Feature

Keonté Beals's coronation

With the debut LP King, Beals cements his legacy as one North Preston's most luminous R&B stars.

Keonté Beals, the soft-spoken R&B luminary of North Preston, had had a hard night.

By Seyitan Moritiwon Oct 1, 2020

Kestrels cracks open

Sometimes, the breaks come at the wrong time—but the Halifax rocker's best music to date couldn't come quick enough.

The year 2017 was a bit on all sides for Kestrels' songwriter Chad Peck, as a long-term relationship and his band dissolved simultaneously.

By Alec Martin Sep 29, 2020

Rich Aucoin's American fever-dream

The dance pop king's new LP, United States, is a tie-dyed exploration of late capitalism and its decay.

The opening notes of Rich Aucoin’s newest album—the oxygen-doused, psychedelic-streaked United States—sounds like the start of a movie: Close your eyes and you can see the screen rouse to life, a nameless city coming into focus.

By Morgan Mullin Sep 25, 2020

Collective Video's singular mission

Radstorm and Bleep in the Dark build a video archive of the sound of 2020.

How long ago was March?

By Alec Martin Sep 10, 2020

Nap Eyes knows what's new is old again

How the band's latest album—Snapshot Of A Beginner—acts as both a mirror and update to its 2014 debut.

If time is a flat circle, there’s one band that has worn down its circumference, a sonic traversing turning into a deep groove filled with shimmery, dirt-speckled indie rock.

By Morgan Mullin Jul 31, 2020

Kye Clayton keeps the beat

As the rapper and beatmaker celebrates a new mixtape, he guides us through the tracks he grew up on.

If 2020 belongs to anyone, a strong claim could be made on behalf of Halifax's own Kye Clayton: He's already dropped two EPs and several singles this year, all while growing the record label he co-founded, Let Dreams Be Noticed and becoming the valedictorian of his high school class. Furthering his case?

By Morgan Mullin Jul 25, 2020

Keonté Beals: A king secures his crown

The North Preston R&B heavyweight returns with a single made for this very moment.

Keonté Beals might have written his latest single—the newly released "King"—in 2019, but it's a song that holds the pulse of 2020 in its soaring piano intro.

By Alec Martin Jul 16, 2020

Kye Clayton, fresh prince of Uniacke Square

As part of our feature on the up-and-coming rapper/beatmaker, we ask Clayton to freestyle for The Coast.

“If the beat talks to me, I know exactly what I’m going to speak about on the beat. So I play a beat, freestyle the whole song—and then I’ll re-write certain words that don’t make sense or could be filtered.

By Morgan Mullin Jun 25, 2020

Video

It's Kye Clayton's time

The young rapper and beatmaker is sharing his story to connect with yours.

Kye Clayton waits for no one.

By Morgan Mullin Jun 25, 2020

Jah'Mila releases reggae rallying call to end police brutality

"Reggae has been the voice of the oppressed since its genesis," the Halifax singer says.

Jah’Mila’s “Chant Their Names” is a reggae anthem calling for justice, action and an end to police brutality—all while ensuring that no story is forgotten.

By Alec Martin Jun 18, 2020

“Music, lyrics, and sounds can just bring this type of self-acceptance that we need.”

R&B force Kwento explains music as medicine for the soul.

Music As Healing: A Zoom Panel feat. Kwento, NAT Chantel, Lindsay Dobbin, Rebecca Fairless, Bianca Palmer and Danielle Jakubiak Thu June 11, 7pm everyseeker.com

By Alec Martin Jun 11, 2020

At Home with Botfly

A raw re-imagining of the hardcore band's catalogue brings new depth.

With its latest EP, At Home with Alex, Botfly has stripped its sound bare—releasing something vulnerable, beautiful and surreal in the process.

By Alec Martin May 27, 2020

David Myles, hopeless romantic

Why Leave Tonight will make you believe in love songs—and easy listening.

The first time you listen to David Myles’s Leave Tonight, you’ll bite your lip.

By Morgan Mullin May 14, 2020

Aquakultre's feast of a lifetime

How the band's debut LP Legacy sets the table for excellence.

It’s clear from the very first guitar strum that opens Legacy—the long-awaited debut LP from neo-soul superstar-in-the-making Aquakultre—that the table is set.

By Morgan Mullin May 7, 2020

Video

Norma MacDonald's <i>Old Future</i> and new vision

Norma MacDonald's Old Future and new vision

The alt-country queen leans into the influences she long ran from.

Talking with singer-songwriter Norma MacDonald, it becomes clear almost immediately that she doesn’t just draw her creative waters from the same wells as Loretta Lynn or Kris Kristoffersen: She also drinks deeply from them, saying things like “most songwriting is nostalgia anyway”—which could be a lyric ripped from the songbook of either alt-country great if it didn’t flow from MacDonald’s mouth in an easy, conversational current.

By Morgan Mullin Apr 30, 2020

Bring Halifax culture home with our arts streaming guide, April 27-May 3

Halifax and Halifax-connected Sure Things to enjoy from a safe social distance.

Monday, April 27 Trivia for Shut-ins

By Morgan Mullin Apr 27, 2020

Bring Halifax culture home with our arts streaming guide for April 20-26

The must-see live streams for the week of April 20-26.

Monday, April 20 Cris Derksen The Juno-nominated cellist and composer known for the work

By Morgan Mullin Apr 20, 2020

How to do karaoke at home with your friends like you're at the Lion's Head with Laurie The Guy

COVID sucks. Karaoke doesn't.

Step 1 Download Zoom.

By Caora McKenna Apr 17, 2020 7:23 pm

Karaoke Karaoke at home how to do karaoke at home

Beauts and the beats

Change is here: perhaps Beauts' deeply listenable Dalliance is the perfect soundtrack for it.

“There’s something fleeting about the idea of a dalliance,” says Beauts lyricist Jeff Lawton.

By Sam Gillett Apr 9, 2020 11:58 am

Rose Cousins is dancing on her own

The singer-songwriter’s new album explains the difference between loneliness and being alone.

Rose Cousins w/John Paul White Mar 19, 8pm Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue $28-$33

By Jade Nauss Mar 12, 2020

Rose Cousins Rebecca Cohn Auditorium

Nomadic Homes plants sonic roots

Chris Rayner’s bedroom recording project releases a fuzzed-out, nostalgia-seeped debut LP.

After wandering through the Halifax music scene over the last three-plus years, Nomadic Homes is ready to release something permanent, something settled.

By Jonathan Briggins Mar 12, 2020

Human Sounds Records Nomadic Homes