Browsing Tag

Toronto Pop

Nathalie King – More: A Sensory Trip-Hop Revelation

Toronto’s ethereal electropop enchantress, Nathalie King, has recently unleashed ‘More’; a sense-awakening cinematic score of scintillating trip-hopped electropop and deep house waves of euphoria that pull you right into the gravitational force of this paralysingly lush soundscape.

The track delivers vocal lines that are just as melodiously luxuriant as the pulsating progressions in a style that will never go out of trend. It’s safe to say King has broken the spell of throwaway pop culture with this seminal release The sensory staying power will stand the test of time as a monument to King’s ability to render catharsis into her staunchly accoladed serene productions, which reverberate with arcanely rendered audial bliss. Nathalie King’s music is noted throughout the industry for its cinematic gravitas which envelops her dynamic vocal range which is just as comfortable in a sultry low register as a soft and melodic upper range.

King is currently working on her new EP, PTSD, which is slated for release in 2024 and has become a therapeutic means to overcome childhood trauma and enduring depression. Collaborating with Bristol-born producer Joseph Snook, PTSD promises King’s fans a more electronic and UK-centric sound.  Away from her solo music, King has garnered attention with placements in commercials and TV shows; she also continues to contribute to Universal Production Music UK and perform throughout Toronto and Europe.

Watch the official music video for More on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bask in the indie pop ‘Afterglow’ of EMA’s growing pains

To prove that it isn’t just Taylor Swift who can weave romantic daydreams into her pop melodies, the breakthrough indie pop artist EMA allowed her latest intimate vignette, Afterglow, to deliver dreamy yet panoramically visceral emotion. Getting caught up in the earwormy tides of the single that captures the bitter-sweet sensation of growing pains and leaving everything behind to come into your own is absolutely non-optional.

The synth-rock melodies towards the outro spike the sticky-sweet hit with emboldening energy while bursting the bubblegum pop bubble and establishing EMA as a trailblazer who didn’t have to completely rip up the indie pop rulebook to assert her originality.

The Toronto-residing singer-songwriter has been honing her talents by performing at open mics and festivals since she was eight years old. After she released her debut single, Get It, in February this year, it wasn’t long before she reached the one million fans mark. Staggeringly, when she covered Heather by Conan Gray, she graced Spotify’s Top Viral 50 playlist and surpassed the streaming count of the original, which tells you all you need to know about her ability to breathe life into explorations of emotion.

Afterglow lit up the airwaves on August 11th; bask in it yourself by joining EMA’s 30k monthly listeners and heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Delicate, Beautiful, and Haunting – The Real Shade are ‘Waiting For Good News’

The Real Shade

Gorgeously simple-but-evocative strummed acoustic guitar and Tim Vesely’s beautiful, cultured vocal carries the first half of ‘Waiting For Good News’, the new single from Toronto-based The Real Shade, before delicate organ, drum, and backing vocals join us around the mid-point; ‘Waiting For Good News’ is a perfect, tear-jerking-in-a-good-way, poignant and heartfelt yet hopeful and uplifting, it’s an absolutely stunning mix of lo-fi, old-school Americana, folk, and simple, expressive pop. Think Jayhawks, Counting Crows, or the mellower parts of Buffalo Tom, with a little of Paul Westerberg and Justin Townes Earle thrown in for good measure.

Taken from the forthcoming album ‘String Of Lights’, and a collaboration between ‘usual’ The Real Shade singer-songwriter Jane Gowan (Spygirl, Neins Circa) and producer and musician Vesely (Rheostatics), ‘Waiting For Good News’ is inspired both by the feelings a lot of us have right now, as we emerge slowly, blinking and nervously sniffing the air, from lockdown, and the novel ‘All My Puny Sorrows’ (Miriam Toews). It’s an absolutely beautiful, reflective single, perfectly composed and stunningly performed, gorgeous in its simplicity and 1,000,000 times more powerful because of it.

‘Waiting For Good News’ is released on May 14th 2021; you can find more information from The Real Shade’s website.

Review by Alex Holmes