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PartyNextDoor and Drake attend Party Next Door Live at S.O.B.'s on Oct. 23, 2014, in New York City.
MusicThe Weather Station, The Humanhood (Jan. 17)
The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow (Jan. 24)
Alessia Cara, Love & Hyperbole (Feb. 14)
Neil Young, Oceanside Countryside (Feb. 14)
Tate McRae, So Close To What (Feb. 21)
Basia Bulat, Basia's Palace (Feb. 21)
Spiritbox, Tsunami Sea (Mar. 7)
Yves Jarvis New Album (TBA)
New Albums in 2025: A Release Calendar of Upcoming Music from Canadian Artists
Between Drake, The Weeknd, Tate McRae, metal risers Spiritbox and pop star Tate McRae, 2025 is already looking to be a big year for new albums. Check out our picks and a full calendar of upcoming releases here.
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Now that Christmas music has mostly left the charts and year-end list-making season has ended, it's time to look forward at all the new music on the horizon in 2025. We publish a weekly calendar of upcoming Canadian albums and releases, and many artists have already promised some major releases for this new year.
Those we are spotlighting here cover many different genres, with the artists ranging from major international stars to fast-emerging new talents. There are some – like new albums from The Weeknd and Tate McRae – whose press cycle is already well underway. Others, like a collaborative album between Drake and PartyNextDoor, could emerge any day. Others are more of a vague "sometime in 2025," but are tantalizing enough to be on our radar.
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Read about the albums we're looking forward to below, followed by a complete calendar of new and upcoming releases.
Drake & PartyNextDoor Collaborative Album (TBA)
2024 was a rare year without a new Drake album – he was a little bit busy with other things – but he did promise a new one on the horizon. In a surprise appearance in Toronto last summer, he teased a collaborative R&B album with his labelmate PartyNextDoor "when it gets a little chilly." It's freezing outside and the album hasn't dropped yet, but both artists have promised it is nearly finished and coming soon. It could drop any day now. With the fallout of Drake's beef with Kendrick Lamar still ongoing, a classic album (as some in the OVO camp have been calling it) would be a major positive for the new year.
The Weather Station, The Humanhood (Jan. 17)
The critically-lauded project of Toronto-based singer/songwriter Tamara Lindeman, The Weather Station releases a new album, Humanhood, on Jan. 17. Advance singles “Body Moves," "Neon Signs" and "Window" certainly whet the appetite for the new disc. The album follows her 2021 album Ignorance, which wrestles with big person and existential crises against a backdrop of climate change — a cause Lindeman has been vocal about. Since that album, her press material notes, Lindeman has “subsequently experienced a personal crisis,” and the songs that later emerged have a distinctly philosophical feel. She co-produced with Marcus Paquin, who has produced albums by acts like Arcade Fire and The National.
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The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow (Jan. 24)
The artist born Abel Tesfaye began teasing his fans on Jan. 7, 2024, via social media, as the third in a trilogy including After Hours and Dawn FM. He's since strongly hinted that this album may be his final under the name The Weeknd. It's already a jumping off point for a bigger projct. A psychological thriller film also called Hurry Up Tomorrow will also release this year, co-written by Tesfaye and co-starring the artist alongside Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan and more. One of the most successful artists to come out of Canada in the last decade and a half, The Weeknd isn't afraid to push his sound. "São Paulo," his adventurous collab with Anitta, released last October, is a good harbinger.
Charlie Houston, After I Die (Jan. 31)
Toronto-based pop-rock singer-songwriter Charlie Houston is prepping the release of her debut full-length, Big After I Die, coming out via Arts & Crafts on Jan. 31. Since releasing her debut 5-song EP I Hate Spring in 2021, Houston has toured with ODESZA, Charlotte Cardin and The Beaches, earned millions of streams and landed a Spotify billboard in New York’s Times Square. Clearly one to watch. This album is described as "a 9-song exploration of the precarious and often surreal experience of learning who you are while transitioning between phases of life."
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Alessia Cara, Love & Hyperbole (Feb. 14)
Alessia Cara is gearing up for the release of her fourth album, Love & Hyperbole, set to arrive on Valentine’s Day. She told fans the album is her “best work to date." “(Isn’t It) Obvious,” a Fresh Sounds Canada pick last year, showed her doing what she does best: a laid-back love song pairing cool vocals with a jazzy drum beat, a John Mayer guitar solo and ever-relatable lyrics. Since breaking out with the hit "Here" a decade ago, Cara has carved out a nice career as a pop R&B mainstay.
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Neil Young, Oceanside Countryside (Feb. 14)
Neil Young fans around the globe will be thrilled at the just-announced news that he will deliver a previously unreleased vinyl album, Oceanside Countryside, on Feb. 14, on Reprise Records, part of his Analog Originals series. One of Young's many "lost" albums, it was recorded from May to December 1977, preceding the release of Comes A Time in 1978. Three songs appear on both of these albums and share the same country/folk sound. “These songs are the original mixes done at the time of the recordings," Young says in a press release. "I sang the vocals and played the instruments on Oceanside, in Florida at Triad studios and Malibu, at Indigo studio. I sang the vocals and recorded with my great band of friends at Crazy Mama's in Nashville on Countryside."
Art d’Ecco, Serene Demon (Feb. 14)
Vancouver glam rock auteur Art d’Ecco delivers his fourth album, Serene Demon, on Feb. 14, via Paper Bag Records. The release date of Valentine's Day is fitting, given the moody romanticism of d'Ecco's work. He explains his artistic mandate this way: "How do I challenge myself and throw the rule book out, but still make this the catchiest, quirkiest piece of music possible? I like existing between those two worlds.” It's a retro yet fresh sound that resonates.
Tate McRae, So Close To What (Feb. 21)
With Think Later, Tate McRae entered an echelon of popularity that new Canadian artists haven't entered in many years: a mainstay on the Billboard charts and a major touring star. So Close To What will be a pivotal follow-up, and it's looking promising. First singles "It's ok I'm ok" and "2 Hands" have both been charting pop hits, and her upcoming Miss Possessive tour, her first arena tour in Canada, is already one of the most anticipated of the year.
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Basia Bulat, Basia's Palace (Feb. 21)
Long-running Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat releases her next album (her seventh) on Feb. 21 via Montreal independent label, Secret City. In a recent Instagram post, she termed the album "a tribute to the era of life I've been in lately, holding on to joy." Advance tracks "Baby" and "My Angel" pair Bulat's distinctive and pure vocals with lush and imaginative production. She plays eight shows in Europe this month, followed by six concerts across Canada. Itinerary here.
Spiritbox, Tsunami Sea (Mar. 7)
This eclectic metal outfit is one of Canada's hottest rock bands right now. They were recently nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category for "Cellar Door," the second straight year they earned a nomination. No surprise then that there is keen anticipation around the release of a new full-length, Tsunami Sea, coming March 7. Spiritbox are taking giant strides internationally, playing stadium shows with Bring Me The Horizon in Brazil and Mexico City at the end of 2024, with a European headline tour set for February, as well as support dates on Linkin Park's world tour, in Italy, Netherlands and the U.K. Itinerary here.
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Logan Staats' First Album on Ishkōdé (TBA)
A firm release date has yet to be announced, but a new album from this Mohawk Six Nations roots singer-songwriter and activist is expected in 2025. His third full-length record, it will be the follow-up to 2023's A Light in the Attic. Staats burst onto the scene in 2018, via his win on the first season of CTV's The Launch, and is now forging an individual path. Last month, Staats announced a signing to Indigenous women-owned label Ishkōdé, home to such artists as Aysanabee, Amanda Rheaume, Digging Roots and Sebastian Gaskin. Staats has stated that "This new project will be my best and most profound work yet. I've found a label and team that offers the trust and support I've always needed and matches the fire, intensity and enthusiasm burning inside me."
Yves Jarvis New Album (TBA)
The title and release date of a new album from this adventurous artist are yet to be confirmed, but we are assured of its arrival in early 2025. A couple of advance tracks have already come out, and Billboard Canada's Rosie Long Decter highlighted "The Knife In Me" in Fresh Sounds Canada as "angelic folk led by an acoustic guitar strum and harmonies that would make Crosby, Stills and Nash want to join in." "Gold Filigree" is another soulful winner. Jarvis' previous album, 2022's The Zug, earned critical kudos, and three earlier releases made the Polaris Music Prize longlist.
Here is the full calendar of new and upcoming albums.
January
4: Zachary Lucky, The Lost River Sessions (Bandcamp)
10: Maddie Jay, I Can Change Your Mind
17: Marlaena Moore, Because You Love Everything (Session/Bonsound)
17: The Weather Station, Humanhood ( Next Door Records)
17: Strat Andriotis, Exits
17: Jonas & the Jaguar Moon, S/T
17: Drop It First,
Fundamentals
17: Ken Presse, Someday
24: Motherhood, Thunder Perfect Mind (Forward Music)
24: Tariq, Scroll Before You Sleep (Tiny Kingdom)
24: The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow (XO and Republic Records)
24: Sarah Page & Patrick Graham, Littoral States
31: Christian Sean , Hallelujah Showers (Bonsound)
31: Charlie Houston, After I Die (Arts & Crafts)
31: Gus Engelhorn, The Hornbook (Secret City)
31: N NAO, Nouveau Langage ( Mothland)
31: Featurette, Panic Pills (via Division11)
31: Jann Arden, MIXTAPE
February
3: Nia Nadurata, Still Living With My Parents (Arts & Crafts)
7: Gino Vannelli, THE LIFE I GOT (TO MY MOST BELOVED)(COA Productions)
7: Naya Ali, We Did The Damn Thing (Bonsound)
14: Peter Dreams and MOONRIIVR, S/T (Six Shooter)
14: Art d’Ecco, Serena Demon (Paper Bag Records)
14: Raj Ramayya, Love Thy Brown Brother
14: Alessia Cara, Love & Hyperbole
14: Neil Young, Oceanside Countryside (Reprise)
18:Mark McLaughlin, All I Can Say
21: Basia Bulat, Basia’s Palace (Secret City Records)
21: Tate McRae, So Close To What (RCA Records)
21: Silverstein, Antibloom (UNFD)
21: Laurie Torres, Après coup (Tonal Union)
27: JJ Miller, Hometown Believer
28: CJ Wiley, So Brand New (Tiny Kingdom)
28: Filmmaker – An Invitation to an Accident(Record Record Label)
28: The Hylozoists – La Fin Du Monde (Record Record Label)
28: hHead – Jerk/Fireman (Record Record Label)
28: Don Amero, Broken Record: Part 1 - Heart
March
6: The Shuffle Demons, Are You Really Real (ALMA Records)
7: No Frills, Sad Clown(We Are Busy Bodies)
7: Spiritbox, Tsunami Sea, (Pale Chord /Rise Records)
28: Salin, Rammana
May
9: Hanorah, Closer Than Hell (Ensoul Records).
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