The American behind the hit "Lost on You" is back with her fifth studio album. The first singles, "Girls Go Wild" and "Recovery", literally carry Heart to Mouth, which oscillates between catchy pop rock songs and more emotional pieces. Laura Pergolizzi presents here by her own admission her most personal album to date, directly from the heart. The melodies are still as effective, with sounds that come from who knows where. Her long-time fans or those who discovered her with Lost on You should not be too mixed up with Heart to Mouth, which logically pursues the already well-done work of the singer-songwriter. Here is once again a very solid and pleasant album to listen to from LP.

Music Video: « Recovery »

On his debut solo album, Chinese singer Kris Wu moves away from the K-pop that made him known in EXO. He rather presents a quite slow mixture of rap and R&B, focused on rhymes, all in English. Especially thanks to the first single, "Like That", Wu has made a very good breakthrough on most charts in the United States. He surrounded himself with various collaborators: Jhené Aiko, Travis Scott and Rich the Kid (for the most recent single, "Coupe"). Without presenting an album brimming with creativity, Kris Wu managed to find the recipe to reach an international audience. Here we are witnessing his true outbreak.

Mike Boguski is best known as a keyboardist for Blue Rodeo since 2008. He presents his new solo album, Blues for the Penitent, a 12-piece instrumental CD that he performs alone on the piano. Highly improvised, the album offers a mix of jazz and avant-garde music. Several tracks are highly emotional, such as "Madawaska Moonlight", "Eva" and "Memorial". It also includes songs by Townes Van Zandt ("To Live is to Fly") and Neil Young ("On the Beach").

Canadian singer Bianca Ortolano joins legendary guitarist Gary Moffet (April Wine) to present a folk pop album with sometimes jazz or blues sounds. In addition to some original songs, she presents pieces by Bob Dylan ("Don’t Think Twice It's All Right"), Roy Orbison ("Blue Bayou"), Carole King ("Crying in the Rain"), etc. The duo is surrounded by renowned musicians, including Daniel Zanella (drums and percussion), Jean Pellerin (bass), Bob Stagg (piano, organ, accordion, trumpet) and Jeff Smallwood (dobro). Let's also note the participations of Jim Zeller (voice and harmonica on "Don’t Think Twice It's All Right") and Nancy Martinez (voice on "Crying in the Rain"). Here is a very interesting album with a warm atmosphere for this unlikely duo.

In three albums, the Las Vegas quartet has become one of the most prominent bands on the planet, even going so far as to line up three #1 hits on their previous record, Evolve ("Believer", "Thunder" and "Whatever It Takes"). Imagine Dragons come back a year and a half later with Origins, their fourth release, which is the companion to Evolve. The band continues its various sound explorations, not limited to any genre or musical trend. The band can indeed go from heavy rock to pop melodies sometimes even dancing, not to mention some new wave incursions with synthesizers of another era and a little bit of electro of the years 2010. If the result was not always convincing last year, Imagine Dragons seem to have found a better guideline on Origins that turns out a little less chaotic. There are obviously some hits that emerge through the lot (like the inevitable "Natural"), but the whole is linked more pleasantly. The advantage with Imagine Dragons is that you can include their music in any playlist and it remains consistent. If you enjoyed Evolve, you should be thrilled with Origins. (December 2018 Featured Review)

Music Video: « Natural »

The name of The Maple City comes from the nickname of their hometown, Chatham, Ontario. The folk rock collective led by singer-songwriter Jason McFadden presents its debut album, Brief Golden Age. Their roots sound was inspired by both Bob Dylan and Violent Femmes. Their pleasure to play together, among friends, transpires throughout the record, and more particularly in songs like "Come With Me", "Love Means..." and "No Predator / No Prey". Friendship seems indeed at the heart of their work ("Friend of Mine", "Long Lost Friends"). It is a light album that is pleasant to listen to along its length and will surely make you stomp your feet with a smile. (December 2018 Featured New Artist)

Music Video: « Come With Me »

With their debut album four years ago, the English band impressed by their ability to merge dance house and pop beats with strings and classical music. When "Rockabye" (with Sean Paul and Anne-Marie) came out two years ago, Clean Bandit took a more pop turn and it was a huge instant hit. This is probably what dictated the guideline of this new record, while house-classical mergers are from the past (we still find traces of violin and cello though). It's more like a pure dance pop album that is offered to us with What is Love, a refreshing record that has so many immediate hits. Many of these tracks have been released in the last year and have played in a loop all over the place, making the album look like a greatest hits collection. Clean Bandit can recall a modern version of Ace of Base on several occasions with also some hip hop / R&B moments. The band is accompanied by a line-up of renowned artists: Marina and the Diamonds, Elliot Goulding, Big Boi, Rita Ora, Charli XCX, and many others. This is a quality pop record that Clean Bandit offers us with What is Love. (December 2018)

Music Videos: « Rockabye » - « Symphony » - « I Miss You » - « Solo » - « Baby »

With their latest album, the British trio brings us deep into an atmosphere of science fiction, with synthesizers right out of a parallel world. The orchestrations and dubstep disappear completely on Simulation Theory, and the band even tries to rap on "Break It To Me". However, the beats remain dynamic throughout the record that offers a good mix of rock, pop and electro. Above all, Muse arrive with a good cohesion throughout the 11 tracks that total only 42 minutes. It is concise, but vast at the same time with explorations in different directions. There are some passages with somewhat old-fashioned synthesizers that may seem to come from a 1980s B-series sci-fi movie, but the whole is very nice though. Muse live up to their reputation with Simulation Theory. (December 2018)

Music Videos: « The Dark Side » - « Pressure » - « Algorithm »

This is the first album to be released since the death of Chris Cornell in 2017. This is a collection of 17 tracks spanning his entire career, from Soundgarden to his solo work, to Temple of the Dog and Audioslave. You can even hear an unreleased song at the very end, "When Bad Does Good," a song he particularly liked. All the greatest hits are included, except for a few by Soundgarden (there are only four songs by the band that made him known). The whole is presented chronologically and is a good tribute to the career of this unique voice of contemporary rock. Note that a deluxe box of 4 CDs and 64 tracks is also available, including 11 unreleased recordings and a booklet of 54 pages, not to mention a version of 2 vinyl LPs. Finally, a super deluxe version of 4 CDs, 1 DVD and 7 LPs is also on sale for the most demanding fans. (December 2018)

The Ohio duo surprised everyone in 2015 with its album Blurryface which contained the mega hit "Stressed Out". The album has sold over seven million copies around the world and has given the duo the possibility to win their first Grammy. Three years later, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are back with a new record of first quality. Twenty One Pilots are once again able to skillfully mix styles by incorporating alternative rock, rap and electro to their ever-catchy pop music. They do, however, go deep into their personal demons with several dark moments, but they still manage to maintain excellent entertainment. However, we must pay attention to their music which is a little more complex at different times. In short, even if one does not manage to find a hit the size of "Stressed Out", Trench presents a richer and more creative whole than the previous record. Maybe the success was not easy for the duo, but it still results in their best album so far. (November 2018 Featured Review)

Hater is a Swedish band formed in 2016 that arrives in North America with its first album (the second in total). They offer a mix of indie pop and rock with catchy melodies, thanks to the soft voice of Caroline Landahl. She is in the heart of the work of the quartet, its central point around which everything seems to gravitate. The music can sometimes be rather minimalist, but the production of Joakim Lindberg can also lead to arrangements rich of several musical layers. It is this variety that makes Siesta so interesting, right from the first listen. But there is especially room for discovery during subsequent listening. Here is an excellent contemporary indie music album! (November 2018 Featured New Artist)

Toronto singer-songwriter Barbra Lica is back with her fourth album, You're Fine. To get inspiration, she went to Nashville to reflect on the jazz music that influenced her. She also wanted to explore the sound of Music City, merging it with her light jazz pop sound. She co-wrote the album with new collaborators and it was produced in Nashville by Marc Roger. Famous musicians participated in the recordings, including Paul Franklin (Vince Gill, Mark Knopfler, Shania Twain) and multi-instrumentalist Wanda Vick Burchfield (Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Jason Aldean). With You're Fine, Barbra Lica succeeds in the feat of marvelously unifying jazz and country, with as a hyphen her beautiful warm voice. (November 2018)

The Respectables' last album, Sweet Mama, was released in 2009. The quartet from Quebec City is back in Shakespeare's language with The Power of Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones, Dead Daisies). Sébastien Plante and his band present several rock 'n' roll bombs, with some blues influences. Songs like "Give Some", "Wheel in My Hand" and the title track carry the album. In the meantime, the band gets out of their comfort zone in the excellent "Mardi Gras" and presents two ballads with beautiful string arrangements with "As Good As Love Gets" and "Oasis". Without being stunningly original (many already heard times), the set of 11 tracks remains consistent until the end for a fairly solid album, and especially, very enjoyable to listen. (November 2018)

Après un album électronique plutôt froid en Body Talk, Robyn revient avec un enregistrement plus chaud et sensuel. Elle venait pourtant de sortir d’une période difficile et n’avait même plus envie d’enregistrer un nouveau disque. Les chansons de Honey ont été inspirées d’événements sombres (la perte d’un ami, une rupture, etc.), mais il en résulte un album passablement joyeux, voire même ensoleillé. La preuve que la musique peut devenir un bon exutoire pour tous ses malheurs. La chanteuse suédoise propose à nouveau des pièces pop dansantes et énergiques, pour un excellent divertissement. Des titres comme le premier extrait, « Missing U », nous restent inlassablement en tête. L’ensemble est original et cohérent pour l’un de ses albums les plus solides à ce jour. Certainement l’un des meilleurs disques pop de l’année! (November 2018)