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 as they start the new year.

Sean Durkin's The Iron Claw tells the story of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, focusing on four brothers (though in reality, there were five) who followed their father's footsteps into the ring, with almost all of them meeting a tragic end. Richard Reed Parry and Pietro Amato's score builds exciting highs and harrowing lows to match the events of the story, and their original song "Live That Way Forever" definitely captures a brief but triumphant moment where the brothers were all happy together. In the film, the song is performed by the second-youngest brother, Mike Von Erich (Stanley Simons), during a house party; Mike has aspirations of becoming a musician, but soon gives into his father's demands to join the family business. His performance of this rousing rock number — featuring the repeated refrain, "I wanna live that way forever" — is both joyous and heartbreaking given the events that followed. But the song provides a moment of freedom and weightlessness for Mike — you can see that this was what he was meant to do instead of wrestling. In the film, Simons is backed by Louisiana band LVVRS, but the recording was brought to life by Parry, Montreal singer-songwriter Little Scream and folk quartet the Barr Brothers. — Melody Lau

In mid-December, BBC Radio 1 released boygenius's cover of Shania Twain's "You're Still the One," steeping everyone in melancholic nostalgia right before heading to their hometowns for the holidays. The trio — made up of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — performed a stripped-down rendition that could fit seamlessly onto its Grammy-nominated 2023 debut album, as Baker played mandolin (staying true to the original) and Bridgers plucked an acoustic guitar. Their harmonies are simple yet gorgeous, and watching these three musicians, in the midst of booming careers, trust and play off each other is a real treat. Boygenius's cover brings back the immediacy and heart of "You're Still the One" nearly 30 years later — a testament to the three musicians' performances, as well as the songwriting strength of the original. But no one summed it up better than Twain herself: "So f--king cool." — Holly Gordon

The pride of Maniwaki, Que., country singer Matt Lang is a quick study: In 2018, as Mathieu Langevin, he went to Nashville to work on his first English-language EP — without speaking a word of English. The idiom seemingly posed no challenges, and he has since released two more English-language EPs (2020's More and 2023's Moonlight Sessions). This new single appears to be the title track of Lang's next album, due to be released this spring. It's a rollicking, guitar-forward ode to endurance in the boudoir, with a tempo that's tailor-made for line-dancing. Between Jan. 11 and March 7, Lang will play 38 dates on an extensive cross-Canada tour. He'll launch All Night Longer on May 9 at Montreal's MTelus. — Robert Rowat

Zeina's glossy vocals evoke tinges of Aaliyah on "Hooked," her ode to a brown-eyed crush. In English, Arabic and French, she sings about all the ways she's infatuated with her lover: "The way that he smiles just gets to me/ with his hand on my thigh he can get it all night." Her delivery oozes sass and cheekiness, which makes every lyric all the more flirtatious. But the earworm-y melody is what gives the song its overall sparkle, thanks to a sample of Shawn Desman's snappy early aughts track "Shook." With that familiar and nostalgic peg — Desman even gave his stamp of approval with a TikTok duetting the song — "Hooked" serves as a seamless blend of old and new R&B sounds, creating a full-circle Canadian music moment. — Natalie Harmsen

Aside from teasing an upcoming project titled Misery Loves Company, Brampton, Ontario's NorthSideBenji has been quiet since the release of his Prophecy EP in February 2023. He's contributed a few guest verses in that time, but maybe none as exciting as this new collaborative effort with fellow Brampton-raised producer, Money Musik. Both Money Musik and NorthSideBenji started out as underground musicians in the Toronto scene and are now impacting hip-hop on an international level. Money Musik has worked with artists like NAV, Lil Uzi Vert and AP Dhillon, to name a few. NorthSideBenji has collaborated with the U.K.'s Nines, Headie One and more. Their joint single, "Where I'm From," features a punchy drum pattern and just enough atmospheric background to give Benji a spacious canvas to rap freely and switch up flows while capturing listeners with its hook. Both artists have highly anticipated projects on the way and "Where I'm From" is the perfect momentum-builder for 2024. — Bhaven Moorthy