Heather Avalon is a 22 year old independent singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. Heather is known for her evolution from indie/bedroom pop to a new raw, high energy pop-rock sound. Her latest release “beg for Me,” co-written and produced by Jesse Maxwell, captures that emotional intensity and gritty edge. The single invites listeners into Heather’s journey of vulnerability, power, and artistic transformation.
Heather stands out as a bold rising voice in Toronto’s pop and pop-rock scene, channeling a lifetime of musical roots into emotionally charged songwriting. From early days writing songs and performing alongside her jazz-musician mother, to her indie-pop beginnings and now a full throttle pop and pop-rock direction, her music continues to evolve with authenticity and depth
Nashville experimental duo Total Wife, the project of Luna Kupper and Ash Richter, are excited to share the final single off their upcoming record Come Back Down, out September 19, 2025 via the tastemaking Philadelphia label Julia’s War Recordings. “peaches” arrives today with an otherworldly and collaged official music video, which embodies the song’s droning guitars and fluttering synths within a hurricane of sound.
“The guitar tracks on this song are sourced from a single take resampled over and over. The lyrics were written about a recording session that couldn’t happen because of a huge storm that took the power from East Nashville,” Total Wife explain. “The storm itself provided imagery to express feeling disconnected from close friends, and frustrated with external forces getting in the way of mending the relationship.”
Los Angeles via Salt Lake City indie pop artist Mykel announces her driving debut EP Hometown Runaway due out November 7. Alongside the announcement, the artist shares the project’s first taste with “Brace For Impact,” out now, a heartfelt recollection of a near-fatal car accident. On September 6, the artist and beverage aficionado will partner with Couplet Cafe in Downtown Los Angeles for a custom beverage to celebrate the new music–find more information here.
With commanding vocals and sweeping, vast production over six tracks, Mykel bravely confronts a range of themes like ego death (and escaping death), self-worth, imposter syndrome, her layered relationship to faith, and more. Messy, grounded and bittersweet, the artist chronicles the challenges of leaving home in pursuit of her dreams, with assists from GRAMMY-nominated producer and mixer Yang Tan (Janelle Monae) and 3x RIAA-certified producer and engineer Gehring Miller (Giveon, Ella Mai) and recorded at LA’s iconic Record Plant Studios.
Ready to give up, it took hitting rock bottom for Mykel to rediscover her artistic purpose and direction. Hometown Runaway, a rich mix of pop with R&B flairs, allows the artist the space to discover and define herself like never before as she embraces her past and looks ahead to the future, this time, with a renewed perspective and appreciation for life. Finally releasing the pressure of unattainable standards she’s placed on herself, Mykel shares, “I knew I wanted to take all the nuances of my journey and put it into a body of work that represented me. Not what the industry or society wanted of me or told me would sell. This EP is a beacon of truth and integrity that has both freed and terrified me.”
After narrowly escaping death, the slow tempo power ballad “Brace For Impact” poured out of Mykel. In collaboration with producer, engineer and friend Gehring Miller, the two built a safe space for the artist to finally face this traumatic event, which ultimately led to the full project being made. Mykel adds, “It was born out of pure necessity–and because of the safe space Gehring created for me to face myself, my fears, and ultimately that unlock trickled into the entire 6 song EP within a matter of 3 months.”
Indie singer-songwriter and producer Olivia Reid has released her long-awaited EP, Space to Roam. The now six-song extended play encapsulates the writing during Reid’s weeks spent in Poland’s countryside. Though electronic production often emerges in Reid’s unique sound, her return to a more acoustic way of writing and a focus on organic textures has amounted to a raw folk-leaning project inspired by nature, making way for some of her most intimate songs to date. The EP is now available on all streaming platforms worldwide.
While participating in an artist residency in Burdag, Poland, alongside partner Kanon Sapp (Artistic Director of LOOSE KANON DANCE) and traveling with just an acoustic guitar, a mic, and an interface set-up, Olivia Reid wrote many of the songs on her own and outdoors, surrounded by nature. “I wanted to write music that would lower my heart rate, that would calm my mind, and bring me back to Earth a little bit,” Reid explains. “I wrote these songs because I needed them and needed to hear them. I didn’t want to overthink them or overedit them. They are just simple, soft songs for the soul.” The first audience to hear some of these new songs was sitting around the campfire in Burdag on the studio’s property, with the studio owners and neighbors from nearby farms gathered around the fire, while Reid played the newly written songs on the guitar. Their voices can be heard at the end of the project’s first single, “Love Don’t Leave” – asking Reid to play “another one please!”
For Jake Fields, all it took was $70 and a thrift store visit to change the trajectory of his life. While he originally had aspirations to be in professional baseball, the chance decision of buying a cheap electric guitar and amp was all it took for him to dedicate his life to music. What began as a hobby quickly evolved into live gigs at iconic venues such as Los Angeles’ Whisky a Go Go, Hotel Cafe, and The Troubadour—ultimately leading to a full-time career in professional music. After falling deeply in love with songwriting and performing, Jake released his first artfully written solo EP, Someday You’ll Be Mine, before releasing his No One Wants To See The Grand Canyon Alone EP under his new moniker, with songs spanning the themes of love, loss, culture, and family.
Now under the name Fields of Jake, he’s excited to share his upcoming 8-song album, mostly recorded at the studio Lucy’s Meat Market in Los Angeles. For this anticipated pop-rock record, Fields of Jake once again teamed with famed producer Jim McGorman (Goo Goo Dolls, Marc Broussard). Drawing inspiration from legendary songwriters such as Jackson Browne and Paul Simon, Fields of Jake blends storytelling and melody in a style alluding to The Kinks and Dawes. With classic influences and a modern perspective, Fields of Jake is building organic momentum while carving his space in the music world, laying the foundation for his future projects. Visit him online at JakeFieldsMusic.com.
Memphis alt rockers Joybomb return today on their second outing of 2025 with “Stigmata Palms”. Instantly showcasing the band’s punk influences, the track arrives as a lightning bolt of Warped Tour energy and hook-forward guitar chops. Romantic co-dependence and self-sacrifice take center stage on lyrics that ooze with angst as they ride a high velocity emotive rollercoaster. Feeling so torn up may rarely have felt quite so fun.
This candid take on interpersonal relationships follows the June release of “I, Paparazzi” which found Joybomb frontman Grant Beatty reflecting on a different type of relationship; that time an honest acknowledgement of brain rot and the drug-like intoxication of social media.
Both “Stigmata Palms” and “I, Paparazzi” are accompanied by animated visuals from videographer Quinton Hickman. Check out “Stigmata Palms” atomic age treatment here.
For those who encountered Joybomb’s 2024 Modern Scripture EP, these themes of tragic romance and charged social commentary will come as little surprise. Bottomless consumer culture, chemical escapism, absurd political theatre, and complex relationships were all variously skewered at points across the six tracks on Modern Scripture. As the band enters new territory on these recent singles they continue to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to belting out glaring futilities and inconvenient hang-ups while dancing together into oblivion despite them.
“Stigmata Palms” features the new marginally re-tooled 2025 incarnation of Joybomb, with Luki Luvsik (guitar) now joining Beatty (vocals/guitar), Conner Booth (vocals, bass), and Xander Sinclair (drums). Engineer Matt Qualls is reenlisted from the Modern Scripture sessions, providing a trusted hand at engineering, mixing, and mastering this new single.
Stay tuned for more for Joybomb throughout the year.
One of the most exciting young musicians to come out of Western Canada, Emmett Jerome has established himself as a captivating performer with a world-weary voice wise beyond his years. Rooted in the old school, troubadour tradition, he has travelled coast to coast, chasing songs and soaking up stories along the way. With a bluesman’s heart and a travellers soul, Emmett welcomes listeners into a world where tradition and youth collide. He made his debut as a solo artist in 2024 with “Rocky Mountain Son” (Light Organ Records).
Following the release of single “Night Crawling” earlier this year and the independent success of the band’s debut album in 2024 which saw the band claim a Top 15 Official Chart Position, The Howlers saunter back into frame ahead of their biggest shows to date with new single “You Can Be So Cruel”.
“You Can Be So Cruel” isn’t shy or reticent in its meaning, it’s a confident and sultry anti love letter, a memory of those late nighter rendezvous that goaded you into a confrontational position, the stranger sauntering around your favourite bar with confident intent on pursuing whatever crosses their mind.
After recording in studios for the band’s debut album, frontman Young decided to set himself a challenge and make a record that sounds better, without stepping foot in a studio. So all the vocals, all the guitars, all the synths are recorded at home and over Skype and Teams with producer Chris Ostler, the idea was to make a record that breaks the mould on what is possible.
Speaking about the track, frontman Adam Young says:
“The track is an anti love letter. We have all been swept up in the way we feel about someone that we ignore the warning signs and end up getting hurt. The track is a confident F*** You directed at those people, I’m sure there will be people who hear this track and immediately think of someone in particular who made them ignore all the signs.”
Emerging indie-pop artist Jess Hayward unveils her latest single, ‘You’re Evergreen’, a sweet and shimmering love song that captures the feeling of finding the kind of love you’ve always dreamed of. Drawing on her signature blend of beachy indie-pop charm and timeless, jazz-inflected warmth, Hayward offers a refreshing sonic escape filled with hope.
‘You’re Evergreen’ is available now on your streaming service of choice via APOLLO Distribution.
At their core, Softcult is a band with something to say—and every intention of saying it with their full chest. Now they embark on their most bold and vulnerable journey yet as the Ontario-based twins, Mercedes (she/her) and Phoenix (they/them) Arn-Horn, are set to release their highly-anticipated debut full-length, When A Flower Doesn’t Grow, on January 30, 2026.
Today Softcult shares “16/25,” a fearless song that confronts predatory older men that groom younger women, while exposing the double standards and impossible expectations placed on them by a patriarchal society. “It points out the cognitive dissonance men perpetuate while trying to possess and control younger women,” Mercedes says.
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
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