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Meredith Traux
Jade LeMac
Music
Fresh Sounds Canada: New Music from ThxSoMch, Jade LeMac and More
Plus, must-hear songs from Toronto singer and multi-instrumentalist Luna Li, Georgia Harmer and Kaytranada.
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In Fresh Sounds Canada, Billboard Canada puts you on to the must-hear songs of the week by artists on the rise and those about to break. Here's what we're listening to this week.
Jade LeMac, “Running Home”
After her meteoric rise on TikTok in the early 2020s, Vancouver’s Jade LeMac is building major momentum. In March, she signed a deal with Warner Music Canada, while her debut single, “Constellations,” became a streaming hit and went gold in July. Last month, the singer-songwriter played two music festivals, including Lollapalooza and Osheaga, where she debuted her new single “Running Home,” from her upcoming EP, It’s Always at Night, out November 7. The song is a refreshing pop track with an infectious hook. LeMac’s earnest songwriting on love digs into the feeling of security in a relationship — an ever-relatable experience. LeMac goes on tour with Grammy-winning artist Maren Morris this fall. – Heather Taylor-Singh
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ThxSoMch - “Keep It To Yourself”
After scoring a surprise chart hit with “SPIT IN MY FACE!” Oakville, Ontario artist ThxSoMch is preparing for a new album, The Sound of You Laughing, set for release on Atlantic next Friday (August 29). “Keep It To Yourself” is the last advance single, and it shows his refreshing Gen Z take on ‘90s and 2000s rock sounds – a bit of pop-punk, some emo, grunge and even a bit of SoundCloud rap all cohering with an online flair. The stop-start melody shows a sense for off-kilter but polished pop hooks, and the “I don’t care” refrain even has touches of Nirvana’s “Breed.”
“Keep It To Yourself” reportedly started as an inside joke between ThxSoMch and producer greyskies (d4vd, Wisp). "Sometimes, we’d come up with an idea and the other person would say. 'you can keep that….to yourself.' One day, grayskies wrote a crazy syncopated guitar riff and I started freestyling over it, the joke presented itself again but instead of a punchline it became a song.” It’s a good thing they didn’t keep it to themselves. – Richard Trapunski
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Kaytranada feat. TLC - “Do It! (Again!)”
Montreal super-producer Kaytranada has been pushing his music on a bigger scale than ever. After joining The Weeknd on his After Hours Til Dawn Tour in Canada this summer, he put out a new album titled Ain’t No Damn Way! The closing track “Do It! (Again!)” is a final version of a 2022 SoundCloud demo and features ‘90s R&B legends TLC, sampling their 1994 song “Let’s Do It Again.” Kaytranada pairs the repeated “Do it!” vocal sample over warm synth pads and his signature bouncy drums, creating a warm soundscape with spacey echoing beeps going off sporadically. Fans of Kaytranada can hear some new material when he sets out on tour with Justice this fall. – Stefano Rebuli
Luna Li, “You Didn’t Have To Go”
Multi-instrumentalist Luna Li — born Hannah Bussiere Kim — had cut her teeth in Toronto’s live music scene, but earned mass success during the pandemic when she posted a series of solo bedroom jams online. Since then, she has toured her "baroque pop" sound internationally, opening for indie darlings like Japanese Breakfast and Wolf Alice. Earlier this month, her 2024 sophomore album, When a Thought Grows Wings, was reimagined. New track “You Didn’t Have To Go” dates back to an early demo five years ago. The new iteration taps into the artist’s dreamy vocals and production. A big key change halfway through elevates the track, leaving listeners wanting more. – H.T.S.
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Georgia Harmer, “Slow Down”
In the five years since she released her debut single, "Headrush," Ontario singer-songwriter Georgia Harmer has received serious critical acclaim. Her second album, Eye Of The Storm, came out last Friday. Its new video, "Slow Down," showcases Harmer's achingly pure voice and eloquent songwriting and features a gently lilting melody and sweet steel guitar. She calls it a song written when she was “yearning for a moment of stillness to really understand and experience the present. I was sort of astral-projecting myself into the perspective of my relatives over time, when they were the age I am now, experiencing time flying by just as rapidly. It’s about the realization that everyone feels the same way about time, as if they’ve been running to catch up with its pace, only to blink and find themselves where they are now, over and over again."
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It's no surprise that music is Harmer's calling, given that she's the niece of Canadian star Sarah and the daughter of another fine singer, Mary Harmer (Weeping Tile) and ace guitarist Gord Tough (Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards). The family business is in good hands. Georgia Harmer has a 17-date tour of Canada and the U.S. set for the fall. Find the dates here. – Kerry Doole
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