Dead Obies - "Doo Wop"

This Friday, February 15th, marks the release of Quebec quartet Dead Obies' third album, DEAD. The follow-up to 2016's Polaris longlisted Montreal $ud, is due out on longtime label (and frequent RR subject) Bonsound.

I was a little lukewarm on the two previous singles dropped in advance of DEAD, but "Doo Wop" - despite not being that thing - is a jam. The bilingual hook, sung by MC Ogee Rodman takes me back to 1990s MC Solaar cuts with their Franglish blend and the beat on this cut is subtle but propulsive.

Les Louanges - "Pitou"

What's the French word for 'yacht rock?' Is it Pitou? Because listening to Les Louanges, the latest signing to the always interesting Bonsound. It's the solo project of Vincent Roberge who debuted under Les Louanges on Bandcamp in 2016.

Elisapie - "Forefathers"

Bonsound just announced that they've signed Elisapie and to mark the occasion - as well as to honour National Aboriginal Day - they've shared her cover of Willie Thrasher's "Forefathers," described as "a monument of Inuit culture, a manifesto on Aboriginal peoples’ millennia-long ownership of the territory"
It's been five years since Elisapie released Travelling Love so it's exciting to have some new music from her though we'll have to wait until winter 2018 for the release of The Ballad of the Runaway Girl from the Inuk singer.

Safia Nolin - "Igloo"

The full-length, Limoilou, isn't due out for several months (September 11th, in fact), but one of the first two tracks streaming on Bandcamp have me eager to hear more from Safia Nolin.