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FYI

Bonjay: Medicine For Melancholy

The highly-touted Toronto duo releases a new full-length, Lush Life, on May 28, preceded by this compelling new single. It showcases the soulful pipes of Alanna Stuart, embedded in a contemporary-sounding production.

Bonjay: Medicine For Melancholy

By Kerry Doole

Bonjay: "Medicine For Melancholy" (Mysteries of Trade): This Toronto duo comprises Alanna Stuart and Ian Swain, and it first made an international splash with debut EP Broughtupsy. A new full-length, Lush Life, comes out on May 28, preceded by this compelling new single.


The track showcases Stuart's powerful pipes and strongly soulful vibe. That voice has an old school feel, and it is expertly framed amidst a contemporary-sounding production featuring staccato beats and plenty of backing vocals.

A press release describes Lush Life as "a commentary on the way we live in cities today.”The vivid present. Yearning immigrants and students, artists and scientists, writers and entrepreneurs – ambitious outsiders of all motivations and hues. Cities exist to bring these people together to birth new ideas, and new ways of being. Along the way, there’s beauty – and chaos. These are the stories Lush Life tells."

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The album was written in Berlin, recorded and arranged in Toronto, mixed in Hamilton, and rounded out with additional mixing sessions in Beenie Man's Kingston, Jamaica studio. It features an A-list cast of collaborators, including Thom Gill (Owen Pallett, Bernice),  Maylee Todd, Allie Hughes (Allie X), Felicity Williams (Bahamas, Bernice), Carleigh Aikins, and Kieran Adams (DIANA), plus studio assistance from Jeremy Greenspan (Junior Boys), Sandro Perri, Alphonse Lanza (Azari and III), and Ian McGettigan (Thrush Hermit, Camouflage Nights).

Bonjay begins a tour at E-bar in Guelph on May 23, followed by shows in Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Toronto. Details here

Links

bonjay.net

facebook.com/bonjaymusic

Spotify

Booking & Management: hey@bonjay.net

Press: Kim Juneja kim@takeaimmedia.com

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Kneecap Blasts Norwegian Government at Oslo Festival, Accusing It of Funding ‘Genocide’ Against Palestinians
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Mo Chara, DJ Provaí and Móglaí Bap of Kneecap performs on the West Holts Stage during during day four of Glastonbury Festival 2025 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 28, 2025 in Glastonbury, England.

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Kneecap Blasts Norwegian Government at Oslo Festival, Accusing It of Funding ‘Genocide’ Against Palestinians

The Irish rap trio went after the Norwegian government over its investments, which are currently under scrutiny, at Øyafestivalen.

Irish rap group Kneecap – which has drawn a storm of criticism, support, attention and legal action over the past half-year – continued to speak out about the war in Gaza during an afternoon set at the Øyafestivalen in Oslo, Norway, on Friday (Aug. 8).

Right before the trio of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí took the stage, an English-language white-text-on-black-background message played on a video screen, accusing the Norwegian government of “enabling” the “genocide” against the Palestinian people via investments held in the county’s sovereign wealth fund (referenced as “oil pension fund” in the message). “Over 80,000 people have been murdered by Israel in 21 months,” the band’s message continued. “Free Palestine.” The message was greeted readily by a cheering audience. Most estimates (including those from health officials in the area) place the Palestinian death toll at more than 60,000. That number does not distinguish between civilians and Hamas militants. An estimated 18,500 of those killed were children.

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