Fall is officially here! The days are shorter! The wind has that mysterious chill! Time to celebrate and/or comfort yourself with our latest batch of up-and-coming Canadian artists, here to usher in the turning of the leaves. Ranging from shimmery, ecstatic love songs and lean, clever guitar pop to twisted emo and gentle folk, this month's New Faves will help you through — no matter your feelings on saying goodbye to beach days and hello to crunching leaves.
Keep reading to meet Exclaim!'s latest New Faves, and head over to our Spotify playlist to hear them alongside our previous homegrown favourites.
Bells Larsen
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Sufjan Stevens, Julien Baker, Soccer Mommy
Bells Larsen has a ton of guts. Amid the fingerpicked acoustic guitars and clear-voiced confessionals of debut album Good Grief (out today via Next Door Records), the Montreal singer-songwriter shows their boldness in myriad ways: expressing complex narratives of love and loss through piercingly simple language; show-stopping detours into charming folk rock ("Double Aquarius"), swelling strings ("The Geography of Leaving") and roaring distortion ("Atlantic Love"); and gratuitous Sufjan Stevens worship (with bookending covers and a namedrop).
Matt Bobkin
Zoey Leven
Vancouver, BC
For fans of: Snail Mail, Fontaines D.C., King Princess
Vancouver's Zoey Leven crafts the kind of spry, wiry guitar music that quickens the pulse — the sort of songs that make you want to get behind the wheel and go someplace new, and quick. That's never been better exemplified than on last month's "I Feel Like a Loser," a jolt of high-energy guitar pop that surges with momentum on the strength of Leven's wry writing and always-collected vocals.
Kaelen Bell
Mvll Crimes
London, ON
For fans of: Drug Church, Single Mothers, IDLES
London, ON's punk/hardcore outfit Mvll Crimes have been busy in their two short years as a band, releasing multiple EPs, with their third (YOU EMBVRVSS ME) dropping today. The group's penchant for political themes is delivered with ferocity by vocalist Jill Clair, whose caustic snarls and hollers complement a collection of crunchy palm-muted riffs, and pummelling drums. The songs are angry, quick, and best listened to as loud as possible.
Paul Dika
Old Ceremonies
Toronto, ON
For fans of: Respire, Russian Circles, Failure
One of Toronto's best underground heavy bands are releasing their debut album this fall with We Are Not Well. Having played extensive local shows as the opening act for bands like Malevich, Drude and Pale Mare, Old Ceremonies have honed a sound that's heavy, vulnerable and entirely their own. Conjuring the essence of post-metal bands like Pelican, Mouth of the Architect and Cult of Luna, the best is yet to come as Old Ceremonies continue to evolve.
Mark Tremblay
PARTYPOOPER
Telkwa, BC
For fans of: Purple Mountains, Tim Heidecker
PARTYPOOPER's Mark Bridgeman writes music that doesn't toe the line between humour and heartbreak so much as dissolve it completely, crafting ramshackle jams that tug at the heartstrings as deftly as they tickle the brain. His latest EP, Calm Is Down, Drunk Sailor folds thwacking beats, country swagger and tender ballads into Bridgeman's peculiar songwriting world.
Kaelen Bell
Tin-ear
Charlottetown, PEI
For fans of: Cap'n Jazz, Hop Along, American Football
Tin-ear's surf-blasted, open-hearted emo — dubbed "tweemo" by the band — is driven by an old-school Midwest sensibility that they can't help but twist and rupture. Catchhing jazz, hardcore, sugar-rush pop and more in their vast nets of tangled guitar, the quintet whip and twirl themselves around guitarist Rosanna Kressin and frontperson Helaina Lalande's emotive odes to friendship and transformation. Their debut mini-LP Cadastral Maps arrives today, just in time to sweep you into the changing season.
Kaelen Bell
Tronel
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Danny Brown, Gunna
A member of Quebec cult rap supergroup Les Anticipateurs, Tronel has ditched the costumes and revealed his true identity to fans — both visually and sonically. Unleashing a barrage of innovative music videos Tronel is ready to hit the road and support his first solo album Tronel Diablo, which he crafted with producer Danny Ill.
Antoine-Samuel Mauffette Alavo
JoJo Worthington
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Emilie Kahn, Skullcrusher, Tomberlin
Baptized I, the first new music from Montreal-based artist JoJo Worthington in three years, feels like a reset. Worthington spent the past decade working her way up the Canadian music ladder, landing song placements and racking up songwriting awards. But the songs on Baptized I are far grander and more experimental than her previous indie-pop excursions. Worthington layers delicate guitars and ukuleles over swirling electronic sounds, bringing her songs to crashing crescendos while exploring her past and her faith and how they've impacted her present. Given the EP's title, hopefully a re-baptism isn't far around the corner.
Ian Gormely
Listen to tracks from these and other New Faves on our Spotify playlist:
Keep reading to meet Exclaim!'s latest New Faves, and head over to our Spotify playlist to hear them alongside our previous homegrown favourites.
Bells Larsen
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Sufjan Stevens, Julien Baker, Soccer Mommy
Bells Larsen has a ton of guts. Amid the fingerpicked acoustic guitars and clear-voiced confessionals of debut album Good Grief (out today via Next Door Records), the Montreal singer-songwriter shows their boldness in myriad ways: expressing complex narratives of love and loss through piercingly simple language; show-stopping detours into charming folk rock ("Double Aquarius"), swelling strings ("The Geography of Leaving") and roaring distortion ("Atlantic Love"); and gratuitous Sufjan Stevens worship (with bookending covers and a namedrop).
Matt Bobkin
Zoey Leven
Vancouver, BC
For fans of: Snail Mail, Fontaines D.C., King Princess
Vancouver's Zoey Leven crafts the kind of spry, wiry guitar music that quickens the pulse — the sort of songs that make you want to get behind the wheel and go someplace new, and quick. That's never been better exemplified than on last month's "I Feel Like a Loser," a jolt of high-energy guitar pop that surges with momentum on the strength of Leven's wry writing and always-collected vocals.
Kaelen Bell
Mvll Crimes
London, ON
For fans of: Drug Church, Single Mothers, IDLES
London, ON's punk/hardcore outfit Mvll Crimes have been busy in their two short years as a band, releasing multiple EPs, with their third (YOU EMBVRVSS ME) dropping today. The group's penchant for political themes is delivered with ferocity by vocalist Jill Clair, whose caustic snarls and hollers complement a collection of crunchy palm-muted riffs, and pummelling drums. The songs are angry, quick, and best listened to as loud as possible.
Paul Dika
Old Ceremonies
Toronto, ON
For fans of: Respire, Russian Circles, Failure
One of Toronto's best underground heavy bands are releasing their debut album this fall with We Are Not Well. Having played extensive local shows as the opening act for bands like Malevich, Drude and Pale Mare, Old Ceremonies have honed a sound that's heavy, vulnerable and entirely their own. Conjuring the essence of post-metal bands like Pelican, Mouth of the Architect and Cult of Luna, the best is yet to come as Old Ceremonies continue to evolve.
Mark Tremblay
PARTYPOOPER
Telkwa, BC
For fans of: Purple Mountains, Tim Heidecker
PARTYPOOPER's Mark Bridgeman writes music that doesn't toe the line between humour and heartbreak so much as dissolve it completely, crafting ramshackle jams that tug at the heartstrings as deftly as they tickle the brain. His latest EP, Calm Is Down, Drunk Sailor folds thwacking beats, country swagger and tender ballads into Bridgeman's peculiar songwriting world.
Kaelen Bell
Tin-ear
Charlottetown, PEI
For fans of: Cap'n Jazz, Hop Along, American Football
Tin-ear's surf-blasted, open-hearted emo — dubbed "tweemo" by the band — is driven by an old-school Midwest sensibility that they can't help but twist and rupture. Catchhing jazz, hardcore, sugar-rush pop and more in their vast nets of tangled guitar, the quintet whip and twirl themselves around guitarist Rosanna Kressin and frontperson Helaina Lalande's emotive odes to friendship and transformation. Their debut mini-LP Cadastral Maps arrives today, just in time to sweep you into the changing season.
Kaelen Bell
Tronel
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Danny Brown, Gunna
A member of Quebec cult rap supergroup Les Anticipateurs, Tronel has ditched the costumes and revealed his true identity to fans — both visually and sonically. Unleashing a barrage of innovative music videos Tronel is ready to hit the road and support his first solo album Tronel Diablo, which he crafted with producer Danny Ill.
Antoine-Samuel Mauffette Alavo
JoJo Worthington
Montreal, QC
For fans of: Emilie Kahn, Skullcrusher, Tomberlin
Baptized I, the first new music from Montreal-based artist JoJo Worthington in three years, feels like a reset. Worthington spent the past decade working her way up the Canadian music ladder, landing song placements and racking up songwriting awards. But the songs on Baptized I are far grander and more experimental than her previous indie-pop excursions. Worthington layers delicate guitars and ukuleles over swirling electronic sounds, bringing her songs to crashing crescendos while exploring her past and her faith and how they've impacted her present. Given the EP's title, hopefully a re-baptism isn't far around the corner.
Ian Gormely
Listen to tracks from these and other New Faves on our Spotify playlist: