Pantayo's new hymn to hookups, 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:

• Diamond Cafe.
• Pantayo.
• Belly.
• Justin Nozuka.
• iskwē featuring Nina Hagen.
• Wolfie's Just Fine.
• Nia Nadurata.

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.

'Body Weak (Diamond Cut),' Diamond Cafe 

Meet Diamond Cafe, an up-and-comer from Victoria who has already been crowned a "pop funk prodigy" by Pitchfork and has earned praise from the likes of Omar Apollo and Zack Fox. Such accolades set high expectations, and Diamond Cafe delivers on "Body Weak (Diamond Cut)," a remastered version of a track he released last year. Anchored by a killer rhythm guitar, warm synths and a funk/disco-inspired soundscape, the track offers an irresistible groove that's further elevated by Diamond Cafe's wild falsetto. "He has a crazy voice and he knows what he's doing," Apollo told Wonderland Magazine a few years ago. "He's gonna go crazy." With new music coming this year, Apollo's prediction is going to come to fruition. — Melody Lau

'One More Latch (Give it to Ya),' Pantayo

Pantayo is back with its first single since the Toronto-based collective's self-titled and Polaris Prize-shortlisted 2020 album, and it is the hookup song we need for 2023. Using only gongs, drums and vocals to build on one seductive, repeated verse and a single-sentence chorus — "I wanna give it to ya" — supported by a call of oh-oh-ohs, "One More Latch (Give it to Ya)" serves just the right amount of confidence and openness to dust off those winter cobwebs and really make a pitch to that person you've been crushing on.

The queer, diasporic Filipino group fuses kulintang (a musical tradition played on sets of gongs from the southern Philippines and parts of Southeast Asia) with a contemporary electronic, pop and R&B sound, and "One More Latch (Give it to Ya)," as Pantayo collaborator Tricia Hagoriles noted in the press release, "feels like an homage to women musicians in the '90s that wrote or performed songs about their own sexual desires…. Which, for an all-women Filipina band near-explicitly, expressing sexual desire, is a point of subversion in itself." The quintet of Eirene Cloma, Michelle Cruz, Joanna Delos Reyes, Kat Estacio and Katrina Estacio will release their sophomore album, Ang Pagdaloy, on June 9. — Holly Gordon

'American Nightmare,' Belly

"I'm the Arabian dream," Belly raps on his scorching new single, "American Nightmare." The so-called American dream is never all it's cracked up to be, and Belly pulls no punches when translating his reality into song: "I put out an album called Immigrant/ I'm in the country with no papers." Linking up with Grammy-winning producer Hit-Boy, the two are a perfect tag team with the XO hitmaker unleashing his biting social commentary over horn-filled instrumentals. As he unpacks the U.S. ethos of grinding endlessly, it's hard not to preemptively mourn a little — the single is the first off Mumble Rap 2, and earlier this year Belly announced the record would be the first of his final three albums before retirement. His lyric "I married the game/ but the wedding just ended up looking like Kill Bill" is seemingly a nod to that. But at least the explosiveness of "American Nightmare" lets listeners know that although he's one song closer to the finish line, Belly's gearing up to go out with a bang. — Natalie Harmsen

'444,' Justin Nozuka

In numerology, 444 is the "angel number," representing an assurance that you're on the right path in life. For Justin Nozuka, that path is illuminated by the clarity that true love reveals. "Time and time, when I'm with you, it's like a throwback/ like a child, the whole world opens like a paper bag," he sings in the opening verse, awestruck at his good fortune while a seductive R&B beat takes hold. Halfway through the song, Nozuka drifts into clouds of ecstasy, his feverish voice almost inaudible as he sing-whispers, "I'm overjoyed/ baby I'm yours, you're mine/ thinking 'bout you near all the time," over a swaying bassline and delicate guitar that take the song to the finish line. — Robert Rowat

'I Get High,' iskwē feat. Nina Hagen

iskwē's latest single is a departure from the rootsy folk sound of her 2022 joint album with Tom Wilson, Mother Love. "I Get High," her first single of 2023, relies on a deconstructed dub rhythm to keep it ambling along. Her mellow and washed-out vocals sound like wind riding the lilting beat, perfect for lighting up, leaning back and letting go. The song features German punk icon Nina Hagen (whom iskwē fittingly grew up listening to while getting high) and was co-written and produced by Grammy nominee Damian Taylor. In a press release, iskwē shared that the single was written "in response to a painful experience of mine, where I wanted to remind people of the power of love and the importance of supporting each other in this lifetime." Just like lighting up a joint, the purpose of "I Get High" is to transport listeners to a new reality, to open them to new possibilities, and in that, iskwē's quest for escapism is a success. — Kelsey Adams

'Everyone Is Dead Except Us,' Wolfie's Just Fine

The beautiful thing about songs that gradually build in intensity is that you feel them as much as you hear them. "Everyone Is Dead Except Us," the lead single and title track from Wolfie's Just Fine's next album, due out June 16, is a beautiful builder of a song. On the surface, it's dark — he's singing about death, after all — but it also captures the urgency of life resulting from the certainty of death. Or, as Jon Lajoie, the man behind the moniker, explains via press release: "'Everyone Is Dead Except Us' ... feels very comforting to me, and forces me to recognize how insanely lucky I am to be one of the alive people on Earth in this moment."

This sentiment is powerfully portrayed in the song's video, which, like a builder song, starts simply: a tracking shot of grass leads to a newborn's receiving blanket, then an infant's onesie, then baby shoes, etc. As the outfits mature, so, too, does the song, becoming more complex over time. This audio-visual metaphor for life hits hard at the crescendo, reminding us that we may be next — and not to let life slip through our fingers. — Ben Aylsworth

'Drive Faster,' Nia Nadurata 

Toronto's Nia Nadurata has worked behind the scenes, songwriting and singing for artists like Nonso Amadi, Amaal, Boslen and more. But when she wasn't working with other people, she was quietly preparing her own debut EP, slated for release later this year. "Drive Faster" is her debut single via Arts & Crafts, a gorgeous acoustic number about a breakup. "I was so secure/ but you were insecure," she sings, noting how she felt almost held back by the relationship. That feeling also extends to the song's other theme of fighting to be heard — for Nadurata to finally take control and be in the driver's seat. With shades of Billie Eilish and Alessia Cara peeking through her music, Nadurata's coming-of-age tunes are guaranteed to strike a chord with listeners who are also navigating the highs and lows of young adulthood. — ML