How long ago was March? Technically, it’s been 162 days. But it’s also been several lifetimes and several rapid blinks, as a global pandemic and a social justice uprising changed everything over and over again. How long until it’ll be normal again? Technically, not at least until there’s a vaccine that’s widely administered for COVID-19. […]
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Posted inArts + Music
Nap Eyes knows what’s new is old again
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. If time is a flat circle, there’s one band that can pick it up on its edge and roll it down the road in a Ravi […]
Posted inArts + Music
Kye Clayton keeps the beat
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? The fact he’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Keonté Beals: A king secures his crown
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. Tackling themes surrounding religion, mental health, toxic masculinity and life as a young Black man, it marks a new direction for Beals, both musically and lyrically. “I think […]
Posted inArts + Music
Kye Clayton, fresh prince of Uniacke Square
“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. I freestyle so I can get a good flow on the song instead of writing […]
Posted inArts + Music
It’s Kye Clayton’s time
Kye Clayton waits for no one. He doesn’t get caught up watching for the right time: The prodigious, prolific MC has released more music in the last six months than most rappers do in a year. He doesn’t pause, holding out for the perfect moment to begin: After all, in ninth grade, when he decided […]
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Jah’Mila releases reggae rallying call to end police brutality
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. The track (and its accompanying video) came out weeks after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Jah’Mila—arguably the biggest name in Halifax reggae—lists the names of Black people […]
Posted inArts + Music
“Music, lyrics, and sounds can just bring this type of self-acceptance that we need.”
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 From creation to application, Halifax singer-songwriter Kwento sees music as a way to heal, restore and overcome. Tonight at 7pm, she will be a part of a Zoom panel discussing the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
At Home with Botfly
With its latest EP, At Home with Alex, Botfly has stripped its sound bare—releasing something vulnerable, beautiful and surreal in the process. Five of the group’s songs have been reworked into minimal arrangements of guitar and vocals. These recordings are raw. They allow the listener to process the emotional intensity of Botfly’s music in a […]
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David Myles, hopeless romantic
The first time you listen to David Myles’s Leave Tonight, you’ll bite your lip. Your teeth press down as the opening notes lift—because this is mood music and frankly, had you known, you’d have shown up better dressed. The bite becomes a chew as you realize oh, is this what smooth sounds like? (Spoiler alert: […]
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Aquakultre’s feast of a lifetime
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. The CBC Searchlight winner’s record asks upon entry that you taste its opulence. There are pomegranates strewn on the linen; deep bowls of cold-skinned grapes; flaky sea salt swimming atop combs of honey. […]
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Norma MacDonald’s Old Future and new vision
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 […]