Moonshine's cathartic, club-ready single, and 6 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:

• Jocelyn Gould.
• Julianna Riolino.
• Moonshine.
• Drake.
• Pillow Fite.
• Tami Neilson.
• Bbno$ and Diplo.

Scroll down to find out why you need to listen.

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

To hear more about these standout songs, tune in to CBC Music Mornings every Thursday and Toronto's Here and Now every Wednesday afternoon, both available via CBC Listen.

'Lover Come Back to Me,' Jocelyn Gould

After nabbing a Juno Award in 2021 for her debut album, Elegant Traveler, jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould is back to outdo herself with Golden Hour, a stunning collection of six originals and four standards. Her solo rendition of "Sweet Lorraine" is beautifully timed and phrased, and saxophonist Jon Gordon is an eloquent guest on three tracks, but I'm singling out her quartet's take on "Lover Come Back to Me" as especially tidy and swinging. Following a pensive solo intro, Gould's guitar is joined by Will Bonness's piano, Rodney Whitacre's bass and Quincy Davis's drums for a breathless ride through this Sigmund Romberg classic. The guitar-piano interplay in the tune's head will put a smile on your face, and Gould, Bonness and Davis each take impressive solos that'll have you replaying the track to catch all the nuance and fun. — Robert Rowat

'Lone Ranger,' Julianna Riolino

"I'm a lone ranger in this lonely world," announces Julianna Riolino confidently on the chorus of her brand new single, which was accompanied by the announcement of the Toronto-based singer-songwriter's debut solo album this fall. Riolino, normally a member of Daniel Romano's backing band the Outfit, has flipped the script to take centre stage, as Romano becomes the guitarist for her songs this time. With finger-snapping backup singers, a honky-tonk piano and distinctive vocals, "Lone Ranger" is both a long, cool drink and a clarion call for Americana fans to listen up: Riolino is about to make her long-awaited solo mark. All Blue comes out Oct. 14 via You've Changed Records. — Holly Gordon

'Obomi Nga,' Moonshine

Montreal's Moonshine collective is back with a new club-ready single. "Obomi Nga" is a teaser for what to expect on SMS for Location Vol. 5, the much anticipated followup to their Juno-nominated compilation album, SMS for Location Vol. 4. They enlisted the help of Brookyln's Uproot Andy, Kinshasa's MC Redbul and MC Azas and recorded the track among their three respective cities. Moonshine prides itself on having a truly global sound and incorporated some Amapiano flare into "Obomi Nga." The South African dance music genre has been gaining popularity outside of its home country and is set for a worldwide takeover. Amapiano is punctuated by simmering baselines that sound like they're on their way somewhere but they never quite reach their destination — it's a genre that favours an even, consistent rhythm over prolonged buildups and extravagant, cathartic release. "Obomi Nga" follows suit, its catharsis lying in the steadiness of the percussive rhythm and the call-and-response chorus. It's the kind of song you could dance to all night. — Kelsey Adams

'Down Hill,' Drake

There are too many arguments to make for or against Drake's surprise dance album, Honestly, Nevermind — and for the most part, they're in direct conflict with each other. On one hand, he went a different way, delving further into a sound he's skirted around for years. On the other hand, underneath the glitzy guise of genre exploration, it's still the same old Drizzy — his tame, sing-rap falsetto nursing an ego once again bruised by women, disloyalty and his overall indifference.

For me, any chapter in an artist's story is meant to be there so I don't think about it much deeper than that, though I find it intriguing that one of the album's most underrated songs is one of only two that his faithful producer Noah "40" Shebib touched. The Gen Z little cousin to classics like "Passionfruit" or "With You," "Down Hill" boasts an effortless pop sensibility that really shines, considering it's made up of just sparse finger snaps, atmospheric synth and choir chants. The storyline is nothing new, but tossing on a Drake dance album in the thick of a June heatwave — is that really what we came for? A bottom line to consider: don't overthink it, or him. If you're ready to be annoyed by a new Drake album, you'll find a way to get there, no matter the format. But if you let yourself sink into the movement, the highlights, the zeitgeist, you might be surprised by how you feel about it down the road. — Jess Huddleston

'Cellar Door,' Pillow Fite

Halifax folk-pop duo Pillow Fite formed mid-pandemic — with singer Art Ross arriving brand new to the scene and practiced guitarist Aaron Green stepping out from local bands Floodland and Hello Delaware — and their genuine, lyrically sharp songs of sapphic love found a fanbase immediately. Their debut EP, Flutter, doesn't aspire to any one genre, which lets Ross and Green stretch and test their songwriting skills to see where they land. On "Cellar Door," that place is a dark-country corner, where Green balances his electric guitar and banjo to create a moody but expectant bed for Ross as they sing, "Your body feels like a landmine that I wanna stroke and kiss/ I need a map to see my path I hope there aren't paths that I've missed." 

"'Cellar Door' was written in the first month with a new partner, when the romance is fresh and desire is intense," explained Ross via email. "This song is dear to my heart, it was written in a weird time of my life," they continued. "I was newly divorced, living on my own for the first time, and starting to build healthy connections." Flutter was released June 24, and I'd highly recommend listening well past this stellar opening song. — HG

'Careless Woman,' Tami Neilson

Mine, mine, your body is mine
To play with it, legislate it, honey, I'll decide
I wanna care less
(Careless, careless) I wanna care less

Tami Neilson's raucous, rousing resistance anthem was almost prescient. Neilson wrote the track, the third single from her forthcoming album, Kingmaker, as a response to a collection of sexist, misogynistic dating tips she came across in a 1938 issue of Parade Magazine. One of the tips read: "Careless women never appeal to gentlemen. Don't talk while dancing, for when a man dances, he wants to dance." Neilson's song has already been on repeat in my personal playlist for weeks. But since last Friday, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 50 years of Roe v. Wade and legal abortion, it's taken a new place in my head and my heart. 

Neilson is one of countless musicians who took to social media to express dismay at the landmark ruling, writing: "Have spent the last week doing interviews for KINGMAKER, repeatedly answering the question of why there is so much 'anger' in the lyrics. This is why. It is righteous anger. It is personal." What's supremely powerful about "Careless Woman" is the space it makes for rage alongside its joyful expression of liberation. They are a shared rhythm, especially in the face of oppression, and Neilson conjures a perfect three minutes of soulful pop defiance. — Andrea Warner

'Pogo,' bbno$ and Diplo

It was a surprise when Diplo dropped a remix of bbno$'s hit "Edamame" late last year, but it was also a stamp of approval from the superstar DJ. Fast forward six months and we now have the two artists dropping "Pogo" — another unexpected release, and likely another hit from this relationship. (Surprises do seem to be bbno$'s M.O., whether it's through his fashion choices, his choice of collaborators or that he pops up everywhere, including the 2022 Juno Awards.) "Pogo" is deeply rooted in house music, and pushes the Vancouver-based rapper's sound into club anthem territory. The classic house groove will have your body moving from the first few bars, but it's at the two-minute mark where we hear that quintessential fresh bbno$ delivery, and when the track slides into the pocket of excellence. — Ben Aylsworth