It’s time for Your First Listen, where we show you songs you need to discover this week!
This Indie88 feature is presented with Bay Bloor Radio.
Each week we feature five remarkable songs that you need to hear on Your First Listen on air. In case you miss them on air, you can catch up on the weekly tracks right here. Your First Listen airs every day in Indie88 beginning at 10 a.m.
Online, we expand the list with a couple more tunes. This week, we’ve gotten some amazing fresh cuts from Fucked Up, Joseph, boygenius, and more.
Check out nine songs you need to discover this week below.
Fucked Up – “Cicada”
Fucked Up’s highly-anticipated new record One Day arrived today via Merge, while the band released a new Colin Medley-directed video for “Cicada” earlier this week. Guitarist Mike Haliechuk helms lead vocals on the track.
“‘Cicada’ is about what life is like after you lose people, and our responsibility to carry them forward into the future, using the things they taught us as a light,” Haliechuk explains in a release. “I like to imagine the sound of cicadas as a metaphor for our strange life in the subculture—we all just live these weird little hidden lives under the dirt, and then once in a generation, one of us gets to bust out of the dirt and intone their song so loud that it can be heard all over.”
Joseph – “Nervous System”
This week indie-pop sister trio Joseph announced their fourth studio album The Sun, set for release on April 28 on ATO Records. The first single “Nervous System” arrives with a Vanessa Pla-directed video and centres around themes of struggling with anxiety and “tending to ourselves with presence and compassion.”
The sisters’ therapists doubled as inspiration for much of the new record. “It’s about self regulating and tending to ourselves with presence and compassion, rather than frantically reaching outside of ourselves.” Allison Closner said in a release. “I’ve struggled with a lot of anxiety over the years, at times a constant inner storm, and it’s been easy to look outside myself to feel safe and secure. I’ve fought to find my inner peace, and through that process I’ve found that so much of the time I already have what it takes to calm my nervous system.”
ZOON – “A Language Disappears”
ZOON (Zoongide’ewin), the musical project fronted by songwriter and composer, Daniel Monkman, announced their forthcoming sophomore LP entitled Bekka Ma’iingan (Bay-Ka Mo-Een-Gan), due April 28 via Paper Bag Records. The first single from the upcoming release is “A Language Disappears,” which features Andrew McLeod (Sunnsetter), ZOON’s drummer, on supporting vocals.
Louise Burns – “I Don’t Feel it Like I Used To”
Last week, Louise Burns announced her new album, Element (which is coming April 21) and shared the brand new single, and album opener, “I Don’t Feel It Like I Used To.” Burns delivered a new video for the track this week.
Ten Kills The Pack – “Lying in the Grass Thinking About Death”
Indie-folk outfit Ten Kills The Pack shared one final advance track, “Lying in the Grass Thinking About Death,” from the forthcoming album Thank You For Trying, due out March 10 via Nettwerk. The new song follows previous releases “You’d Like to Believe” and “God, Love, Prescriptions, and Politics.”
Bodywash – “Massif Central”
Montreal duo Bodywash, Rosie Long Decter and Chris Steward, announced the release of their sophomore album and shared a new single, “Massif Central.” The cut was inspired by Steward’s experience of losing his legal status in Canada in the spring of 2021, before becoming a permanent resident.
Dearly Beloved – “Trees Dream of You”
Toronto-based “barrage rock” outfit Dearly Beloved have released their new album Walker Park today via Sonic Unyon Records. The latest single, “Trees Dream Of You,” arrived earlier this week.
“The songs started as super long bass and drum jams I built myself at home,” explains songwriter/producer/bassist Rob Higgins said in a release. “I’d play for like 15 minutes and record it all. Then I’d go looking for good bits. Once whittled into a form I’d send the song to the band to freak out on.”
boygenius – “$20”
Sad dads everywhere rejoiced last week when super group boygenius unveiled three new songs, and “$20” is currently featured in this week’s Your First Listen.
Kasador – “Youth”
Kasador has returned with their first new music since their 2020 album Brood & Bloom. The band has been working in the studio with Brett Emmons of The Glorious Sons, and today they have shared a new track titled “Youth.”