Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Canada is having a moment. The success of Justin Bieber and Drake has inspired a wave of new artists including The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara, and Canadians are dominating the charts, especially in the pop-R&B genre. The country that was once associated with Celine Dion and Bryan Adams now has a host of cool names to drop when they want to brag about their music scene. That doesn’t mean they can’t still do the cheesy stuff too, though. They gave us a more stereotypically Canadian hit in Magic!’s Rude in 2014, and now they’re offering up another twee, radio-friendly tune that you’ll love or hate or love to hate. I’ve spotted Spirits by The Strumbellas on the iTunes, Shazam and Spotify charts, and it’s set to enter the top 10 on Billboard’s alternative radio airplay chart this week. The six-piece indie-pop group have been together 8 years, and although they won a Juno award (the Canadian equivalent of the Brits) in 2014, they weren’t exactly a household name, even in their home country. Now with their third album scheduled for release in April through a new record deal with Glassnote, the label behind Chvrches, Mumford & Sons and Phoenix, they finally have a breakout hit with global potential.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9kXstb9FF4]