Music
Essential tracks: Five new songs worth a listen
BRAD WHEELER
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Published
Last updated
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ROCK
Dread Sovereign
Shearwater, from Animal Joy (Sub Pop); streaming here
A simple guitar riff and plodding beat soar into something more substantial on the chorus, where Jonathan Meiburg's moody, important-sounding croon announces “dread sovereign” deep into the night.
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POP/JAZZ
Cabin Fever
Tia Brazda, from Cabin Fever… and Other Recordings; streaming here
“Stop the TV, I’m here in HD!” To break up winter’s monotony, Toronto’s Tia Brazda votes for a love-staycation, complete with dancing pianos, flatulent horns and a Technicolor swing that’s just the thing.
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ROCK
Leader of the Pack
Sleigh Bells, from Reign of Terror (Mom & Pop); streaming here
They’re friends with Jay-Z and Beyoncé, they just did Saturday Night Live, and this tune’s a great grenade of sweet-and-skronk. That’s why they call the noisy duo of guitarist Derek Miller and vocalist Alexis Krauss the leaders of the indie-rock-couples’ pack.
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ALT-COUNTRY
The Shell
Rose Cousins, from the forthcoming We Have Made a Spark (Outside); streaming here
A dreamy and downbeat shuffle about emotional places well defended, textured with steel-guitars and feathered vocals. The song came to the Halifax songstress Cousins in a New Hampshire island cabin, where she came up with the line about sharks, castle moats and reading everything that she wrote. Yeah, Valentine’s Day is over.
