Victoria Funk Artist Diamond Cafe Signs to Warner Music Canada

Warner Music Canada's roster is about to get a lot funkier.

Days after being named one of Amazon Music Canada's Breakthrough Artists To Watch 2024, Diamond Cafe has signed a major label.

"We are thrilled to announce Diamond Cafe’s signing to Warner Music Canada," Kristen Burke, President of Warner Music Canada, tells Billboard Canada. "He has such a unique talent as a vocalist, producer and performer. Diamond has an incredible ability to connect with artists, and has built a community of renowned producers and artists around him. We are excited to grow his profile around the world."

Hailing from Victoria, B.C., Diamond Cafe makes honey-dripped funk, soul and R&B with touches of smooth '70s and '80s synth-pop. It's the kind of music that goes down easy on record and energizes a crowd.

To announce the signing, the artist has released the new song "When You Can't Resist." Produced by Pomo (Jon Batiste, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals), it's a falsetto-laden bit of soul with a dark edge that comes out in the lyrics. Exploring the theme of self-medication during a breakup, it asks the question "how can you lose in a state of bliss?"

Diamond Cafe project started making music when he was a teenager, then put out a series of independent releases. He remastered and collected them last year as Diamond Cuts.

Now that he has a major label deal, the artist says his next goal is to take over the live stage.

"The live performance is going to be huge for me this new year," he told Billboard Canada earlier this week. "I’ve been playing live for almost 10 years, but the last three shows of 2023 I really got to build and understand myself, and I’m looking forward to bringing these new ideas and what I’ve learned to new stages."