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

Scroll down to find out what our producers are listening to this week.

Over the past 40 years, Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese have collaborated on some incredible projects together: The Last Waltz, The King of Comedy and The Irishman among them. Killers of the Flower Moon, the pair's final collaboration before Robertson's death in August, is perhaps one of the best projects they've ever teamed up on. The film tells the story of the Osage murders in the 1920s, where members of the Osage nation were targeted for the wealth they amassed after discovering oil on their land. In a posthumous statement released on Robertson's X account, he said: "For me, it's a kind of perfection to be able to go all the way around this big circle. Starting at Six Nations when music comes along in my life, and then to my history with Martin Scorsese and all the movies leading up to Killers of the Flower Moon. The fact that we're getting to do a western in our own way, you really couldn't have written this."

"Osage Oil Boom" soundtracks the opening moments of the film as the Osage people dance in the fields, soaked in oil that's bursting from the ground. Scorsese noted that he wanted the score to feel "dangerous and fleshy and sexy," as he recalled on Jimmy Kimmel Live. There's a tension throughout Robertson's score, as he utilizes sounds he heard when he was growing up in Six Nations and elsewhere, transforming guitars into coyote howls, but this opening moment almost feels celebratory. "I need something really strong here," Scorsese told Robertson. The result sets the tone for the film, creating a bluesy soundscape for a western that only these two longtime friends could have made together. — Melody Lau

True to their name, Party Pupils have returned with a dance-pop collaboration bursting with fun, dorky energy. Rapper bbno$ gets the narrative started with the admission, "I'm not too good in the sheets," setting the tone for this charming anthem for underdogs looking for love. Max takes over the chorus with syncopated synthesizer chords propelling his quest for the song's titular girlfriend, "Wonder if it could be you/ you're everything that I been looking for." Then Thai rapper Milli bursts in with a twist: Her mother tells her she needs a boyfriend who's "rich and happy, not too skinny," whereas in fact, she wants a girlfriend, too. The beat drops, and everyone joins in for a euphoric, galvanizing coda. — Robert Rowat

Toronto musicians Badbadnotgood and Charlotte Day Wilson have teamed up once again for another dreamy R&B offering, "Sleeper." "Heard she was a sleeper/ glad you found a dreamer," sings Day Wilson, her rich vocals sounding sombre over a syncopated rhythm. "'Sleeper' wrote itself … we were in the studio just messing around and the guys came up with the colourful instrumental while I freestyled the lyrics," Day Wilson stated in a press release. The track encapsulates the zombie-like state of someone stuck in a relationship that's stagnant, with Wilson conveying the feeling of loneliness over jazzy guitar licks. There's a hint of indignation in her delivery, which quickly reaches a boiling point by the chorus: "But you're holding a secret/ that you miss the feeling/ of somebody else in your bed." The song makes the case for listeners to avoid cuffing season and bask in the freedom afforded by singledom. — Natalie Harmsen

On his first project, the 2021 EP When Smoke Rises, Mustafa declared himself a songwriter in the tradition of the folk artists that inspired him, including Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Bill Withers and more. He tells his stories with such searing clarity that his whisper-like voice commands all your attention. It's no surprise, then, that the scenes he's setting in "Name of God" are intensely evocative. His first solo release since When Smoke Rises opens by outlining two ways to grapple with grief and the hardships of life: "Both our eyes are red/ but you're high and I'm crying/ you're trying to forget/ but it hits me every time." Mustafa is introducing us to his next chapter, an upcoming debut album, on this song that examines his relationship with Islam, the political collapse of his motherland, Sudan, and the loss of his brother, Mohamed, earlier this year.

As ever, the music is stirring and heart-wrenching, led by gentle guitar. "Name of God" was produced by Mustafa, Aaron Dessner of the National (who's also worked with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran) and Simon Hessman (James Blake, Sampha). Lyrically, Mustafa is tackling some heavy questions and he doesn't pretend to have any answers. "Name of God" instead seems to demonstrate a personal search for meaning among carnage and chaos. In a press statement he shared that "Gods [sic] name wasn't always related to beauty for me, but to hopelessness, this Islam we share and Allah we call for while witnessing a constant violence that continues to bind us." When he sings, "Whose lord are you naming?/ When you start to break things" in the chorus, it's another question that goes unanswered. — Kelsey Adams

Dating can be brutal, and after many failed outings, it's easy to think that chivalry is dead. That exhaustion can be felt at the heart of "Bar is on the Floor," off Alex Porat's latest EP, Lovesick. "You open one door and I'm yours," the Toronto pop artist sings in the song's opening moments. "Doesn't take much, all you gotta do is be sweet once." For Porat, every man comes with a red flag, making even the slightest kind gesture come off like a win — like ordering a drink for you, even though he "never got it right/ but I'm lonely/ so I let it slide." Instead of leaning into the potential sadness of it all, though, she transforms her frustrations into an anthemic chant, shouting into the void: "Does a good guy even exist anymore?" — ML

The fantasizing and hyperfixation that come with budding romance — that inability to get thoughts of a lover out of your head — can be dizzying. Toronto artist Telly taps into that whirlwind on "Through My Brain," a euphoric explosion built on elements of drum and bass, hyperpop and synth pop (fans of British artist PinkPantheress will be immediately enthralled). Telly's playful and buoyant vocal delivery complements the song's airy atmosphere perfectly. With this first solo single, Telly has become one to watch in my books. — KA