts with the line, "You've been holding onto me like somebody else," and later admits, "Or am I holding a place for somebody else?" Aysanabee's star isn't done rising just yet; "Somebody Else" is another achievement in his growing portfolio of triumphs. — ML
'Run For Cover,' Boogey the Beat feat. Snotty Nose Rez Kids
Anishinaabe DJ and producer Boogey the Beat released his debut album, Cousins, last month, and one of the standout tracks is the hair-raising, dubstep-inflected "Run For Cover." Teaming up with previous collaborators Snotty Nose Rez Kids, the Haisla hip-hop duo paint a picture of being proudly in touch with their roots: "I smell like money, Elon Musk/ Land Back we don't ask for much," Young D raps over heavy bass. The thundering track explodes with energy thanks to Boogey's smooth production and the Rez Kids' fast-paced delivery. "Run For Cover" shares its name with the 1955 western film, which is no coincidence, as Boogey told Enigma that he wanted to subvert how Indigenous people were stereotyped in those movies: "I imagined being in an old-time western movie where the Indigenous people were often represented as the 'bad guys'," he said. "'Run For Cover' portrays a reversal of that trope, with our oppressors and enemies 'running for cover' as we explore what it means to be truly unapologetic with our sounds, words, and spirits." — Natalie Harmsen