22 March 2026 - Mustafa - Gaza is Calling

We talk a lot about the Polaris Music Prize on here.  Mostly because it does honour really great Canadian music.  Hell, I could do a Polaris month at this point.   

Until last year, it honored albums only.  Last year, they partnered with SOCAN and gave out a song award as well.   This was the winner, and given what was going on in the world last year that I hope as of the time this blog post is published (I'm literally writing it the day after the win) is resolved because it's awful, it makes an awful lot of sense.

This song was a big single from Mustafa (the Poet)'s album DUNYA, which was also shortlisted for last year's album prize.  It was good, and heartfelt, and a very pretty album, and this is a beautiful, emotional song. 

21 March 2026 - DAPHNI ft. CARIBOU - Waiting So Long

This is a single from DAPHNI, which is a project by Canadian electronic musician Dan Snaith.  On this single, he collaborated with CARIBOU, which is a project by Canadian electronic musician Dan Snaith.

Yep.  He collaborated with himself.

Which, well, is kind of fun.   

DAPHNI's new album Butterfly was released last month, and, well, it's a bright, happy electronic sound (unlike CARIBOU, which is darker). I enjoyed it, and I hope you do, too!

20 March 2026 - Debby Friday - Lipsync

Last year, Polaris Prize-winning artist Debby Friday released yet another great electronic album, The Starrr of The Queen of Life. 

Debby isn't necessarily a typical Canadian artist - she's signed to Seattle record label Sub Pop, she was born in Nigeria - but the Montreal-raised and Vancouver-based artist is certainly the embodiment of everything that is great about Canadian music and why I dedicate approximately 1/12 of the year and a solid 10-15% of the posts on this blog to Canadian music - because it's innovative and fun and exciting and unlike anything you hear anywhere else on earth.

Also, Canadian artists tend to put on a hell of a show no matter the genre, and you can see that Debby has the way-too-small early day crowd in the palm of her hand.... and brings ALL the energy to this very cool song. 

19 March 2026 - Beyries - Soldier

 Remember when I said that Beyries discovered music while she was being treated for breast cancer?

Furthermore, remember when I said she was someone who sang both in English and French?

This song is the first one she wrote and performed, while she was undergoing cancer treatment.  It also appears on her 2017 debut album Landing. 

The thing about this song is, it's one that requires the artist and a piano..... and it's much easier to see just how personal this song is to her in a live setting, especially an intimate one. 

19 March 2026 - Beyries - Du temps

Part of me really feels terrible pulling out more francophone content when most of my audience is English-speaking.

Part of me knows that 2 of my top three posts of all time are by artists from Quebec (yes, doing anglophone songs, but stay with me).  Francophone content does very well here. 

And, since Beyries's latest album Reprises made my Wicked 25, and remains one of the few artists I have not otherwise discussed, let's talk about her. 

Amélie Beyries was a public relations professional until age 28... when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her treatment (she's twenty years past that, guys), she discovered songwriting and began making music as a career.  

This song, with music written by the artist, is from her 2024 album Du feu dans les lilas, which is an excellent francophone set from an artist who seamlessly glides back and forth between English and French.  It's absolutely beautiful - so I hope you enjoy it. 

18 March 2026 - Carly Rae Jepsen - Tug Of War

You thought you were getting away with no Carly Rae Jepsen this March?

Nope.  

But we went OLD.  We went to her debut album, from the pre-"Call Me Maybe" times. This was the title song and main single off that album - written by Jepsen and her producer, Ryan Stewart. It was her first Canadian hit - and second single overall - peaking at #36 on the Canadian Top 100 and doing better on adult contemporary radio.

This album and single were released in 2008, a year after her third place Canadian Idol finish.  Bonus points if you can name the top 2. 

It's a song about her begging a guy to stay in with her tonight.  

I love these "before they were really famous" performances, because you can see her excitement, even back then.

17 March 2026 - The Tragically Hip - At The Hundredth Meridian

 I find myself coming back to the Hip more the older I get.   

And why wouldn't I?  They're clear Canadian music royalty. And this song - from their 1993 album Fully Completely - is quintessentially Canadian - named for the line that separates the East from the prairies, running somewhere between Winnipeg and Regina, really close to the western shores of Lake Winnipeg. 

Yep.  I looked it up. 

But it was more than that.  It was a song about being at the edge - the brink - and pressing forward. 

Written by the band, it was a top 20 hit in Canada and a top 40 hit at US rock radio - further cementing their legendary status. 

I think my Canadian fans know and by now my worldwide fans know as well that lead vocalist Gord Downie passed away in 2017, and the 2016 tour was their farewell.  Their last shows, in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario, were nationally televised and watched by 1/3 of the Canadian population. 

Of course they played a spirited performance of this song. Note the faster tempo and extended jam break.

Also, we really miss Gord Downie and we're not afraid to say it.