Jessie Reyez and Miguel's steamy collab and 5 more songs you need to hear this week

Here at CBC Music, we're always on high alert for new songs by Canadian artists.

This week, we're listening to new tracks from:

• Bambii and Sydanie.
• Britanny Kennell.
• Jessie Reyez featuring Miguel.
• Myles Tulloch.
• Rae Spoon.
• Shay Lia. 

Scroll down to find out why you need to listen, too.

What new Canadian tunes are you currently obsessed with? Share them with us on Instagram @cbc_music.

To hear more about these standout songs, tune in to CBC Music Mornings every Thursday (Canada-wide) with producer Ryan Chung and host Saroja Coelho, and Here and Now with Gill Deacon every Wednesday afternoon (in Toronto). Both are available via CBC Listen.

'Sydanie's Interlude,' Bambii and Sydanie

The greatest surprise on Toronto producer Bambii's long-awaited Infinity Club EP was the inclusion of rapper Sydanie, a gem of the city's hip-hop scene. The rapper dropped "Bubble 4 a Winna," a teaser from her upcoming album, in April but her last release before then was in 2020. It's always such a delight to hear Sydanie's explosive bars. She's made a name for herself rhyming over eclectic beats with a dextrous and athletic flow — which is why this collaboration feels so fated. Bambii's blend of future dancehall, drum and bass and deconstructed club music provides fertile ground for Sydanie to bob and weave over. The two artists are in perfect symbiosis. The track begins with spacey synths and distorted percussion and as it speeds up in the second half, Sydanie barely breaks a sweat, her rhymes keeping up with the demanding bpm of Bambii's sonic onslaught. — Kelsey Adams

'Wait on You,' Brittany Kennell 

"Why would I wait on you?" Brittany Kennell wonders on her latest single. The Montreal-based country artist is no stranger to breakup anthems — "Bought the T-Shirt" and "Neither Did I" are just two shining examples from her 2021 album, I Ain't a Saint — but on "Wait on You," Kennell is so over an ex that she's raring to move on. "Don't wait around on people to make things happen or waste your time and energy," she wrote on Instagram. It's a sentiment echoed on the song itself, on the chorus where she lists off the mundane things she won't wait for: "I don't watch the flowers bloom/ I don't watch my coffee brew/ I ain't wastin' any time worryin' about a fallin' sky." There's always a time and place to pine and look back at a relationship, but on "Wait on You," Kennell's determined voice signals the alarm that waiting to hear back from an ex is just holding you back when there are so many more exciting things to look forward to instead. — Melody Lau

'Jeans,' Jessie Reyez feat. Miguel

"You fit better than a pair of jeans, baby," sings Jessie Reyez on her first single of the year. Over simple acoustic guitar chords, she explores her sensual side and details all the ways her new love interest entices her, from their gorgeous face to their prowess in the bedroom. The sultry lyricism gets the temperature turned up thanks to a smooth assist from R&B hitmaker Miguel, who joins in on the chorus to fan the flames: "She the best," he sings. As they trade words back and forth, there's a tangible connection between them that transcends each sizzling verse. The pair show off their chemistry in the track's accompanying music video, where they portray two inmates in love who team up to bust out of jail. They do their best impression of Bonnie and Clyde, but with a happier — and steamier — ending, their mutual infatuation guiding them to a breathtaking escape into the sunset. — Natalie Harmsen

'Conflicted' Myles Tulloch

On "Conflicted," R&B newcomer Myles Tulloch channels the hardships of love, happiness and bitter heartbreak. "Why do you choose violence when it comes to me…all I crave is love and a little peace," he sings. The song is reminiscent of the early 2000s, falling in the lines of D'angelo, Musiq Soulchild and even Mario — where young heartthrobs gravitated toward the push and pull of young love. The track takes the listener through an emotionally sincere journey, where Tulloch leaves everything on the line. He dreams of a perfect love at first sight, but when the feelings teeter-totter, he asks, "Why are you making it so hard?" The vocal arrangement is simple and rugged. Tulloch's high notes pierce the soul and may bring you to a crossroad contemplating your own relationships. You've been warned, listen at your own discretion. 

'Simple Complication,' Rae Spoon 

It's a simple complication to be all messed up right now.
My heart knows no location, but it held me anyhow.
I thought I'd been everywhere, but I've never seen this shape.
I don't know what it's building. I hope I have the time it takes.

Rae Spoon's voice is delicately wrapped around the mic as they let us in on some of the deepest fears that rooted after their March 2020 cervical cancer diagnosis. "I was forced into the health-care systems I had previously avoided because of how I was treated as a trans/non-binary person with CPTSD," they explained recently via press release, of the treatment and hospitalization that followed. Spoon's new album, Not Dead Yet, is their open-hearted sharing of those experiences, an album named after a common phrase used in cancer communities to remind patients that they still live full lives outside of their diagnoses. It's an incredibly difficult range of feelings to hold at one time, and as a result Not Dead Yet is an album brimming with the joy of being alive — as well as the vulnerability that comes with sharing your trauma and being cracked right open and put back together again. 

"Simple Complication," a tender track nestled into the middle of the album, speaks directly to Spoon's thankfulness for life through the lens of a community that they've spent a lifetime building. "With the possibility of death, I became more acutely aware of the things that I would like to have time to experience," Spoon wrote on Bandcamp as an introduction to the song. "I felt I needed to learn more about who I was. Also, many of my long-term friendships are my main motivation for survival." Over an appropriately simple mix of keys, percussion and synths, Spoon quietly lays out their hopes for the future, repeating "I hope I have the time" four times on each chorus — their voice carrying a gentle insistence that is both heartbreaking and life-affirming. — Holly Gordon

'Upside Down,' Shay Lia 

On "Upside Down," off of her upcoming album Facets (out Oct. 20), Shay Lia embraces the liberation that comes with being on your own. No longer tied down to anyone, Lia exclaims off the top of the track, "I lift, I float." She quickly takes that energy with her to the dance floor, atop the track's infectious disco sound, and states on the chorus: "Dance by myself/ Don't need no one else/ Don't you call now." "Upside Down" is perhaps Lia's most pop-leaning song yet, and an anthem of independence that demands an immediate solo dance party. — ML