Soft Loft - Alex Dupree - Allegories - Penny Lane Pickets - Marie Dahlstrom

Soft Loft - Wednesdays.

Soft Loft returns with their new single “Wednesdays,” an uplifting indie-folk anthem about learning to rely on yourself. Inspired by the iconic Mean Girls line “On Wednesdays we wear pink,” the Swiss collective flips the script: happiness doesn’t come from being chosen by others. 

Driven by warm acoustic guitars, catchy melodies and Jorina Stamm’s unmistakable voice, “Wednesdays” celebrates personal growth and finding comfort in your own company. The track is lifted off the band's forthcoming album Throw The Dice out September 4th via [PIAS] Recordings.

Wednesdays is about sitting with yourself and feeling real good about it. It's about trying to feel good without depending on others for validation or happiness. It's about buying yourself flowers, taking walks or simply telling yourself today is going to be okay. It's about a tension between isolation and comfort, between feeling unseen and learning how to sit with yourself and be okay there. 

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Photo - TJ Masters

Alex Dupree - I Can See Her In Your Eyes.

“I Can See Her In Your Eyes” is the final glimpse into Talking to the Dog before the full album arrives August 14 via Scissortail Records. The record was produced by Michael Krassner, and it’s an album I’ve really loved spending time with. For all of its thoughtful, layered lyricism, it never feels weighed down — it feels alive. Like a band in a room, discovering the songs together, following the energy, and capturing those moments when everything clicks. There’s a spontaneity and warmth running through it that makes the whole record feel immediate and human.

Quote from Alex: "I love country duets, they have so much narrative possibility. The initial spark for this song came while writing for a duet project with Whitney Mower (They/Live) called “Dawn & Dupree”. It’s two perspectives on the same relational dead-end — he’s still hung up on an old love, and she can tell. The fun comes from how the language works on both sides. 

Having Jolie Holland sing on this is a dream come true. She’s an absolute legend, and hearing her album 'Catalpa' in high school probably changed my life. At that time, I hadn’t heard anyone so tapped into the deep vein of American music. I didn’t know it was possible to still go there. Not as a genre thing, but as real, true embodiment. And she’s still doing it! Jolie is on another level."

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Allegories - They'll Never Suspect Us.

Experimental duo Allegories return with “They’ll Never Suspect Us,” a deceptively beautiful and unsettling new single that reframes the idea of the murder ballad as something colder, more detached, and strangely euphoric. Built on ethereal dream pop textures and gliding indie electronic production, the track pairs some of the duo’s most luminous instrumentation with some of their darkest lyrical content to date, collapsing beauty and brutality into the same breath. It’s the latest single from Allegories’ upcoming new album, By accident, On purpose, set for release on October 16th, 2026.

At its core, “They’ll Never Suspect Us” is an imagined scenario pushed to its most uncomfortable extreme: a gleeful, fictional descent into violence narrated with eerie confidence and emotional distance. “There’s a long tradition of murder ballads,” Adam Bentley explains. “But what about murder anthems? A song that gleefully imagines the act, while rubbing the victim’s face in the idea that no one will care about their demise.”

Rather than leaning into shock alone, the track uses its narrative extremity to interrogate perspective itself, folding humour, discomfort, and abstraction into a single unsettling lens. “It’s a morbid, bleak, and weirdly fun exercise in trying on the hat of a truly reprehensible sociopath,” Adam adds. “And setting it all over what might be the dreamiest instrumental on our entire record? That somehow makes it even more twisted. Sometimes imagining the worst can bring out your best.”

That contrast becomes the defining feature of the song. Sonically, “They’ll Never Suspect Us” drifts through hazy dream pop atmospheres and understated indie rock momentum, anchored by soft focus melodies that feel almost calming in isolation. But the emotional framing destabilizes that calm, turning the track into something quietly disorienting; a lullaby with intent hidden just beneath the surface.

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Penny Lane Pickets - Best Damn Time.

Following the high-octane sunshine of their debut, Santa Cruz’s Penny Lane Pickets are dialing in a heavy, street-level groove with their upcoming single, "Best Damn Time." Shifting gears into a mid-tempo 160 BPM stomp heavily inspired by the infectious energy of modern ska-punk icons like The Interrupters, this track is a raw, grounded anthem dedicated to the sacred, gritty spaces where we escape the daily grind.

Built on a foundation of dry, punchy production, "Best Damn Time" features sharp, rhythmic electric guitar upstrokes and a fluid, melodic walking bassline that drives the entire track forward. Right from the very first second, a powerhouse brass section kicks in, commanding the melody and carrying the song side-by-side with an unforgettable chorus. The raspy, honest delivery of the lead vocals is perfectly elevated by soaring, 3-part Beatles-esque harmonies, striking that perfect, unique balance between 60s pop hooks and raw punk-rock attitude.

Lyrically, the track captures the hazy, smoke-filled atmosphere of a local urban refuge. It’s an ode to those unplanned Tuesdays at 4 PM that somehow turn into the ultimate Friday night. It’s about peeling bathroom stickers, spilled drinks on tattered maps, and the comfort of familiar faces under an industrial sky, filling the gap between the work, the sleep, and the bills.  

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Photo - Lennon Gregory

Marie Dahlstrom - Night & Day.

Marie Dahlstrom today releases her new single 'Night & Day', the latest taste of her third full-length album 'Marie' due out 18th September via JFH Records. The Roskilde-born & London-based vocalist, songwriter and producer will mark the release of the new album with two headline shows in London (8th October) and Copenhagen (13 October).

The new single 'Night & Day' pairs playful talk-box flourishes with buoyant neo-soul grooves, capturing the everyday work of sustaining long-term love in what Marie Dahlstrom affectionately describes as “a couples’ make-up song”. Speaking on the release, Dahlstrom said: "Love and relationships have their ups and downs. We have to put in the work and stay intentional to make them last."

Her third album Marie arrives at a moment when life has become fuller, busier and infinitely more complex. Since her previous releases, Dahlstrom has become a mother of two while continuing to build a life between London and Copenhagen.

Written over the past two years between London, Copenhagen and Los Angeles, the self-titled record draws on deeper jazz influences, live instrumentation and a close-knit international cast of collaborators, including Corey Fonville of acclaimed Richmond jazz collective Butcher Brown, Los Angeles pianist and producer Elijah Fox, Cuban percussionist Eliel Lazo, and her longtime collaborator (and partner in life) DanDiggas, resulting in Dahlstrom's warmest and most personal work to date.

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Lynn Hollyfield - Big Little Lions - Penny Lane Pickets - Michael Kelly - Mama's Broke - Strange Plants - 64 Funnycars

Lynn Hollyfield - Blindspot.

We have the new folk single and music video “Blindspot” from award-winning singer-songwriter Lynn Hollyfield. The poignant song, “Blindspot” was written after losing a family member and a friend to the fentanyl crisis. She shares, “Afterwards, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had been truly open and caring when I was with them. Was there anything I could have done to help them? I’ll never know and it’s one of those hard life lessons - too little too late." The single was produced by Grammy-nominated Seth Glier. 

Blend a beautiful alto voice, crisp acoustic guitar, and a heartfelt perspective on the world, and you have Lynn Hollyfield. Known for her warm stage presence and emotionally rich songs, she connects effortlessly with audiences. Writing in a contemporary folk style, Lynn weaves in jazz-influenced chords and bluesy guitar alongside passionate vocals, think Mary Chapin Carpenter meets Bonnie Raitt with a touch of George Gershwin. The result is her own distinctive voice, witty, soulful, and reflective.

Lynn has been writing songs since her teenage years, growing up on Staten Island, NY, surrounded by a wide range of musical influences, from jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra to artists like The Beatles and Neil Young. She began performing locally at a young age and later gained recognition as part of the duo Hollyfield & Spruill, appearing at festivals such as the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

After launching her solo career, Lynn released several acclaimed albums, including LAYERS (2010), IN THE BALANCE (2014), and LOOK UP (2024), earning national and international airplay along with multiple songwriting awards including being listed in the Top Artists/ Top Albums for the International Folk Alliance. During the pandemic, she also published a children’s book, The Tree, The Ship and Me, with its accompanying song recognized as a finalist in the Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest.

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Big Little Lions - They Say It Builds Character.

As multi award winning cross border duo, Big Little Lions are going to be releasing monthly singles this year Beehive Candy who are genuine fans of their sumptuous music will just rinse and repeat their background again this month. Big Little Lions are a duo who were born out of a collaboration that won them a JUNO Award in 2014. Since then they have been cranking out infectious folk pop songs that are jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies that sound like the product of two people working side-by-side instead of living in different countries. 

They have released 7 albums to date, which have garnered them awards and nominations including the CFMA Ensemble of the Year, Independent Music Awards Americana Sing of the Year and John Lennon Songwriting Competition Song of the Year. Their critically acclaimed music has appeared on the CBC’s Top 20 and featured on shows like q and Vinyl Cafe. The duo consists of Paul Otten and Helen Austin, both hugely prolific songwriters - their music has been placed in hundreds of movie trailers, ads, network TV shows.

Their live show is quite the spectacle with Paul playing drums, bass and keyboard all while singing lead vocals. Helen, who is no slacker either, sings, plays guitar and foot percussion. They use every limb, and then some, to make two people sound like a full band.

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Penny Lane Pickets - Penny Lane Pickets / The Dawning (feat. The Rocksteady Crackers).

What if The Beatles grew up in the 90s California punk scene? Meet the Penny Lane Pickets. Straight out of Santa Cruz, the Penny Lane Pickets are here to bridge the gap between a 184 BPM moshpit and a 60s pop melody. Led by the grit of Jax Miller and the driving, distorted walking bass of Sky Bennett, this four-piece is fulfilling their lifelong dream: crashing the legendary Epitaph/Hellcat Records sound head-first into the timeless songwriting of Lennon & McCartney.

Produced and mixed by Sam Dekker, their sound is a high-energy explosion. It’s got the frantic, distorted soul of Rancid and The Suicide Machines, the brass-heavy punch of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, melodic hooks of Goldfinger and the soaring infectious energy of The Interrupters.

But look closer, and you’ll hear the "secret sauce": psych-rock textures and 60s pop-inspired choruses that refuse to leave your head. With a powerhouse brass section (featuring the Rocksteady Crackers) providing the fire, the Pickets deliver a sound that is as much about the "Penny Lane" harmonies as it is about the "Ruby Soho" attitude. This debut single serves as a high-octane prelude to their upcoming full-length album, Copper & Chrome, set to drop on December 18th.

Penny Lane Pickets · Penny Lane Pickets

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Michael Kelly - Anyway (Album).

Michael Kelly is a singer, songwriter, picker and performer. His new album, Anyway, encompasses a wide range of musical influences expressed from a well-honed folk, blues and bluegrass sensibility. He worked the D.C. club circuit early in his career and at one point, took a job at a celebrated Georgetown music venue where he would take money at the door, run inside to re-stock the bar, change clothes to perform a short opening set, then re-stock the bar and head back out to the door. 

He recalls, “Oddly enough, the change of clothes threw people off and only rarely did anyone recognize me as the opening act, although the bands and the regulars were always super supportive.” On-line lessons with Nashville icon Russ Barenberg helped develop a more melodic guitar approach and led to a deeper dive into bluegrass, which included workshops, festivals and wide-ranging cadre of mentors. 

Songs on Anyway include One Good Friend and Joseph, which placed first at the New Song Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and Chesapeake Waterman, which placed first at the Common Ground on the Hill Acoustic Roots 2024 songwriting competition. 

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Mama's Broke - The Nameless.

Mama’s Broke, the Nova Scotian duo of Amy Lou Keeler and Lisa Maria announce their new album, Reunion, out August 28 via Free Dirt Records and Forward Music Group and share the latest single, “The Nameless.” Building on their JUNO-nominated album Narrow Line (2022), which saw the pair invited to perform on the legendary NPR Tiny Desk, Reunion reflects a world coming apart in plain sight, tracing fractured communities, the erosion of shared ground, and the growing awareness that the systems we were taught to trust no longer hold or deliver the promises they were meant to keep. The songs don’t preach or prescribe; they reflect, holding up a mirror and leaving space for something else to take shape.

“The Nameless” are the women who are often reduced, in memory and history, to narrow, simplified roles,” explains the band, “their complexity stripped away in favour of labels they are expected to embody, whether flawlessly or tragically.” 

“The Nameless” presents four archetypes: the “scorned lover”, defined only by the man who left her rather than her own life; the “callous mother” judged by her perceived failures without regard for her struggles; the victim of domestic violence, absorbed into statistics while attention and sympathy lingers on the perpetrator; and the missing daughter, whose story evokes a place like the Highway of Tears, where many women, disproportionately Indigenous, have vanished. The headlines, demographic headings and acronyms will never convey the full story of a life, or the true weight of the violence that women face every day.

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Strange Plants - Time Killing.

Continuing upon this year’s previous releases, “Lay Your Mind” and “Ground Falls Away,” Strange Plants share “Time Killing,” a contemplative and expansive psych-rock single that blends atmospheric textures with a sense of quiet, underlying tension. Wistful and immersive, the track leans into themes of existential reflection and the slow passage of time, capturing the feeling of moving through life’s routines while something deeper simmers beneath the surface.

The song’s origin traces back to a period of heavy literary influence. “At the risk of sounding absurdly pretentious, I was reading a lot of Charles Bukowski at the time,” explains songwriter Matt Brannon. “So it created a sort of temporary supercharged nihilism.” That perspective shaped the song’s core idea; a meditation on time, purpose, and the subtle weight of existence.

Built around a rich, retro-psychedelic sound palette, “Time Killing” unfolds with layered instrumentation and tonal contrast. Trippy string arrangements intertwine with shimmering lap steel, creating a unique sonic blend that sets the track apart within the band’s catalogue. The result is a sound that feels both expansive and grounded; classic in influence yet exploratory in execution.

The recording process brought together a striking group of collaborators. Loel Campbell (Wintersleep, Billy Talent) contributed drums, while Christine Bougie (Bahamas) added lap steel and Drew Jurecka (Dua Lipa) arranged the song’s sweeping strings. The track was mixed by Chris Shaw and co-produced alongside JUNO Award-winning producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda, further elevating its textured, cinematic feel.

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64 Funnycars - Happy Go Lucky (Album)

After decades out of print, 64 Funnycars’ cult college rock debut Happy Go Lucky finally returned May 27 through 604 Records. Originally released at the tail end of Canada’s late 80s campus radio boom, the record captured a band that never aimed for cool detachment or punk orthodoxy, instead leaning hard into melody, momentum and the simple thrill of making people move. Nearly four decades later, Happy Go Lucky still sounds remarkably alive in its looseness and charm.

The band formed in 1987 through UVic campus radio circles, bonded by a shared love of groups like Young Fresh Fellows, Hoodoo Gurus, Buzzcocks and The Replacements, bands where hooks and personality mattered just as much as volume. While much of Victoria’s reputation at the time centered around heavier and more abrasive acts, 64 Funnycars carved out their own space, blending power pop, melodic punk and jangly college rock into something energetic, playful and unpretentious. Songs moved fast, choruses arrived early and the energy always felt slightly on the verge of tipping over.

That unpredictability became central to the band’s identity at Harpo’s, the legendary Victoria venue that helped define the Pacific Northwest underground touring circuit through the 80s and early 90s. Long before they became festival headliners, bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Blind Melon and No Doubt came through the room, and the Funnycars quickly became part of that same ecosystem. Their sets thrived on joyful chaos: no fixed setlists, rotating lead vocals and an anything-can-happen atmosphere that made even local shows feel electric. The band later joked that they were “the chess club on tour,” a line that captured both their self-awareness and total lack of rock-star pretension.


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