Bahamas

Yes, Bahamas—Toronto’s Afie Jurvanen—was once Feist’s tour guitarist. But he isn’t so much a descendent of her tree, as he’s cultivated from the loam of Canadian folk, which is crystallizing a distinctive trait: an unfussy, believable honesty. Danny Michel, Sarah Harmer and Feist too—they sing of universal sadness and believe every word. Jurvanen does too, and it’s a giant leap from Pink Strat, which toyed similarly with empty space and spare songwriting, but did so over-seriously and without the playful derring-do of Barchords’ sticky riffs. The laidback, loping melodies brace his messy missives from sad and angry breakups—a tender tempest you can only expect from a man named Bahamas.