The sounds of new Canada: Okan, Clerel, Isabella Lovestory, more

With thanks to Frequencies host Errol Nazareth and producer Reuben Maan.

The "sound" of "Canada" has been shifting and expanding for decades, and a lot of the credit for this belongs to new Canadians — the talented singers, DJs, producers, musicians, composers, songwriters, MCs and arrangers who have arrived in this country ready to make art, as well as the folks who only uncovered their creativity upon settling here.

From a reggaeton-pop singer-songwriter to a queer couple putting their unique twist on Afro-Cuban jazz, CBC Music wants to highlight some of the best music by new Canadians from the last five years. Scroll down to spotlight the artists who have generously shared so much of themselves in their songs, adding their voices and rhythms to the ongoing expansion of so-called Canadian music.

Okan

Okan, which comes from the word for heart or soul in Santeria religion, is an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz ensemble led by Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne. The composers, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists are both from Cuba and have Afro-Cuban roots, but it wasn't until they moved to Canada that they met and fell in love. The married duo released their first album as Okan in 2019 (Sombras) and followed that up with 2020's Espiral, which won a Juno for world album of the year. The title track is a perfect place to immerse oneself in the sound of Okan.

Ahmed Moneka

Ahmed Moneka grew up in Iraq and learned Afro-Sufi singing and drumming in the tradition of his family (who originally came to Iraq from Kenya in the eighth century). The actor, theatre artist, filmmaker, percussionist, vocalist and songwriter came to Canada in 2015 to attend the Toronto International Film Festival, where he was supposed to screen a short film he co-wrote and in which he starred. But the movie kicked off a major controversy back home — The Society depicted two gay men living together covertly in Baghdad — and it made Moneka and his family targets of violent threats by militia. He sought status as a refugee and started over, in exile, in Toronto.

Since then, Moneka has become a central member of a number of communities, and has been involved in a variety of different musical features and collaborations. He's the co-founder of the band Moskitto Bar, and the creator and leader of Moneka Arabic Jazz. But as an introduction to Moneka, check out his haunting duet with his sister Tara on the Sultan of Strings' enthralling 2021 cover of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)." 

Clerel

Since releasing his debut EP in 2019, the Douala, Cameroon-born, Montreal-based soul and R&B singer-songwriter has racked up more than a million streams of his debut single "Blackstone" and performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Clerel has dropped a few singles over the last six months, and the standout is the groovy, seductive "Story of a Scar," which finds the young artist reaching up into his falsetto and flirting up a storm with the one who got away.

Taraf Syriana

Taraf Syriana is a Montreal-based quartet of virtuoso musicians: violist Omar Abou Afach, cellist Noémy Braun, accordionist Sergiu Popa and Naeem Shanwar on qanun, a 78-stringed instrument dating back nearly 4,000 years. Afach and Shanwar came to Montreal from Syria around 2014 and 2015, respectively, while Popa, who is Romani, arrived in Montreal in 2002. The group, which is dedicated to Syrian and Romani folk music, formed in the early part of the pandemic and came together mostly online, first through virtual rehearsals and then remote concerts. Taraf Syriana's self-titled debut album reached No. 3 on the World Music charts this past February.  

Isabella Lovestory

The Latinx pop star grew up in Honduras but moved with her family to Montreal in 2010. Nine years later, Isabella Lovestory released her debut EP, Humo, a heart-pumping and thumping four-song collection of Spanish-language songs. Since then, Lovestory has released more EPs, singles and remixes, as well as her debut full-length, Amor Hardcore, which is longlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize. The Isabella Lovestory sound is an artful collision of reggaeton and its underground sub-genres, and electroclash dance tracks that grind and bounce under anthems of sexual liberation, agency and playful raunch.