7 March 2023 - Cœur de Pirate - Adieu

You know, we write these posts of English-language QWERTY keyboards.  There's no œ key.  It takes some effort for us to CONTINUALLY write about Cœur de Pirate.

And yet, here we are.  Writing about Cœur de Pirate again.

Ms. de Pirate (You know I know her real name, people.  Issa joke) has released eight album.  Seven of them are really really good, and a couple of them are among my personal favorites of all time.  The eighth is her sophomore album, Blonde.   

But, to be fair, I didn't love all of the other seven right away (Roses and Perséides, absolutely I did from first listen), and that's what's happening with Blonde as well.  It's growing on me.  It's songs like this one - a clever pop song with a double bassline and a wicked video with a Bewitched theme (Cœur de Pirate as Serena) - that are selling me on this album.

If you don't know French, you don't know that this is a sad breakup song - and a raw one at that, early in the process, when you don't want to see the person.  On her native instrument, the piano, Cœur de Pirate really drives the true underlying sadness of the song home.  

6 March 2023 - Isabella Lovestory - Sexo Amor Dinero

Wait a minute.

That's not French OR English!

That's right, gentle reader.  Isabella Lovestory is a Latina artist based in Montreal.  Her edgy music is definitely performed tongue-in-cheek, primarily in her native language of Spanish (she was born in Honduras, but Canadian since her mid-teens), Reggaton with a strong women's empowerment undertone might be unexpected in Canadian music, but here we are.  

Of course, "Lovestory" isn't a traditional Honduran last name.  Her last name is Rodriguez.  This is a persona - she is both a musician and performance artist, and she has fun with it.  Music is meant to be enjoyed, even if she is singing about "amor hardcore".  

She is certainly an artist to watch.

5 March 2023 - DVSN - Don't Take Your Love

Most of the year, we are a five-day-a-week blog, at most.

In #MapleLeafMarch, there's too much content for five days.  So, we step it up to all seven.  This is why we're posting on a Sunday.

Today, we're going back to the 1990s.  No, wait, this song was released in 2022.  I'm sorry.  I just heard the song and I thought for sure that it must have been from the 1990s, given the sound I was hearing.   

No, DVSN (formerly dvsn - not a joke) are a modern duo, active since 2016 and signed to Drake's label.  Drake wasn't even on DeGrassi in the 90's yet.  The sound sure does bring back memories of 90's R&B, but the freestyle feel points more to modern hip-hop, so I guess it's a fusion piece.

The duo themselves are pretty renowned in their own right, with one half of them being the producer behind some of Drake's biggest hits, which is probably why Nineteen85 has a few Grammy nominations (and a win, for Best Rap Song - "Hotline Bling", which he co-wrote and produced- in 2017) in the past on top of the Juno nomination for DVSN this year.  

Also, they're Canadian.  I feel like I have to say that.  This video was clearly filmed in Toronto, their hometown.  

4 March 2023 - Harm & Ease - Steady Roll

I don't know a lot about Harm & Ease - or, I didn't when I went searching for information about this great band from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, who happen to also be nominated for a Juno Award this year.  

SO I did a Google search.  The first result was their official website and here was the description given:

"causes of plagiarism essay using spatial order do essay writing websites work what to write my college essay about local business plan writer."

What?!

Luckily, that was just some wacky preview text and there's a lot more information at their official website.  Turns out this breakthrough band has been around since 2010 but spent some time kicking around Argentina before returning to Toronto.  But they're in Canada now, and their music rocks - and you should take notice.

3 March 2023 - Lisa LeBlanc - Pourquoi faire aujourd'hui

Those outside of Canada probably think Quebec is an outlier, but New Brunswick - the province where Lisa LeBlanc hails from - is bilingual, and the only officially bilingual province in Canada.  French is pretty widely spoken there. 34% of residents could conduct a conversation in English or French. But do you hear about Bloc Brunsycois?  No, no you don't.  

Actually, there was a Parti Acadiaen in the 70's and 80's, which was trying to separate the francophone portion of New Brunswick into a new province, but that's not really the same thing - they still wanted to be Canadian.  

You've learned your Canadian cultural fact of the day, Americans.  And probably a few Canadians.

But let's talk about Lisa LeBlanc.  She describes her music as "trash-folk" and yes, she does sing songs in both English and French (although primarily French).  A 2023 Juno Award nominee for best francophone album, Chiac Disco.  1) it's damn good 2) this song, which is very much NOT folk, closes that album.  It is, in fact, a disco romp with a lot of roller skating in the video.  

For those who don't know French, the song title literally translates to "Why Do Today".... as in, what you could do tomorrow.   It's more about living in the moment and less about procrastination.  It's also super fun.  By the way, if you listen closely, she DOES give a couple of little English-language clues (which is a hallmark of Chiac, a dialect of French that borrows some words from English).

I was thinking - what would this song look like live?  I got my answer.  Boy, doesn't she look like she's having fun here?

2 March 2023 - Flower Face - Sugar Water

Flower Face is the stage name of Montreal artist Ruby Mckinnon.  

This is the third single off her SIXTH album, The Shark In Your Water, released in 2022 after a four-year wait. She tends to do a fair bit of her recordings in her bedroom.  I don't know if this one was recorded there (the video implies that it was not), but I do know she wrote the song and performed all the instruments and vocals.  

Before you go there....  I wasn't one of those people waiting for her alt-pop gem of an album for four years. I *just* discovered her, and think she's fantastic.  The reason I keep coming back to #MapleLeafMarch is because I keep discovering artists I love that I would not have otherwise heard.  Canadian independent music doesn't get play in the States like it should.  

The self-deprecating video plays like a game of Rock Band and shows Flower Face's multiinstrumental talents.

1 March 2023 - The Stellas - Gravy

I have been waiting a YEAR to post this.

Last year, we went hog wild on The Stellas and their daughters.  And, as I was writing these posts last year, I wondered out loud - didn't mom and dad ever exploit the acting talents of their daughters.

Yes.  They did.  And at about 2:05 of this video, it looks like Maisy is providing vocals, too (she at least knows the words).  

To be fair, this 2014 single was after the debut of the ABC show Nashville.  

That's right.  It's #MapleLeafMarch #3.  Get ready for another month of Canadian content.