1 April 2026 - Lexie Liu - POP GIRL

Welcome back to the rest of the world. 

This may be the first Chinese artist we've featured on here that wasn't born in Chicago.  

Indeed, she is Chinese - raised in Hunan province - and got her big break on Korean and Chinese reality TV shows.  

She released her new EP Teenage Ramble in 2025, and this song as its lead single.  It's superficial, poppy... and an awful lot of fun. Co-written by the artist and producer Yu Zeng, the song is definitely CONSTRUCTED, but also PERFORMED and performed and constructed WELL by Liu. 

She's young, yes, but also, she has a hell of a stage presence, as can be seen in this 2024 performance of the song.  Even before this song was released as a single, she had the crowd LOVING it. 

31 March 2026 - Ariane Roy, Thierry Larose, & Lou-Adriane Cassidy - Le Roy, la Rose et le Lou[p] (chanson thème)

This is probably the weirdest song I've ever posted.  

"But it doesn't sound weird".... well, actually, the entire concept of the album was strange.  You see, Ariane Roy, Thierry Larose and Lou-Adriane Cassidy are all popular musicians in the francophone music scene in Quebec.  They are also tremendous friends and have regularly appeared on each other's albums.  

I already told you one of them wrote and performed a song about and with another.   And live, too. 

In 2024, the three of them did a few shows together where they were all the headliners - Le (Ariane) Roy, (Thierry) la Rose, and Lou[p](-Adriane Cassidy) (this structure was a throwback to similar groups like this from the 1970s).... and then they released a live album - called Le Roy, la Rose et le Lou[p] - where each of them had 1/3 of the songs, and then they all got together and performed a theme song with all of them together.... the title song named after the three performers, written by the performers and Alexandre Martel (songwriting and romantic partner of le Lou[p] (and songwriting partner of la Rose, to be fair)).

I think the concept of a theme song for youself is so strange.

I almost didn't include a live version of this, but I couldn't not. They all bring so much energy!

And here they are performing the song on Quebec morning television, all wearing their jammies... they are very charming, to be fair.

Feel free to rewind and check out the interview with le Roy et le Lou[p] (et la Rose, but for some reason, he didn't get credited in the video)

ok, that's probably all the Lou-Adriane Cassidy for this March. 

31 March 2026 - Felix Cartal & Fionn - The Way

I have rarely done what I did today.

But when I tell you that Fionn is by far my most listened to artist so far in 2026, this cover of the Fastball classic is a big reason for this. 

OK, sure, it's really Felix Cartal's song - he's providing the music while the Finn-Morris twins are giving you the great harmonies - but c'mon.  He's not why you're here. 

This video was filmed in five hours in Mission, British Columbia. And yes, they did turn a motor vehicle into a ball pit. 

31 March 2026 - Fionn - I Might Start Smoking

I have traditionally saved the last day of March for the last few years for a newer artist I have recently discovered that has been on heavy rotation for me. 

In 2021, that was Cœur de Pirate. In 2022, that was Lights.  In 2023, that was Lennon and Maisy Stella. In 2024, that was The Beaches. 

Let's not talk about last year. 

For this last day of March, I'm going to talk about a band I only just discovered a few months ago. 

In fact, I first heard them and their latest album, scum., on December 10th of last year.  It was so good, I rated it my 16th favorite album of 2025.  Let's read what some critic said about them:

"Fionn’s scum. is pure femme‑rage pop‑rock, a tight, snarling little record where every chorus feels like finally saying the thing you swallowed at work, at the bar, on stage. Songs like “Blow” and the title track turn mansplaining, bad exes and low‑level everyday misogyny into sugar‑rush guitar anthems, all Veruca Salt/Elastica‑coded hooks and twin‑sister harmonies that made this one of my go‑to “I'm pissed, but I need to be pissed safely” albums of 2025." - literally me. 

Since then, I've had a chance to live with Fionn's catalog and music.  Not only would I rate scum. higher now than I did in December - and spoiler alert, I'm going to revisit that list - it's likely a top 10 album and woefully underappreciated. They are my most listened to artist so far in 2025 - and I have branched out further than their latest album.  

Today's song is the title song from their 2023 set that featured the same femme-rage pop rock and same twin sister harmonies - and may have been been a little angrier. 

I kind of like the Vancouver-based harmonies even more live.  And, here, you can tell that - although they do have a drummer - the signature sound is all Alanna and Brianne Finn-Morris's work. 

Yes, the band's name is a play on their last name.  

I think this video probably shows best why Fionn's music resonates with me.

Literally anyone can dance to this. 

30 March 2026 - Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now

I was looking through my drafts after hearing last night's tribute to her on the JUNOS as she received the Lifetime Achievement Award... and it was given to her by the literal Prime Minister, Mark Carney.  I've never been a huge Joni Mitchell fan - but she was a fantastic songwriter and performer. 

Sarah McLachlan and Alison Russell did a brilliant job performing this song in tribute... and then Joni walked out on stage and tried to perform as well... but her mic wasn't working for some reason.  I feel like someone else up there could have given her a working microphone... but anyway.  Because she got cut off from singing more, I wanted to make sure *I* paid tribute to her here.

This performance is from 1970 and the Isle of Wight festival.

Now, what is maybe not so well-remembered is that she also won a lot of Grammy Awards... and her last win came in 2024, with her live album from the Newport Festival.  She performed this song live in the ceremony that year, and it was very different sounding.... not just her voice, which was huskier, sure, but also a woman who had lived a life and a GREAT one at that. 

It is a chillingly good performance. 

30 March 2026 - Lou-Adriane Cassidy - Valse frustrée

A year ago, I had no idea who Lou-Adriane Cassidy was. 

Well, I will admit that I have a draft from 2024 of one of her songs for this blog.  I literally didn't realize that until I was writing this post. 

Three months ago, I declared her FIRST 2025 album, Journal d'un Loup-Garou, my favorite album of 2025.  I would reconsider a number of my 2025 list choices.  THAT is not one of them.  CLEAR best album of 2025.  If that album had not won the Francophone album of the year at the JUNOS this weekend (which, of course it did), I would have been shocked!

One of the choices I would reconsider is on my honourable mentions list - and it is Triste Animal, Lou-Adriane Cassidy's SECOND 2025 album.  Whereas the former tells a huge, sweeping story, the latter is more intimate - a quieter, different-sounding album.  Both albums deserved top 10 spots, and I really hope Triste Animal is a Polaris consideration this year. 

So, what better way to show you a frustrated waltz than a huge crowd?

I think it's telling that there aren't really videos for the songs on Triste Animal.  There's just her, her huge voice, and the strong emotion from the songs she wrote with Alexandre Martel.

YES, that is Thierry Larose on guitar.  Let's just dispense with that right now. 

But if you REALLY want to hear the studio version, here ya go.  It's still pretty great!

Lou-Adriane Cassidy and Thierry Larose will return.

29 March 2026 - The OBGM's - Buffalo

I know we talk about the Polaris Music Prize an awful lot here. 

However, the shortlist for that prize has a long history of excellent music. 

The OBGM's (Oooh Baby Gimme More) 3rd album, Sorry It's Over, was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize last year, and is nominated for a JUNO award this weekend.  The album is an angry and noisy sonic masterpiece, and you should check it out.

The band got a big break from an audition for a Budweiser ad, when the black Canadian-fronted band went from being booked for "urban" gigs to punk festivals.  

I mentioned that they were black Canadian-fronted.  In the video above, you saw Densil McFarlane.

In this live video, you can see that they're a Canadian punk band and no other adjective matters.