Advertisement

Features Music

Toronto bands set to blow up in 2015

Allie X

We’ve covered Allie Hughes plenty over the years – as a weirdo pop princess with a musical theatre bent, as the sonically darker ALX, as a member of cover band Dwayne Gretzky. But her recent incarnation as Allie X has sparked interest beyond the GTA’s borders. Hughes caught Katy Perry’s attention, among many others’, with last year’s single Catch, and now her forthcoming debut record, CollXtion I, out on Sleepless/Universal Music on April 7, is hugely anticipated. Despite currently living in L.A., she flies the Canadian flag high by working with Cirkut and Billboard.

Jazz Cartier

Jazz Cartier

Merely 21, rapper and former member of the Get Home Safe crew Jazz Cartier has kept his buzz high with each glossy new video he releases. Tiding us over till his new mixtape, Marauding In Paradise, drops in April is the recently released video for New Religion. Set to industrial-electro beats and Cartier’s low-slung raps, it’s got TTC streetcars and dark, gritty tunnels, as well as upscale interiors and fireplace-chillin’. Last fall, the laser-focused musician told us he’d be Canada’s next superstar, and we believe him.

For Esmé

For Esmé

Relative newcomers For Esmé play gorgeously cosmic, chill-and-sultry electro-pop forefronted by Martha Meredith‘s bright vocals and rounded out by Dave Thiel and Nathan Crook. Single Just Yet has been making international blog playlists, including the official blog of Garage Clothing, alongside new Grimes and Tame Impala tunes. Fine company to keep. Check ’em out at Sneaky Dee’s on Friday (March 27) and Canadian Music Week (dates to come).

Muneshine

Muneshine

Best known for his production, engineering and mixing work on Juno-nominated albums for D-Sisive, Muneshine, aka Rob Bakker, has been making inroads solo of late. The hip-hop/future beats producer just spent a crazy-busy week at SXSW, on a wave of hype thanks to his In Transit full-length and recent remixes of Grimes’s Go Portugal, the Man’s Purple, Yellow Red And Blue and Miguel’s How Many Drinks.

Young Guv

Young Guv

Gotta get some rock and roll in here, right? Ben Cook is always cooking up something good. The Fucked Up guitarist and former No Warning frontman (and musician behind Yacht Club, Roommates, the Bitters, etc, etc) found time to make the perfect summer-weather power-pop record under his Young Guv moniker. It shimmers and chimes. It’s got harmonies aplenty. It came out on Slumberland in early March. Get your paws on it.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted