October closes with a long-awaited k-os album, new punk from Vancouver and Toronto, and another Friday single from Jessie Reyez. Here are seven Canadian releases to hear from the week of October 30. There’s no ranking here, just different places to start listening.
k-os: BLackneck
After an 11-year gap between studio albums, k-os returns with seven tracks and a record financed by Drake, who is also credited as executive producer. “Still Number One,” “EUREKA!” and “Guns&Roses” are among the tracks on his first studio release since Can’t Fly Without Gravity. The comeback also offers a reason to revisit Northern Dial’s feature on his earlier work.
PISS: you made me / skin on linen
Vancouver’s PISS make their debut on Sub Pop, with Paper Bag Records handling the Canadian release. The band works with punk, spoken text and sound collage; the album’s subject matter centres on violence and the ways it shapes a person. The music video for “time loop at hot slit” is available on YouTube.
Bad Waitress: In The Hollow
The Toronto quartet’s ten-track follow-up was recorded at Wychwood Sound with engineer Josh Korody. “Loving Kind,” “I Wish I Was A Mars Volta” and the title track are on the record, issued through Stomp Records.
Jessie Reyez: SOFTER
The fourth Friday single in a row for Reyez arrives before an expanded edition of A LITTLE VENGEANCE (is more human than no vengeance at all) on November 6. She has also discussed taking time away from performing. Read Northern Dial’s feature on the break she’s considering.
Nickelback: Everything Under the Sun
The Hanna, Alberta, rock band’s 11th studio album follows 2022’s Get Rollin’. The twelve-track release includes “Rattle the Cage” and “Lift Somebody Up.” For a week that also includes experimental pop and art-punk, it’s a reminder that Canadian releases don’t belong to one scene.
Shiv and the Carvers: Always Watching
Toronto’s Shiv and the Carvers turn their frustration with screen culture toward the single “Screens.” The full-length also includes “Executionary,” “Squealerz” and “I Hope You Choke,” with the band’s punk foundation expanded by fiddle, trumpet and theremin.
Ghostkeeper: Balloon Moon
Based in the Calgary area, Métis experimental-pop group Ghostkeeper return with their seventh album. “Mohkinstsis” draws on the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, while the record brings Sarah Houle, Shane Ghostkeeper, Eric Hamelin and Ryan Bourne together in the studio.
Want more than this week’s picks? Browse Northern Dial’s rolling new-releases page for other albums, singles and artist connections.
