Rose Adam, Witch Prophet, Elisapie and More: Also Cool's Playlist Refresh
We heard you needed new music for your springtime playlist, so here we are with the freshest and springiest tunes we could find.
This edition of our Playlist Refresh includes disco bangers, emotional ballads, and an Inuktitut rendition of Cyndi Lauper, perfect for all occasions and vibes.
Listen to the full playlist below!
Sorry Girls by Japhy Saretsky
Sorry Girls bring us another enchanting tune leading up to their EP Bravo!, which is set to release on June 2nd via Arbutus Records.
"Sorcery is a song that evokes the feeling of the absurdity of a chance encounter, the luck of love and mystery of this dance, the feeling of looking up at the stars with awe, wonder and fear with an awareness that amidst all the pain and fear in the world there is always the acorn of love from which everything is born. Sorcery is like taking a shower in shimmering synths, pumped up drums, catchy melodies and stacked vocals/vocoders.”
Rose Adam makes her musical debut today with disco banger "Hooked”. A seasoned Quebecoise actress, Rose has been exploring her solo musical identity after collaborating with other artists such as Kaskade, Bynon, Miles Urbn and Eager Dance.
"Hooked" draws on memories of Rose's first love, reminiscing about being caught up in strong feelings while trying to live her best life. "I also felt a lot of anxiety about the relationship, because I thought that love was supposed to last three years (according to Frédéric Beigbeder's book), and that one day my world could come crashing down..." Rose shares.
Enter the disco world of Rose, and watch the visualizer for "Hooked".
Rose Adam
Montreal duo 110% share their latest single, "by chance”. The track feels like a warm, emotional slow burn on a cold spring morning. It's a perfect soundtrack for your bus ride, a long contemplative walk, or just biking around.
110% (Third? and Sahm) are childhood friends who spent their childhood in Montreal watching anime, skating, and discovering the city together. Their music together explores their experiences being second-generation immigrants, and constantly exploring new sounds to express themselves.
110%
TEKE::TEKE via IMTL
This past Thursday, Montreal’s Japanese psych-rock outfit TEKE::TEKE debuted its Serge Gainsbourg-inspired track “Doppelganger”. The swanky single marks the third wink at the band’s forthcoming album Hagata, due June 9th on Kill Rock Stars (Xiu Xiu, Elliot Smith). On “Doppleganger”, the TEKE::TEKE guitarist and songwriter Sei Nakushi Pelletier shares: “I wrote the music for this track with a view to touching on a very 70s pop vibe, specifically the records our parents listened to when we were kids, like Nakajima Miyuki.” Twirling elegant guitar, playful percussion and buoyant vocals from the band’s lead singer Maya Kuroki, “Doppelganger” is a romantic ballad channeling fairy tale magic from another dimension.
Witch Prophet by Francesca Nocera
Toronto songstress Witch Prophet greeted May’s beginning with her new album Gateway Experience, out now via her label Heart Lake Records. With an entrancing melange of hip-hop beds, jazzy accents and soulful harmonies, Gateway Experience details Witch Prophet’s struggles with focal seizures, with each track named after her symptoms. Examining the connection with the human brain, seizures, god and otherworldly abilities, Gateway Experience boasts collaborations with DillanPonders, Begonia, SATE and Zaki Ibrahim. Standout tracks on the album include the serene “Dizzy”, featuring freestyle live trumpet by Tara Kannagara, atop subdued beats and poised vocals by Witch Prophet.
Witch Prophet
Elisapie by Leeor Wild
Montreal’s Elisapie transcends the expectations of a cover with her latest offering “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)”, an Inuktitut rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s hit single from 1984. Elisapie’s reimagining of the seminal pop anthem comes off of her to-be-released fourth solo album, Inuktitut. Inuktitut revisits radio favorites that provided solace to the community of Nunavik, Northern Quebec, amidst challenges enforced by colonial powers throughout Elisapie’s life.
Transforming songs by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Queen and Cyndi Lauper with vivacity of her mother tongue, Elisapie’s Inuktitut arrives September 15th, 2023 via Bonsound.
In a statement, Elisapie shares that “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)” was inspired by a childhood memory of her aunt Alasie and her cousin Susie:
“I was able to get through my pre-teen years, thanks to my Aunt Alasie, as my mother had neither the knowledge nor the experience to give me a crash course on puberty, fashion or social relationships. In addition to entering a new chapter in my life, we were in the midst of the 80's and modernity was shaking up our traditional methods. My mother’s generation had lived in Igloos, and the cultural changes were too swift.
Despite her struggles, my aunt ensured I felt accepted and exposed me to new and modern things like TV, clothes, dancing, Kraft Dinner and make-up!
Whenever I went to my aunt's house, I was in awe of my older girl cousins. They were all so cool and stylish, and they loved pop music and the crazy makeup of the 80s and early 90s. One of my favorite memories is listening to the radio with them and hearing Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" for the first time. It was like a lightning bolt, and I couldn't separate the song or the artist from my older cousin Susie. For me, the song was all about her search for beauty, connection, love, and rising above pain.”
In light of announcing his third studio album Forgiving Season, Elijah Wolf shares his first single, "We Talked About It."
Wolf explains, "(the song) deals with feeling numb and disconnected in life. It's about going through the motions, letting your mind wander and missing everything real around you. I wrote it in a low moment, feeling detached and directionless. It became a conversation with myself about what I was becoming when I failed to be present."
Forgiving Season follows Wolf's 2021 full-length Brighter Lighting, his standalone single "Yesterday, With You," which featured Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold on vocals, and an Aquarium Drunkard Lagniappe Sessions release. Wolf will play at the Cave Mountain Catskills Music Festival on Saturday, September 15th, with more tour dates to be announced later this year.
