New Canadian Music · September 11, 2026
A new Mattmac album, a strange Calgary debut, two records built far from the usual Canadian music centres and the return of a Nova Scotia rap group after three decades.
Northern Dial artwork
This weekend's picks don't have much in common beyond a Canadian postal code. That's the point. The five releases below move through hip-hop, electronic pop, guitar music, prairie country and an unexpected piece of East Coast rap history.
Mattmac's third album brings Garden Hill First Nation into focus without treating home like scenery. Smoke Signals was made in close collaboration with Atlanta artist and producer QuestionATL, connecting the Southern rap Mattmac grew up hearing with memories of northern Manitoba, displacement and the people who shaped him. It's a personal record with enough low-end to work outside the headphones.
Calgary trio Clinton St. John, Morgan Greenwood and Chad VanGaalen took the long route to a debut. The self-titled CG Tears folds synths, odd rhythmic turns and damaged-pop instincts into songs that keep changing shape without losing the hook. “I'm Falling Up” is a good entry point.
Jon McKiel recorded Gold Horatio with Jay Crocker in Baie Verte and Sackville, New Brunswick. The record has the closeness of a home recording without feeling unfinished. Guitar songs bend at the edges, production choices arrive a little sideways and McKiel leaves enough space for the weird details to stick.
Lethbridge's Starpainter released Cayenne Flowerbed on September 9, giving the weekend a prairie-country record that doesn't need to announce itself as one. Joel Stretch's songs sit comfortably beside slide guitar, acoustic strum and Chris Dadge's loose, detailed production. “Rabbits” and the title track are both good doors in.
This one needs an asterisk: Bassments of Badmen 4 is a Hand'Solo Records compilation, not a Hip Club Groove album. What makes it essential this weekend is “Dead Words,” the Nova Scotia group's first new song in 30 years. Cheklove Shakil and MacKenzie are back on the mic with Moves handling production and cuts. Three decades later, the chemistry still sounds like it belongs to them.
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Want the deeper story behind one of the weekend's biggest releases? Read our feature on Mattmac and Smoke Signals.