We’ve circled back around to the second Tuesday of the month, meaning another installment of our recurring Snappy Singles features. The summer season may be winding down, but we’re not quite prepared to let the dog days slip away just yet… Go ahead and enjoy these fabulous late summer finds from Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Québec.
Brett Matthews, “Lucky Ones”
With the constant influx of new music into the GDW email inbox, sometimes it takes a series of ‘baby steps’ for an emerging artist to be featured on our pages. Cape Breton, NS country-soul artist Brett Matthews is a perfect example of this journey: first earning our attention at a 2023 summer festival (with Classified) – landing a spot as our final social media video post of 2023 (“If I Die Today”) – featured in our April 2024 Video Vault post (“Tomorrow”) – and progressing to this lead spot in our Snappy Singles. With this latest single, “Lucky Ones,” Brett offers another moving yet feel-good anthem, this time celebrating human connection, love, and gratitude. Co-written with Ria Mae and Classified, this tune tackles heavy subjects with a sense of hope and optimism: “I don’t care what we got / I don’t care what we do / I got you for me / You got me for you / We’re the lucky ones / Baby, we’re the lucky ones.” For Brett, “The best things in life aren’t necessarily ‘things’ and that’s what this song is about. It’s about feeling lucky for the people you have around you, and the love that we share.”
Haley Blais, “Basement Apartment”
It is purely coincidental that Vancouver, BC alt-pop artist Haley Blais first appeared here at GDW in our Snappy Singles feature exactly twelve months ago – and repeats the exercise today thanks to this absolute corker of a cover version recently released as a double A-side single. Ask a casual music fan to name two Canadian artists named Sarah – well, it’s almost a lock that Sarah McLachlan will be the likely first response – but Sarah Harmer is another name that you may hear frequently too. For Haley, both artists strongly inspired her own musical path, prompting a desire to record cover versions of their popular tunes – McLachlan’s “Sweet Surrender” and Harmer’s “Basement Apartment.” “Sarah McLachlan was a huge musical inspiration to me growing up; Sarah Harmer was integral to the journey of Wisecrack (2024 album),” Haley shares. “I wanted to pay homage to the two artists that shaped me as the artist I am today.” While it was difficult to select just one of these two excellent tunes, my final determination came down simply to “Basement Apartment” being one of my personal favorite all-time tracks from Sarah Harmer – enough said!
Madison Olds, “Rich In Dreams”
Making her GDW debut today, Kamloops, BC folk-pop artist Madison Olds released her latest single, “Rich In Dreams,” just last Friday, and this one VERY quickly earned repeat spins over the weekend here at GDW HQ. A fixture on the Canadian music scene since 2019, I’m hazarding a guess that it is Madison’s success largely in the mainstream markets that explains how she has not landed on our listening radar, until now. “Because I’m dirt poor but I’m rich in dreams / And I’m chasing stars I’m not chasing schemes / And in this life where nothing’s sure / The less it costs, I want it more.” Co-written with Lucas Gienow, Madison dedicates this tune to all those enjoying the simpler things in life. “When Lucas and I sat down to write this, we both shared how tough life could feel some days and how easy it was to get so caught up in the things that don’t matter,” Madison shares. “When we stopped and looked around, there was so much to be grateful for. Like family, friends, food, water, ones to love, music to share and a roof over our heads. The little things really add up to be one huge, amazing life.”
Ada Lea, “come on, baby! be a good girl for the camera”
Landing on our radar with a convincing ‘thud’ back in summer 2021 thanks to her outstanding single, “Hurt,” Montréal-based indie-pop artist Ada Lea (Alexandra Levy) impressed us enough to find her “One Hand On The Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A Garden” album earning a top 4 finalist spot in the 2021 GDW album of the year honors. With fresh news of an EP (“notes”) set for release next month, Ada shares this latest single – which once again stopped us dead in our tracks when first encountering her charming and descriptive opening lines: “My mind floats like a branch on the water / And I float like that, too, if I want / My dreams to soar like the top of a tower / And I soar like that, too, when I want.” Written during what Ada describes as a challenging tour, she shares, “Over the years, I’ve developed a suspicion that your skin must be made of macho steel to ‘make it’ in the industry – you’ve gotta be able to suck it up, put a nice smile on your face, and do a little dance with a twinkle in your eye. The chorus runs with that belief, in a cheeky, non-committal and playful way.”
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
