We’re ready to put the final nails in this year with our annual tradition of very scientifically and democratically sorting through
each and every song sent our way and assembling them into our list of The Best Music of 2021.
We understand that no one will be entirely happy with any of these decisions, but the staff have only just barely escaped the process with their lives still intact, which is still more than we can hope for in 2022. Please, go easy on them and enjoy this list with the spirit in which it was intended.
Dylan Devoe – The Battle of Louisbourg
Dylan Devoe manages to sneak a history lesson into a folk-rock banger. With a fair bit of research sunk into the lyrics, Devoe gets into the real-life details of Fort Louisbourg and the battle that brought it down. Just try singing this in your next history class. (Read more…)
Electric Spoonful – Johnny Drunken Drawers
Johnny Drunken Drawers is the folk legend Gus’s Pub never needed. Written as Electric Spoonful’s contribution to the canon of Halloween hits, this might just be the only seasonal song we’d ever consider for such a list. We love it that much. (Read more…)
Dylan Menzie – A Heart That Doesn’t Want Mine
With “A Heart That Doesn’t Want Mine,” Dylan Menzie shows us the silver lining to the well-known feeling of unrequited love. Not shying away from upbeat grooves, Menzie serenades us with the spirit of self-love and rediscovery. (Read more…)
Emmet MacLellan – Fine
“Fine” is a capsule of effective ingredients for an indie-folk hit; it’s sonically bright and bouncing, lyrically straightforward and simply catchy. As MacLellan describes it, the song is about “wanting to escape, codependency, and repressed anger fueling the ego/subconscious mind.” (Read more…)
Senior Citizen – Tell Me When It’s Safe
Bob Deveaux’s synth-powered solo side-project surprised everyone with an unexpected album this year—though perhaps none so much as Deveaux himself and longtime fellow Grand Theft Bus bandmate Tim Walker. Their album’s standout single, “Tell Me When It’s Safe,” leans into a lot of feelings we’ve all shared this past year. (Read more…)
Russell Louder – Home
Louder combines buzzing synths and airy vocals to channel big Björk vibes on “Home” while subverting our notions of escapism into something more tactile and powerful. (Read more…)
Behrooz Mikhankah – Lydium
Behrooz Mihankhah, an Iranian-born and Halifax-based pianist, established a new benchmark for Halifax jazz with “Lydium,” an exciting new track for the Lydian scales that form its backbone. (Read more…)
Malia Rogers – Family Song
“Family Song,” as Malia Rogers describes it, is a hymn for hard times. It’s “an homage to the love that guides us through pain into healing.” Written after the loss of her grandfather, “Family Song” is a reminder that even though someone is gone, the love you shared isn’t lost. (Read more…)
David Picco – Waitin’ for the Summertime
David Picco’s “Waitin’ for the Summertime” is a slow, harmonica-adorned ridealong full of warm memories of a time when the air doesn’t hurt your face. (Read more…)
Les MoonTunes – Icy Delight
Les Moontunes combine individual instruments into a monolith of expression as they take us on a groovy journey of growing and descending triumphant waves. (Read more…)
Rick Sparkes + The Enablers – Over Northumberland
With serenading vocals that immediately quell any anxieties, Rick Sparkes + the Enablers sing about looking back on the past while also planning a fresh start in “Over Northumberland.” (Read more…)
The Trews – I Wanna Play
Canada’s residing arena rockers The Trews have been eager to get back to bringing crowds to their feet, and they’ve found the loudest way possible for them to make that clear with “I Wanna Play.” (Read more…)
Qwinn – Congratulations
With “Congratulations,” Qwinn is showing us the importance of setting boundaries and knowing your self-worth. She transports listeners back to the ’80s to uplift them with boppy synths and nostalgia. (Read more…)
Leanne Hoffman & Brdnn – Self Control
“Self Control,” the joint effort of Brdnn and Leann Hoffman, emphasizes the need to let loose, dance around and maybe even get a little weird. It makes light of a tough situation and shows us that we can always find a reason to have fun. (Read more…)
Alicia Toner – Joke’s On Me
Singing about the relationship with the self, Alicia Toner reminds us that we all have two voices living inside us: the one that tells us to get out of a situation and the other that tells us everything is fine. (Read more…)
Matt Steele – Falling Asleep at the Metal Show
Long nights happen in the music industry. They’re practically the norm. So it’s not all that surprising that Matt Steele might have nodded off late one night as a sound tech. But like all true professionals, Steele simply channelled the embarrassment of his hardship into song fodder. (Read more…)
Language Arts – Blood Flow
Paired with a mashup of nostalgic imagery from the retro commercials that defined our childhoods, “Blood Flow” is an alt-pop jam that touches on how we can get so distracted by life at times that we forget to stop and feel the experience. (Read more…)
Sunnyside Uppers – Mary
Written about a relationship that began with a rocky start, “Mary” similarly went through several reincarnations before Ryan Brown got it just right. Pulling vibes from ’90s alternative, ’00s indie and ’60s pop, “Mary” is a fun little ode to the woman who would become Brown’s wife. (Read more…)
Lizzie Loveless – The Joke
When health complications put a surprise twist in Lizzie Loveless’s TEEN touring days, she underwent the process of reinventing herself and her career in the process. “The Joke” is Loveless’s public acknowledgement of the difficulties of such a path, especially when you’re fighting your own body every step of the way. (Read more…)
Pillow Fite – Playing the Fool
Expressing that awkward feeling of wearing your heart on your sleeve early on in a relationship, Pillow Fite embrace the risk of looking like a fool in order to get the love you’re after. (Read more…)
FM Berlin – Good Magic
Somehow inspired by a fighting couple overheard on Toronto’s TTC, FM Berlin’s “Good Magic” is one of those songs that has evolved and been reworked so many times that its origins become totally lost somewhere along the way. The end result is big hooks that channel Verve vibes. (Read more…)
POSTDATA – Kissing
As POSTDATA’s anthem for high-stakes tonsil hockey, “Kissing” is the type of song we would expect to hear sung en masse by exalted bar crowds, or perhaps even be slow danced to. (Read more…)
Scott Mackay – Romance Novel
Prince Edward Island’s Scott Mackay gets into some proper country crooning with “Romance Novel,” a double dose of nostalgia as he captures the image of his mother reclining in her chair, reading Jodi Picoult novels with a glass of red wine.
The Tom Fun Orchestra – I’m Your Man
It took nearly a decade for The Tom Fun Orchestra to release new material, but “I’m Your Man” proved it was worth the wait. The song is a love letter, written from a husband to his wife on the day he sets out to sea and never returns. It’s a beautiful return for the band, but when we’ll hear more from the band remains uncertain. (Read more…)
Brielle Ansems – 25 (Still Awake)
With a difficult song about the nuances of anxiety and depression, Brielle Ansems navigates the complexities and frustrations of adulthood while finding solace in the fact that everyone is just fumbling their way through the same challenges and making the most of it. (Read more…)