New Music Spotlight with Little Cities, Bonds of Mara, Glass Tiger x PINEO & LOEB ft. Matt Mays, Fire in the Radio, and Cold Years
New Music from Little Cities, Bonds of Mara, Glass Tiger x PINEO & LOEB ft. Matt Mays, Fire in the Radio, and Cold Years
We’re bringing you a Friday New Music Spotlight to start the weekend off right. There’s a lot of rock, but there’s a hint electronic music for your ears. I’ve included a lot of Canadian content, but there’s a great track from a Philly band, and a sweet new video from Scottish band, Cold Years.
Plug in, let’s do this!
Artist: Little Cities
Hometown: Charlottetown, PE
Genre: Pop Rock
Related: Matt Mays, Two Hour Traffic, The East Pointers
Song: Can I Come Over?
Notes: This absolute gem is straight out of my inbox. The first song Little Cities wrote as a band, the subject matter is one most of us can relate to. But, it’s the music that initially grabs your attention. This song makes my heart happy.
“When we found out that our friend, producer Gavin Brown (Billy Talent, Metric, Three Days Grace), would be flying to our hometown to write and record a single with us, we rewrote the track together and recorded it over a weekend this past fall. The whole experience was very surreal. Gavin’s production resume is what we grew up listening to, still listen to, and have been inspired by. We hope this song makes you feel happy, fun, and cute – the same way you feel when you finally get to hold hands with your best friend and show them off to the world!”
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple
Little Cities – Can I Come Over?
Artist: Bonds Of Mara
Hometown: Earth
Genre: Rock
Related: Headstones, The Glorious Sons, My Darkest Days, Default, Hail The Villain, and Sons of Butcher
Song: Killed The Love
Notes: The song is dynamic and catchy. It’s full and rich, but most importantly, it rocks.
“The collective resume shared by Sal Costa, Dave Benedict, Bryan Crouch, and Daryl Ralph reads like a well-curated playlist of dark modern rock melody. Individually, they’ve spent years learning the ropes, perfecting their craft, and surviving the perils of the music industry as members of Canadian rock fixtures My Darkest Days, Default, Hail The Villain, and Sons of Butcher.” – via Facebook
Sal Costa said, “We’re so excited to release this new track to the world. To create songs with people you love is more than any musician can ask for. We are really excited about this track as it encompasses who we are as musicians. The coolest part of all is that the music video was actually shot and directed by our bassist Dave!”
You can catch the band live in Toronto on March 5th at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. For more tour dates, visit their Facebook Event Page.
Links: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple
Bonds Of Mara – Killed The Love
Artist: Glass Tiger x PINEO & LOEB ft. Matt Mays
Hometown: Newmarket, ON / Halifax, NS
Genre: Rock / Pop
Related: Corey Hart, Cutting Crew, Loverboy
Song: This Is Your Life
Notes: Blending together three generations of pop music talent, multiple award-winning Halifax electronic music duo PINEO & LOEB have partnered with Canadian pop icons Glass Tiger to release “This Is Your Life”. Legendary Nova Scotia indie-rocker Matt Mays also lends his gritty and emotive voice to the track.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify
Glass Tiger x PINEO & LOEB – This Is Your Life Ft. Matt Mays
Artist: Fire in the Radio
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Genre: Rock
Related: The Smiths, Hank Crane, Make War, The Draft
Song: Ex-SF
Notes: “Following New Air, we felt challenged to write an album that delivered fully on the promise of our prior effort. We took a Rick Rubin style approach to editing, creating songs that people who placed their trust in us would want to hear. We combined elements from our favorite records, while still attempting to deliver something that was fresh and visceral.
When we were writing these songs, one of our band members sent around a photograph taken on the Fourth of July. The faded fireworks and resulting haze were reminiscent of historic monuments and rituals that had lost their significance in recent times. We separately liked the concept that songs can inspire and serve as monuments to a time and place of new beginnings. The juxtaposition of these competing ideas became a central theme of the new record.”
Fire in the Radio has succeeded.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify
Fire in the Radio – Ex-SF
Artist: Cold Years
Hometown: Aberdeen, Scotland
Genre: Rock
Related: Northcote, Cadet Carter, BLOODHYPE
Song: Night Like This
Notes: Aberdeen-based rock band Cold Years have released a single and video for the song, Night Like This, from their upcoming full-length debut album, Paradise. The album drops on May 8th, and until then, the four-piece have delivered up an interesting story treatment that makes us smile. It reminds of Against Me!, Dashboard Confessional, and Sunny Day Real Estate. The vocals are beguiling, the pace is perfection, and the instruments come together empirically.
“As the true sound of worldwide youth disaffection post-Trump and post-Brexit, the songs of Paradise – a sarcastic snarl aimed at the band’s remote hometown – burst from the speakers with a ‘clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose’ spirit. Springboarding off timelessly vintage-tinged sounds and fueled by lung-busting choruses buffed-up through a modern-day, blue-collar punk rock sheen, Paradise captures the anger and frustration vocalist Ross Gordon feels for a generation in decline.”
I’m looking forward to May 8th.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Digital Platforms
Cold Years – Night Like This
Writer/Photographer/Editor
Toronto Music Blogger
