Opinion: 5 x Artists To Watch 2020 (Canada)
By Simon Daley
Our new “artists to watch” series continues with a Canadian edition, highlighting some of the most exciting artists and bands emerging in 2020.
Some may say that we made a mistake by limiting ourselves to just five choices when we cooked up the idea for this new series. There’s at least 20 or 30 artists/bands who could have been included, but here are five that we’ll most definitely be on the lookout for this year.
Jaunt
No strangers to Precision Record Pressing, Jaunt released a PRP-pressed limited edition 7” for Record Store Day in 2019, followed-up by a packed in-store performance at Toronto’s Tiny Record Shop.
The Toronto six-piece came out swinging in January with new single Nostalgia For The Present Moment and promises of a busy 2020. Their previous two EPs mix the band’s particular brand of breezy pop with lush musicianship and stellar songwriting. We look forward to a full-length album dropping in the near future!
My Recommendation:
Biawanna
Hailing from Vancouver, singer-songwriter and vocalist Biawanna released a steady stream of singles in 2019 including collaborations with producer Des Hume and I M U R.
Their instantly catchy lyrics pull from personal experiences of lust, love and heartbreak and often invoke the sounds and styling of contemporaries Kelela, Denitia & Sene and Charlotte Day Wilson. Here’s hoping for more singles in 2020, or if we’re really lucky an EP/album!
My Recommendation:
Loving
Another office favorite here at Precision Record Pressing, the band dropped their debut full-length project If I Am Only My Thoughts via Last Gang Records/Entertainment One at the end of January.
Drenched in jangling guitars and ethereal vocals, the album’s sound is reminiscent of Mac Demarco, as well as the prolific King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and their compatriots The Babe Rainbow. We’ll have this one on repeat for some time to come!
My Recommendation:
Shay Lia
The Montreal-based singer released her long-awaited debut EP Dangerous in 2019, complete with appearances from Canadian heavyweights BADBADNOTGOOD and KAYTRANADA, as well as producer Dâm-Funk.
The 11-track expanded edition released in November 2019 seamlessly blends Pop, Soul, and Funk and is reminiscent of music from Gavin Turek, Fatima, as well as fellow KAYTRANADA collaborator Teedra Moses. Count us in for any future Toronto live shows and heavy-hitting collaborations from her in 2020.
My Recommendation:
PONY
The brainchild of vocalist Sam Bielanski, PONY is a collective of friends producing guitar-fueled grunge pop reminiscent of The Breeders, Courtney Barnett and early Paramore. The group have steadily grown a fan-base with a duo of EPs in 2015/2017 and are expected to release their debut full-length project later this year. If the recently released single Limerence is a taste of what’s to come then we can expect big things from the Toronto-based three-piece in 2020!
My Recommendation:
