Staff Picks

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  ​Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: emmersonHALL's Self-titled Debut Finds Him Smack Dab in the Middle of the Mess

  PUBLISHED Jul 21, 2023

  There's a creaking, buzzing sense of homespun familiarity to the debut from emmersonHALL, the alt-folk project from Ottawa (by way of Linds...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: ​Laurence Guy's 'Living Like There's No Tomorrow, But Killing Yourself in the Process' Captures the Sound of Experience

  PUBLISHED Jul 19, 2023

  Laurence Guy's productions have long tread the line between electronic ecstasy and the post-club comedown, and that dichotomy of feeling is...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: the Drums Continue to Outstrip Their Peers on "Better"

  PUBLISHED Jul 18, 2023

  Of all the blog buzz bands that I loved in 2009, the Drums have remained far more successful than nearly any of their peers, with monthly S...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks:​ Jahkoy Swaggers Through the Flame on "Man on Fire"

  PUBLISHED Jul 17, 2023

  After dabbling in Caribbean grooves and melodies on his February album Healing Phase, Jahkoy settles firmly back into the R&B swagger that...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: ​Anti-God Hand Breaks Through on "Barge of Light"

  PUBLISHED Jul 14, 2023

  Vancouver musician Will Ballantyne wrote the material that would form Blight Year, his forthcoming album as Anti-God Hand, following a summ...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Palehound's 'Eye on the Bat' Is Wry and Confrontational

  PUBLISHED Jul 13, 2023

  El Kempner reveals a new side of Palehound on their fourth effort, Eye on the Bat. Where previous albums have taken on a celebratory tone —...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Metric's "Just the Once" Is a Giddy Reprieve from Modern Malaise

  PUBLISHED Jul 12, 2023

  Dance rock is back, haven't you heard? Two decades since their debut, Metric are as groovy as ever — except, rather than the spiky post-pun...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: ANOHNI and the Johnsons 'My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross'

  PUBLISHED Jul 11, 2023

  ANOHNI's first album in 13 years with her forever-shapeshifting Johnsons is a return home — abandoning the chrome-buffed enormity of 2016's...