Snotty Nose Rez Kids' payday celebration, and 6 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 find out what our producers are listening to this week.

'Counting Thunder,' Loony 

"Counting Thunder" starts off with Loony singing fast, her words spilling out of her mouth with a sense of urgency. But after that intro verse, the track hits the breaks and swerves into a different lane, almost catching listeners off-guard. The shift perhaps reflects the themes of the song itself: "'Counting Thunder' is waiting for the storm to hit. You feel it coming before you even see it, because you're always expecting it, constantly trying to calculate its proximity to you," the Scarborough R&B artist says in a press release. Loony applies this theory on this track (which was co-written by Akeel Henry, Dan Farber and Adam Pondang) to the idea of relationships and the anxiety that comes with entering a romance carrying past traumas. But instead of waiting for the next bad thing to happen, Loony advocates for us to just embrace the random chaos of life. In times of fear, she reminds herself: "But you love me when I need it most." While that may not protect you from getting hurt in the future, it should help ground you in the safety of the present. — Melody Lau

Gustav Mahler: Finale (excerpt) from Symphony No. 2, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Rosa Feola, Isabel Leonard, Yannick Nézet-Séguin

As anticipation reaches a fever pitch for Maestro, Bradley Cooper's biopic about conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, Deutsche Grammophon has released a highlight from the soundtrack, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who was also Cooper's "conductor advisor" on the film. The excerpt comprises the final section, In Tempo des Scherzos, from Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, a work that Bernstein himself conducted and recorded to great acclaim. It's also the music you hear (all chopped up, but never mind) in the official trailer for Maestro. Taken out of context, this music might seem over the top, but in the concert hall, it's the cathartic climax of a 90-minute symphony. Its epic orchestral and choral sounds are sure to be a hair-raising addition to Cooper's portrayal. Nézet-Séguin, the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and two fine soloists do a great job with it. Maestro opens in select theatres on Nov. 22 and hits Netflix on Dec. 20. — Robert Rowat

'I Got Paid Today,' Snotty Nose Rez Kids

Snotty Nose Rez Kids' latest single, "I Got Paid Today," captures the euphoric feeling of when your bank account is healthily full. With a nod to Mean Girls in the intro ("Get in loser/ we're going shopping"), the two Haisla rappers set the scene for a blinged-out ode to spending dollars. Teaming up with Cree and Salish singer Tia Wood and rapper Lex Leosis, who lend their glossy vocals to the track, Yung Trybez and Young D bring their signature humour to the infectious chorus: "I got paid today/ bitch we goin' shopping/ don't save for rainy days/ bitch we goin' shopping." "We really wanted to capture that feeling when you just get paid and you're thinkin' 'bout all the ways you're gonna spend that money, but also that low feeling when you're broke again and gotta wait around till that next payment comes in," they said in a press release. Frequent collaborator Boogey the Beat produced the song, allowing the duo to relish in their riches over a crisp beat. — Natalie Harmsen

'Love FM,' Pat Lok

Pat Lok's new single "Love FM" comes with a fun little nugget of film-lovers' trivia. The Vancouver producer built the ecstatically lively track around a sample of Take 6's "We Love" jingle, from Spike Lee's 1989 film Do the Right Thing. The Grammy-winning a cappella gospel sextet from Alabama are known for blending jazz and spiritual music, which Lok uses masterfully. "Love FM" is a poppy house track with jazzy saxophone and break beats that give it an exuberant and joyous energy. Take 6's voices are sped and pitched up, but the new iteration still holds on to the resonant warmth of their stacked gospel vocals. The production is simple but absolutely irresistible, the sign of a producer who really knows what makes people move.  — Kelsey Adams

'Along the Mountain Road,' Tim Baker

Described as both a companion and precursor to 2022's The Festival, Tim Baker's new EP, Along the Mountain Road, is a turn inward, and a return to the time Baker made his way from Toronto back to his Newfoundland hometown during the pandemic. Filled with a nomadic sense of movement, Along the Mountain Road takes its time travelling Baker's winding roads of hope and grief, kicking off with the heartswell and orchestration of "Twenty Twenty" and ending on a title track that is wrenching in its clarity (and possible regrets). With soft percussion, strings, piano and a late appearance of horns, Baker and his band weave the sounds of longing and loving for an increasingly epic, five-minute track. "['Along the Mountain Road' is] about the call of nature, of the forest, the coast, the past," Baker said via press release. "I never intended it to sound so epic," he continued, "but sometimes a song just has to stretch out how it likes, and you should just go along for the ride." "Along the Mountain Road" is a beauty of a closer, and the five-track EP will demand multiple returns. — Holly Gordon

'Never Get Enough,' Busty and the Bass feat. Katie Tupper 

Busty and the Bass' upcoming album, Forever Never Cares (out Nov. 17), invites a number of collaborators to help expand their already big R&B/soul sound. We've already heard singles featuring Magi Merlin and Son Little; last week, the Montreal collective released "Never Get Enough," a rich and sultry number with neo-soul singer Katie Tupper. Accentuated by sparkling keys and a lush horn section, the track takes its time unfolding as Tupper sings about how eternity isn't enough time to spend with a loved one. "We got less time than you think we do/ Forever ain't long enough," she coos, as layers of vocals build atop each other, horns crescendo and the song climbs to its grandiose climax. By the time the track reaches its four-plus-minute finale, you'll be left wanting more, echoing the song's sentiments of desiring even more time with a good thing. — ML 

'Sonny's Dream,' Kellie Loder (Ron Hynes cover)

Sonny Don't Go Away: A Tribute to Ron Hynes, produced by Alan Doyle and Cory Tetford, is an album brimming with love and legacy, with Newfoundland and Labrador artists including Tim Baker, the Once, Fortunate Ones and Amelia Curran covering songs from the beloved songwriter, who died in 2015. And with several hundred songs in the artist's catalogue, there was plenty to choose from — but it's closing track "Sonny's Dream" that really hits home. Kellie Loder, a Badger, N.L.-raised singer-songwriter whose star has been rapidly rising over the last few years, covers the song with grace and care, replacing Hynes's guitar with sparse piano, their voice imbuing the lyrics with new meaning. "Covering this iconic song will certainly go down as a highlight to my year," Loder said via Instagram. "Oh, Sonny don't go away, I am here all alone ... I'm feeling so tired, I'm not all that strong," Loder sings, their voice slightly breaking on the final word. It's the perfect eulogy for an artist who is greatly missed, and whose inspiration continues to run deep. — HG

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.