Fefe Dobson's raucous number, and 5 more songs you need to hear this week

Listen to fresh Canadian tracks from Charlotte Day Wilson, Peanut Butter Sunday and more

Image | Fefe Dobson

Caption: Fefe Dobson's ‘I Can’t Love Him (And Love You Too)' is on our list of must-hear songs this week. (Warner Music Canada; design by CBC Music)

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:
  • Fefe Dobson.
  • Myst Milano.
  • Peanut Butter Sunday.
  • Charlotte Day Wilson featuring Snoh Aalegra.
  • Chxrry22.
  • Jade LeMac.
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(external link).
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(external link).

'I Can't Love Him (And Love You Too),' Fefe Dobson

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
It's been 13 years since pop-rocker Fefe Dobson released her last album, Joy. In the interim years, Dobson has spoken out about her treatment as a Black pop artist coming up in the early 2000s who was boxed in as "Brandy Spears." But also, with the resurgence of pop-punk in recent years thanks to the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Willow, Dobson has been rightfully namechecked by many as an influential (and overlooked) figure in the scene. On Sept. 29, Dobson will finally return with her new album, Emotion Sickness, which has already given us great singles including "Hungover" and song-of-the-summer contender "Fckn in Love." Now, we can add another successful single to the list: "I Can't Love Him (and Love You Too)," a raucous number that Dobson says she wrote "when my relationship felt like it was at a bit of a standstill and I was craving that rush you feel when you first start to fall in love." As always, Dobson's performance is passionate and powerful, complete with an epic guitar solo that announces the pop-punk legend's arena-sized ambitions. — Melody Lau

'No Sleep,' Myst Milano

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
"No Sleep" clocks in at just under two minutes, and each second is brimming with energy. The track is off Edmonton-born, Toronto-based rapper, producer and DJ Myst Milano's second album, Beyond the Uncanny Valley, one of CBC Music's most anticipated albums of the summer. This summer's release follows Milano's 2020 album, Shapeshyfter, which solidified the artist's position as a disruptor, merging multiple diasporic genres to create a hybrid sound all their own. Milano has referred to Uncanny Valley(external link) as a "working anthology of Black electronic music across generational, geographical and genre lines," with genres including Detroit electro, Chicago footwork and U.K. jungle all making appearances throughout the album's 10 tracks — and on "No Sleep," it's the explosive springs of Jersey club that propel the song forward. This is a track designed for booty shaking: I imagine Milano performing it to a crowd hyped up on their rhymes and beat, as the artist commands that everyone "drop low," "back it up" and "arch your back." There is no other option but to oblige. — Kelsey Adams

'Ma t​ê​te,' Peanut Butter Sunday

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
Peanut Butter Sunday has been tearing through milestones this year: the Acadian punk band from Baie Sainte-Marie, N.S., made it to the semi-finals of the competitive Francouvertes festival in Montreal, recently opened for Green Day — in front of 35,000 people — at Quebec City's Festival d'été, and has been getting a lot of love from French Canadian press. And now, nearing the one-year anniversary of the band's debut EP, Quoi​-​ce y'a pour souper?, Peanut Butter Sunday is releasing a deluxe version of the album(external link) along with the brand new, head-banging single "Ma t​ê​te."
Steeped in the late '90s/early 2000s sounds of Blink 182, Sum 41 and recent headliner Green Day, Peanut Butter Sunday is a band of excellent musicians having the times of their lives: Normand Pothier, Michael Saulnier, Jacques Blinn and Andre LeBlanc (with Pothier and Blinn doing double duty in this quartet as well as P'tit Belliveau) write and play barn-burning pop-punk filled with jokes that are balanced with a genuine care for the music they're making. "Ma t​ê​te," which blisters its way through three minutes while still including a blink-and-you'll-miss-it guitar solo, is the latest example of that, with a video of the band having a real time playing golf while Saulnier sings about a breakup that'll have you cracking a beer — or your bevvy of choice — alongside him in no time. — Holly Gordon

'Forever,' Charlotte Day Wilson feat. Snoh Aalegra

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
"I'm livin' lost in love 'cause I change my mind too much/ forever's not enough, forever's not enough," sings Charlotte Day Wilson on her first solo release since her 2021 album, Alpha. "Forever" is a sparsely layered smattering of ambient sounds, held together by an interpolation of the Foundations' track "Baby, Now That I Found You." Day Wilson and fellow velvet R&B vocalist Snoh Aalegra question if they can keep trying to hold on to their love interests, while simultaneously feeling lost in their relationships. Moments of introspection filter in and out of the song as Day Wilson inches closer and closer to committing to her partner, despite any of their red flags. Top-tier production makes the track feel as glossy as ever, while Day Wilson flexes her songwriting skills, which have only sharpened in the last couple of years. — Natalie Harmsen

'More,' Chxrry22

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
Sometimes the end of a relationship arrives sooner for one party than the other. On "More," Scarborough R&B artist Chxrry22 is ready to move on, but finds herself stuck with someone who's too obsessed with her: calling her at her job, bothering her friends all the time and begging for time every night. "Say you met your match," she sings on the pre-chorus, "but I say you're givin' my ex." She later admits: "If I knew you'd keep on knockin' at my door/ would've never ever ever gave you more." Over an airy, bubbling beat, Chxrry22 — a rising star who's scheduled to open for her XO Records boss, the Weeknd, on tour in Australia and New Zealand — sounds nonchalant as she brushes off her subject, shamelessly expressing what she wants out of this situation, and what she wants more than anything is to be left alone. — ML

'Got Me Obsessed,' Jade LeMac

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
Badass, honest and limitless: three words that sum up Vancouver's Jade LeMac and her single "Got Me Obsessed." LeMac grips you with her bone-tingling vocals on the new track, while showcasing her intensity and fire for a new relationship. She carries the excitement of new love alongside her overprotective nature, which isn't all bad: the possessiveness she sings about blends well with a catchy hook and dark-toned keys, wrapped around forceful drum patterns that will surely put you in a trance. With more than 50 million streams on her catalogue (and counting), Le Mac's star continues to rise, and listeners worldwide are paying attention. "Got Me Obsessed" proves that LeMac won't shy away from the grittiness of love, wearing her vulnerability proudly on a song that's sure to be in your playlist for months to come. — Ryan Chung