Staff Picks

Rachel Bobbitt Sounds Whole on 'The Half We Still Have'

​Exclaim! Staff Picks

PUBLISHED Aug 14, 2023

There's an ineffable quality to what Rachel Bobbitt brings to the table as a songwriter. She wrote one of my favourite songs of 2022 with "...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Sheer Mag Are (Thankfully) Still Themselves on "All Lined Up"

PUBLISHED Aug 3, 2023

Sheer Mag do one thing. In regard to most bands, that would sound like an insult, but Sheer Mag do that one thing so well — so (seemingly)...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks:​ TOBi and Topaz Jones Don't Relinquish Their Grips on "All Night Long"

PUBLISHED Aug 2, 2023

TOBi's inimitable tone and dynamic lyricism have had my playlists in a stranglehold since his contemplative single "City Blues" took Toront...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Idman Breaks Out of Her Sad Girl Bag with 'Risk'

PUBLISHED Aug 1, 2023

"Risk" is such a white-hot word to me. It's loaded with potentiality, buttressed by fear descending from all angles. Despite the insurmount...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks:​ PJ Harvey Spins a Delicate Darkness on 'I Inside the Old Year Dying'

PUBLISHED Jul 27, 2023

Decades on, the shadows that have always existed within PJ Harvey have evolved. Instead of the throaty growls that marked her seminal works...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: illuminati hotties' "Truck" Is a Sugar-Sweet Road Song

PUBLISHED Jul 26, 2023

My favourite illuminati hotties mode is freaky, when singer Sarah Tudzin cuts loose with unhinged yelps and skronky riffs. The new single "...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Lost Girls Leave Their Bodies Behind on "Ruins"

PUBLISHED Jul 25, 2023

"Bodies are stupid / Bodies are dumb," Jenny Hval sings at the climax of "Ruins," the first new song since 2021 from Lost Girls, her collab...

Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Teo and WESTSIDE BOOGIE Take Flight on "Wings"

PUBLISHED Jul 24, 2023

Sacramento up-and-comer Teo and L.A. heavyweight WESTSIDE BOOGIE have been drinking their Red Bull. The duo take flight on their new single...