Shabason and Krgovich's charming anthem, and 5 more songs you need to hear this week

Every week, CBC Music producers come together to bring you some of Canada's best new releases. The rule: if it's a song you need to hear, you'll find it on this list.

This week, we have songs from:

• Devan featuring Jon Vinyl. 
• Julianna Riolino.
• Mariel Buckley.
• Pat Lok.
• Shabason and Krgovich.
• TFD. 

Scroll down to find out why you need to hear each song. 

What are some Canadian tunes you're currently obsessed with? Share 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.

'Nascar,' devan feat. Jon Vinyl

The original version of "nascar" appeared on Devan's 2021 EP, Liquid Sunshine, with the Toronto artist baring her all about a love that's on its last legs. The purity of her voice is heart-wrenching as she sings, "and I'll be fading out of focus/ before you even notice." On this newly released version, fellow Toronto singer Jon Vinyl comes in and acts as a mirror to Devan's lament, the back and forth between their verses building the sonic tension. It's so thrilling listening to their voices dance together, that you almost forget the lyrics are piercing. In three minutes and seven seconds, they've crystallized the exact feeling of knowing that leaving a doomed relationship is the best course of action, but that the pain will be earth-shattering, nonetheless. — Kelsey Adams

'You,' Julianna Riolino 

Toronto alt-country artist Julianna Riolino's debut single, "Lone Ranger," was described by CBC Music back in June as "a clarion call for Americana fans to listen up." But on her latest offering, "You," Riolino expands her sound even further, to include '60s girl-group harmonies and hooks so powerful that it veers toward jangly pop. Riolino's twangy vocals are still undeniably Dolly Parton-esque, but her combination of old and new-sounding influences coalesces into something uniquely her own. On this track, Riolino tries to convince herself that she doesn't need someone, singing, "I don't really love you/ but when I watch you leaving I don't want you to go." Our obsession with Riolino is less complicated; consider us absolutely smitten. — Melody Lau 

'Neon Blue,' Mariel Buckley

Mariel Buckley's new single has a hushed start; the first verse pushing open the doors to the Calgary singer-songwriter's clear, straight-shooting voice, as if we've just entered the room she's standing in. For CBC Music's summer preview, we called Buckley "an essential new voice in Canadian music," and "Neon Blue" adds to the proof as the singer vividly describes a soured relationship from the perspective of a dingy bar stool. "Now you won't come and dance/ the moves feel different/ like I forgot how to count 'one and two,'" she sings, the pedal steel sliding in between the drums and bass for that added punch. "There's themes of long-distance love and trying to keep it together while apart, over-drinking to feel something and the classic VLT bars I grew up sneaking into," Buckley said via press release. On "Neon Blue," she sings for all the broken hearts sitting at the bar, wondering how life's gone by so fast — a place some of us have visited a time or two. — Holly Gordon

'Over U,' Pat Lok

France Joli's 1981 disco hit "Gonna get Over You" has spawned a few remixes over the years, most notably Pontchartrain's "Get Over You" (2014) and Kartell's "Get Over You" (2010). The latest producer to be drawn to the song's ecstatic strings, horns, hand claps and wicked beat is Pat Lok, whose "Over U" is next level. A dense, high-octane pastiche, it retains nostalgic echoes of Joli's original while serving up a thoroughly "energetic dance-floor weapon," as the press release aptly describes it. The song comes with an adorable video, animated by Rob Davies in a naive style that recalls Sesame Street's best vignettes. It casts Pat Lok as the protagonist who nods off in a bubble bath and dreams of a one-on-one basketball showdown with an NBA star, which ends in space, of course. The song marks Pat Lok's debut on Kookoo Records, and is the first track from an EP expected this fall. — Robert Rowat

"I am so Happy With my Little Dog," Shabason and Krgovich

In today's edition of "songs that are immediately likable thanks to their title," we introduce Joseph Shabason and Nicholas Krgovich's adorable new collaboration, "I am so Happy With my Little Dog." The breezy first release off the pair's forthcoming album, At Scaramouche, it's a lesson in accessing blissful nostalgia through indie-pop minimalism, combining mid-tempo percussion, twinkling synths and quirky guitar solos. As summer winds down, the carefree surrender in this charming anthem is something to strive for — whether you have a canine pal or not. You can listen to the rest of At Scaramouche when it drops on October 7. — Jess Huddleston

'The TFD,' TFD 

Stars frontman Torquil Campbell and Young Galaxy's Stephen Ramsay are longtime friends, going all the way back to when Ramsay toured with Stars as their guitarist in the mid-2000s. Now, over a decade later, the two have teamed up again for a new project called TFD, which stands for "total f–king darkness." Their debut single, also called "The TFD," transports the bright, '80s Brit-pop of Pet Shop Boys and New Order into the grim world we live in today. Though the TFD's synth-pop sound is at times buoyant, and dare we say, hopeful, Campbell and Ramsay's lyrics suggest that the only way to move toward anything utopic requires drastic action and changes: "Death to fascists/ death to men/ death to politicians/ and the women who live with them." In a time when uncertainties rule our lives, the TFD is offering some comfort in the darkness. — ML