BRAT Summer is over! BRAT Fall is in full swing! Or maybe neither ever truly existed, maybe nothing ever truly existed! The encroaching chill is ripe for existential pondering, and what better way to ponder than with some new tunes at your side.
This month's New Faves are equal parts icy and warm, frantic and gentle —country-tinged folk rubs shoulders with thrashing rock and simmering R&B, while psych-pop and roots rock shimmy alongside. October's up-and-coming Canadian artist do it all, and that includes guiding you through the incoming long, cold nights.
Keep reading to meet Exclaim!'s latest New Faves, and head over to our Spotify playlist to hear them alongside our previous homegrown favourites.
Dani Camacho
Vancouver, BC
For fans of: Tate McRae, Carly Rae Jepsen
Vancouver-based pop artist Dani Camacho released her debut EP impassioned plea on August 30th. The six song release features singles "best of it all" and "uphill climb," both of which she released music videos for in the summer. The track "baretto street" is a reflection on reconnecting with her childhood in the Philippines after spending much of her adult life in Canada. Throughout the EP, Camacho creates catchy hooks while delivering lyrics that are intimate and heartwarming.
Francis Baptiste
cootie catcher
Toronto, ON
For fans of: Deerhoof, Alex G, Broadcast
If you're going to catch something this flu season, better make sure it's cooties because they're about to go viral. For the past couple years, cootie catcher have hung with Toronto's coolest DIY circles, playing their effervescent indie pop at countless shows across the city. The quartet's recent single, "Sound Out the Vowels" is bustling with frisky energy, with chopped up beats colliding with spry, childlike melodies courtesy of the triple vocal threat of Nolan Jakupovski, Anita Fowl and Sophia Chavez. cootie catcher are gearing up for their new album coming out sometime in 2025, following their big gig opening for Alvvays' three-show residency in December.
Chris Gee
Andrea Cormier
Halifax, NS
For fans of: Weyes Blood, Vashti Bunyan, Enya
If you long for a break from your frenzied mind, the music of Halifax-based musician Andrea Cormier might be just what you need. Cormier's atmospheric psych-folk songs are as tranquil as they are transfixing. Thanks to the addition of a full backing band, Cormier's bilingual self-titled EP (due out October 18) doubles-down on the dreaminess felt in her 2020 debut Creatures of Illusion. Her new track "Later Hour" feels like setting sail on the back of a warm, gentle breeze - come aboard.
Laura Stanley
The Hearts
Edmonton, AB
For fans of: Ron Sexsmith, Harry Nilsson, the Byrds
Edmonton's roots-pop stalwarts the Hearts are releasing their fifth album, Traces, in November. "The Long Goodbye", its piano-driven lead single, finds them in full command of their craft: a run of absolutely gorgeous melodies — each worthy of chorus status — trade places over its four-minute runtime, delivered by a six-piece band that knows when to strip back and when to layer on for maximum effect. It already feels timeless.
Paul Blinov
Hendrika
Whitehorse, YT
For fans of: Basia Bulat, Soccer Mommy, Samantha Savage Smith
As Hendrika, Selina Heyligers-Hare wraps genres around each other with confident ease. Her new EP, I Can't Remember, offers ranging, amped-up folk with an alt-rock edge: melodies glide across intricate guitar work, riffs chug under pointed observations, and sharp dynamics give even her most intimate writing a sense of scale and force. Guided by Heyligers-Hare's soaring voice, I Can't Remember marks the sound of a songwriter coming into her own.
Paul Blinov
Anna Justen
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Waxahatchee, Clairo, Hop Along
Singer-songwriter Anna Justen's catalogue of nostalgia-laden folk tunes are perfect for the upcoming rainy season. Her latest single "peppermint" showcases her knack for an undeniably catchy melody mixed in with shades of melancholy, building to an end of increasingly glitched-out vocal layers reminiscent of singers like James Blake. If her latest track is any indication of what Justen has in store for the future, be sure to keep an eye out for what's next.
Eden DaSilva
Bill Ricky
Halifax, NS
For fans of: Sarah Harmer, Margo Price, Skye Wallace
Since debuting as Leigh Wills' solo act last year, Bill Ricky have consistently made the rounds in and around Halifax. Now a quartet, they're fresh off their self-titled debut EP. Recorded at Joel Plaskett's Fang Recording, September's Bill Ricky waltzes with acoustic strummers and stomps with bloozy electric rock. Whatever one's flavour of country, Bill Ricky serve shots that'll have listeners tapping their feet or cutting a rug.
Leslie Ken Chu
worrywart
Vancouver, BC
For fans of: My Chemical Romance, Dismemberment Plan, Black Midi
Five-piece worrywart won CiTR's Shindig battle of the bands tournament earlier this year — basically the Vancouver underground's version of the Grammy Award for Best New Artist — and now they've arrived fully formed with their towering debut album, hail mary baby. It's a wildly maximal 10-song freak-out, its hard-to-classify rock mini-epics delivered with emo theatricality, prog complexity, post-hardcore edge and wonky echo experimentation.
Alex Hudson
Listen to tracks from these and other New Faves on our Spotify playlist: