Lowell's emotive confession, and 4 more songs you need to hear this week

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

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

• Katie Tupper.
• Lowell.
• Laffey.
• Kyla Charter.
• Julie Doiron.

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

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

Hit play on our Songs You Need to Hear stream, filled with songs that CBC Music's producers have chosen for their playlists, and tune into CBC Music Mornings every Thursday to hear CBC Music's Jess Huddleston and Saroja Coelho reveal which of these tracks is the standout new Canadian song.

'How Can I Get Your Love?,' Katie Tupper 

We often want our pasts to be frozen in time, everything ornately still in its place. But the reality is that everything and everyone changes. This feeling of wanting things to stay the same comes through on Saskatoon songwriter Katie Tupper's latest track, "How Can I Get Your Love?" with a palpable sense of melancholy and longing. "Three years have gone but I'm back home/ I'm at your window not your door asking," Tupper sings upon returning to her hometown and wanting someone she once could've had. "How can I get your love?" she continues on the chorus, each word stretched out like a desperate plea hoping to clearly make its point. "It feels like vulnerability and bravery in confessing an old love, but it really is more of seeking comfort in the familiar and begging those around you to create that for you," Tupper said of the song in a press release. That comfort she speaks of is just out of grasp, but on this gorgeously wistful number, Tupper is willing to do anything to close that gap. — Melody Lau 

'Black Boots and Leather Rebellion,' Lowell

"This song is a snapshot of me trying to let go of who I was raised to be, a staunch feminist who doesn't need love, and trying to just let it happen. Turns out (plot twist) I'm pretty trash at that," Lowell wrote on Instagram, premiering her latest solo track at the end of a busy year spent penning hits for others. And it's about as solo as a solo track can get — practically a cappella, poignant layers of Lowell's own harmonies as she sways through this hymnal of realization that evokes heavy memories of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek." Daring to look closely at herself and her roots — which is almost always uncomfortable (but necessary) work — Lowell finds that where you started is rarely where you end up going, but if you trust in the process, you might be so lucky to be fully witnessed as all that you actually are. — Jess Huddleston

'Disconnect,' Laffey

December brings conflicting emotions. One one hand, there's something cozy about the darkening days, the cold weather, fresh snow and the opportunities to socialize with friends and family. On the other hand, the commercialization of Christmas and adherence to outmoded traditions can be stressful and frankly, depressing. To escape from all that, find some alone time and chill to the Lo-Fi sounds of Toronto-based producer Laffey (real name Andrew Stephen). Aptly titled "Disconnect," this new single's wistful piano-and-guitar interplay will simultaneously fill your senses and clear your head of disturbances — a refreshing, three-minute spa treatment we can all use now and then. — Robert Rowat

'Doubts,' Kyla Charter

Kyla Charter is finally coming into the spotlight. The Toronto-based singer, who has sung backup for Alessia Cara, Patrick Watson, Zaki Ibrahim and July Talk, has already proven she has the range. "Doubts," her debut single as a solo artist, effortlessly highlights her silken vocals. Charter said in a press release that the song was written in "a moment, in the dark days of lockdown, where I was forced to face myself and all the ways in which I had been self-sabotaging." She said writing the song allowed her to "explore the exorcism of that kind of thinking." When she sings "I've got my doubts about you," she's speaking directly to that inner voice and dispelling its power over her. Layered and angelic, the song plays like a hymn, with distorted, syncopated drums that give it just a bit of edge. — Kelsey Adams

'Et, Mon Amour,' Julie Doiron

Julie Doiron's late-2021 release, I Thought of You, made our list of best albums of the year, and one of the standout tracks is an unassuming goodbye-for-now sung in French. "Hey, mon amour/ tu devais partir," she lays out on the opening verse after what feels like a couple of false starts, as if Doiron's band is waiting for her to shore up her courage. But she's not pushing her partner away; they're both travelling separately for work and won't reunite for two months. Doiron's voice is inviting over the gentle guitar and drums, offering a soft place to land before saying goodbye. The verses are simple, the sentiment is loving. "Et Mon Amour" is a charming song about missing your loved one before they've even left. — Holly Gordon