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

Scroll down to discover the songs our producers are loving right now.

There is something so healing about putting on an outfit that makes you feel like an unstoppable goddess and going to a party where the bass shakes you to your very core. Debby Friday understands this intimately, and her new single "To the Dancefloor" is a call to all the club girls who believe anything can be solved with a night of hedonistic release. "To the Dancefloor" is the second single from the Toronto-based artist following her 2023 Polaris Music Prize-winning album, Good Luck, and continues her habit of turning electronic music on its head. Friday teamed up with frequent collaborator Graham Walsh (Metz, Holy F--k) and Detroit production trio HiTech, whose affinity for ghettotech gives the song its bite. Friday directed the video in which she becomes an avatar, akin to the Sims or IMVU, getting dressed up in multiple different personas. Friday has penned an anthem for surrendering to your desires and letting the rhythm take you: "I need the bass so I can dance more/ I miss the rage, I need the rave, I need that 4-4." — Kelsey Adams

James Clayton is a Montreal-based guitarist/singer who plays with the Franklin Electric, Sasha Cay, and maxime. With his latest project, Clay Pigeon, he's preparing to release The Aching Taste of Blue, a full album planned for July. Some of the songs have a fuller rock sound, but "Here and Now" is a gentle James Taylor-leaning tune with restrained accompaniment of acoustic guitar, piano and bass. It's the perfect sound for Clayton's lovely, nostalgic lyrics: "I could've been your victory, I'll probably be your loss/ Could've been everything you wished I was not." The melody's got an appealing contour, and the backing vocals are so subtle, you almost don't realize they're there until you find yourself singing along. — Robert Rowat

The forced isolation of the pandemic was tough for a lot of reasons, but if you were partnered with someone whose company you actually enjoyed, there was a lot of comfort to glean from those blurry days. That's the feeling Pillow Fite leans into on "Alma," the new single from the Halifax duo of Art Ross and Aaron Green that softly places you back between those four shared walls. "I know the shapes of words that come from your eyes/ burned in my head are your boredom sighs," sings Ross on the chorus, wrapping their words around Green's shimmering guitar. The pace of "Alma" is languid but sturdy, with layers of synth and guitar creating bright pops of colour against a steady drum backbone — similar to feeling that warm kind of love that can only come from the depths of knowing someone so well. — Holly Gordon

Montreal rapper and producer Backxwash has continued to build her craft and grow with each release since she won the 2020 Polaris Music Prize for her sophomore album, God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It. Her latest single, "Wake Up," is a shining example of her evolution, ranking up there as one of the best tracks she's ever released. A seven-plus minute epic, the track serves up an industrial metal soundscape as Backxwash turns gospel-inspired verses, fighting through every line with heavy determination. She screams "Wake the f--k up!" repeatedly like a thunderous jolt to herself and her listeners, an unceasing reminder to not give into the dark forces. "Wake Up" is a rousing, emotional journey that ends with a grand testimony that "through the blackened skies, I will not go gentle." — Melody Lau

On Haisla rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids' latest track, "BBE," they explore how braided hair is a powerful cultural symbol of Indigenous resilience. "To us our braids represent strength and growth," they tweeted about writing the song. "It's a reminder of where we come from, where we are today, and what our people went through to get to this moment." They unpack the significance of rocking their plaits on the bold, bass-heavy song, which celebrates "big braid energy." The pair's poignant lyrics shine over thundering beats: "My braids hold this energy, I'll show you what I'm made of/ this one for the nation, we head bangin', we ain't playin'." The colourful, ultramodern music video spotlights various braid styles, and in it, Young D and Yung Trybez happily show off their long locks. However, it's the creative "BBE" braids atop Afro-Indigenous model Monday B's head that perfectly illustrate the song's message of pride. Near the end, they hammer home their hope of inspiring Indigenous youth to love their braids: "You know we go stupid and the yutes is who we do dis fo'/ We rooted in our future, tell me who you really rooting fo'?" — Natalie Harmsen

Much has been written about parasocial relationships lately, the ones between fans and the famous people they idolize specifically, and with "Cat's Cradle," Flower Face enters the conversation. The Montreal artist's latest single draws the comparison between being a fan-girl and having a debilitating crush. The all-encompassing nature of crushes can feel both purpose-giving and overwhelming, with the pendulum swinging between adoration and obsession, as Flower Face sings on the chorus: "Oh no, you don't know my name/ But I would die for you." The goth-folk track is driven by a gentle guitar melody and the singer's breathy vocals as she lists all the reasons she can't give up her infatuation. Previous efforts, like the 2022 album The Shark in Your Water, proved that Flower Face is a master at mining her innermost psyche, and this new release signals a further plunge into those depths. In a press release, she said that the song is about how obsession can be mistaken for love: "It's dangerous, especially if you're in a vulnerable place…. It can feel so good to fixate on somebody, to let yourself live in a fantasy world especially when the real world doesn't feel comfortable or fulfilling." — KA

HMLT (pronounced Hamlet) is the moniker of Toronto-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Corey Wong, who's worked with Jon Vinyl, Mighloe, Lou Val and many others. But he's also a fine musical artist in his own right, and "Home" is the latest in a string of recent singles that'll form the backbone of his next album, Studio Paradise, due to be released in June. "Home" evokes an earlier era of soul music with its solid bass-and-guitar foundation, alto saxophone, bell tree and the ardent vocals of Sir Travis Knight, who brings Donny Hathaway to mind. HMLT says "Home" embodies what the studio represents to him, but it's also where another kind of magic happens, as Knight sings in the chorus: "Won't you bring it home to me, 'cause there's nothing like your tender loving." — RR

"It's the electro album of my dreams," Cadence Weapon wrote on his Substack on April 19, the day his new record dropped. A 14-track project examining what the attention economy is doing to artists, Rollercoaster features a shiny list of collaborators including Jacques Greene, Myst Milano and Harrison — and production, writing and singing on multiple songs from D.C.-based musician Bartees Strange. On album opener "Cadence £∞™.mp3," Bartees Strange pushes back against everything electronic, the singer's vocals and acoustic guitar a foil for the "sensory overload" of Rollercoaster's production, as Cadence Weapon described it via press release. But on "You Are Special to Me," Bartees Strange is swept along for the ride, his rhythm sounding near frantic to keep time with the industrial beat. "I'm way too in the machine and I don't think I remember any better, man/ harder to leave than you think, I hope I don't become worse than I think I am," he sings on the chorus, his vocals heavily distorted. "You Are Special to Me" doesn't even hit the two-minute mark, but its immediacy will stick with you for days. — HG