Pup's sorrowful gut-punch, and 3 more songs you need to hear this week

Songs you need to hear is CBC Music's weekly list of hot new Canadian tracks. 

Scroll down to discover the songs our producers are loving right now.

'Hallways,' Pup

Pup frontman Stefan Babcock's life hit several speed bumps after releasing the band's fourth album, The Unraveling of PupTheBand. A breakup, a search for self and analyzing his relationship with his bandmates forced Babcock to pen some of his most heavy and honest lyrics yet for "Hallways," the lead single from the Toronto punk band's upcoming fifth record, Who Will Look After the Dogs?. Over roaring guitars, echoing bass and a buzzing melody (which sounds like a tip of the hat to the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" and Peter Bjorn and John's "Simple Song of Sin") Pup powers through the pain. The chorus begins with Babcock delivering an explosive gut punch: "The first night without you, I collapsed on the living room floor/ what the hell am I gonna do if I can never see you anymore?" he sings, couching crushing, declarative lyrics behind boisterous instrumentation. He continues his sorrowful lament with a line that serves as the album's title: "I'm losing the will to keep dragging on/ but I can't die yеt 'cause who will look after the dog?" "The title of our new record, Who Will Look After the Dogs?, is what I wrote at the top of the page, the very first thing written for this album," Babcock shared in a press release. "I think it's devastating, but in a 'Holy shit this is overdramatic' kinda way. At least in [the] context of the line that comes before it." — Natalie Harmsen

'Candy Gum,' Emotional Oranges feat. Jessie Reyez and Becky G

Get ready for a toothache because Emotional Orange's "Candy Gum" delivers all the sugar you could ever need. The Los Angeles duo's last album, Still Emo, came out in 2023, and members Vali and Azad "wanted to come with something special" for the first single from their next album — so they called on Jessie Reyez and Becky G to bring this smouldering, sultry number to life. In an Instagram caption, they shared that "there's nothing more ill than three fly women barring out, reminds me of some of the dope posse cuts we grew up with in the early 2000s." Reyez, Becky G and Vali trade verses chock-full of cheeky euphemisms, while Azad and Chiiild's production slinks along, the grooving bass turning up the heat meter. Equal parts sexy and fun, "Candy Gum" is charged with carnal energy. Hit play at your own risk. — Kelsey Adams

'Headstart,' Bestfriend

In the opening moments of Bestfriend's latest single, "Headstart," singer Stacy Kim says to her crush that she hopes they can "drop all of the pretense." Kim wants to cut straight to the point, which hits like a direct cupid's arrow to the heart in the chorus: "I can't get you off my f--kin' mind/ I think about you all the time." "Headstart" is brimming with giddy excitement, a song that wants to deliver that sugary rush of endorphins through late-aughts, synth-driven indie pop, a formula that rarely disappoints. It takes a lot of courage and vulnerability to be this upfront with your feelings, but it's a thrilling roller-coaster ride of emotions that Kim and bandmate Kaelan Geoffrey are fearlessly diving headfirst into. Bestfriend's upcoming EP, Bestfriend Has an Identity Crisis, is out May 9. — Melody Lau

'Détruit (Hate U Now),' Serena Wu

On "Détruit (Hate U Now)," Serena Wu opens a familiar coming-of-age chapter: falling quickly and fully for someone, only to find out that life has other plans. "Je savais au début/ ce n'était pas le bon moment/ mais ça s'est passé si vite/ et soudain on s'aimait tellement," the Acadian pop artist from Dartmouth, N.S., sings on the opening verse of her second-ever single over light synths and shakers, admitting she knew it was bad timing from the beginning. It's only when she launches into the high-energy chorus that Wu reveals this isn't exactly a love song: it's wrapped up in the anger of a tumultuous breakup. "I wrote this song after my first breakup at 18, when my high-school boyfriend left for university," she explained via press release. "We tried a long-distance relationship, but it ended badly and we hated each other." "Détruit (Hate U Now)" sits on the knife's edge of young love and heartbreak — but Wu packages it cathartically into a sing-along bop. Bonus: there's also an English version. — Holly Gordon