Canadian Musician - September/October 2021 | Page 78

SHOW CASE

canadianmusician . com / showcase
If you are an unsigned Canadian artist and would like to be featured in Showcase , visit www . applyforshowcase . com . Submissions are free - all you need is a Reverbnation account with a high-res photo .
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A CALMER COLLISION
What : Alternative Rock / New Wave Where : Toronto , ON Visit : www . acalmercollision . com
A Calmer Collision is the artist moniker of U . S . Gold Record-winning producer / engineer , Ryan McCambridge ( Metric , Birds of Tokyo , IAMX ), in collaboration with three-time Grammy-winning producer , David Bottrill ( Muse , Peter Gabriel , Tool ). A labour of love , the independent project grew from their professional work together with iconic artists like Rush and Mastodon , developed during downtime in their Toronto-based recording studios .
The music delivers a modern rock and roll feel that ’ s influenced by the darker side of ‘ 80s new wave , with elements that are reminiscent of The Cure and Depeche Mode . It manages to be equal parts classic and modern , though not pastiche . And like those classic bands , and unlike a lot of current indie rock , A Calmer Collision has not forgotten the value of a good chorus , with songs like “ Lost Bloodlines ” and the lead single “ Higher Laws ” offering them up in spades . The music also attracted contributions from McCambridge and Bottrill ’ s wider music community . Erik Alcock , whose voice and writing has contributed to songs by Kanye West , Nas , and Eminem , lends additional vocals to “ Higher Laws .” As well , Jeff Schroeder of The Smashing Pumpkins can be heard on “ Willing to Burn ” with guitar work that punctuates the album ’ s closing crescendo .
Super Freddy is a Cameroonian-Canadian artist blending hip-hop with R & B , jazz , soul , afrobeat , and house influences and samples in order , as he says , to tell stories and travel through space . Impressively , he ’ s able to sing and rap in both English and French and do it very well in both languages . Though he has been making music since 2008 , his first foray into the music industry was in 2015 with the release of his MTL Nights Vol . I mixtape , followed up by a series of performances and showcases in Montreal .
After three years of regularly performing around the city , releasing music and collaborating with artists such as UZUAZO and E R R O R , Freddy spent time working on his craft in the U . K . and New York . Now back in Montreal and part of the Ice Coast Entertainment Collective , his most recent project , the three-song MERCURIAL EP , is an exploration of the themes of physical distance , diaspora , and third culture experience , disconnection from one ’ s roots and family , as well as feelings of loss and change , presented through an Afrofuturist lens .
SUPER FREDDY
What : Hip-Hop / R & B / Afrobeat Where : Montreal , QC Visit : www . direct . me / superfreddy24
SHANNON ROSZELL
What : Symphonic Indie Rock Where : Kawartha Lakes , ON Visit : www . shannonroszell . com
Singer-songwriter Shannon Roszell has been turning heads with her powerful and distinctive voice that elicits memories of the late , great Cranberries frontwoman Dolores O ’ Riordan . And like the Cranberries , Roszell ’ s music offers an expansive spin on rock and roll . Her latest single , “ My Escape ,” which is produced Frank Gryner ( A Perfect Circle , Rob Zombie , Emm Gryner ), is a surrealistic , summer requiem inspired by Canadian poet Alden Nowlan ’ s I , Icarus . The music fuses orchestral voicings with searing electric guitar and her captivating vocals .
“ With ‘ My Escape ,’ I tried to capture that moment when you ’ ve been pushed so far , you want to scream at the top of your lungs . The fantasy goes beyond that and imagines that scream having enough force to break a window , allowing escape by flying through a cool , night breeze . Because who hasn ’ t dreamed of flying , especially to escape a summer heatwave and a broken heart ?!” Roszell explains . Her debut album is expected in the spring of 2022 and we ’ ll be keeping our ears out for it .
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