Spring 2025 album guide: 16 new releases you need to hear

CBC

24-04-2025

Spring has sprung, and with the new season comes new music.
There's so much to dig into: R&B is in good hands, thanks to Jessie Reyez and Aqyila; hip-hop runs the gamut from Nav to Lou Phelps; rock, in all its iterations, is repped by Pup and Finn Wolfhard; and electronic music gets experimental as ever with help from Shub and Raf Reza.
From early releases that we've been loving since late March, to upcoming albums we're waiting on with anticipation, check out all the albums and EPs we'll have on heavy rotation this spring.
Nico Paulo's 2023 self-titled debut album was a gorgeous work tied to emotion more than era, and now the Portuguese Canadian singer-songwriter is gifting us a five-song EP of ambient meditations that hold the same timeless quality. Composed before Paulo found out she was pregnant, then recorded just after, Interval_o is meant to meet you where you are. "I was feeling like I had run out of things to say, but I still want to sing to people," Paulo said via press release. "I was wondering, 'Is there a way of doing that? Can I still keep people company with words and sound and not have to tell a full story?'" Produced by Joshua Van Tassel and featuring contributions from Paulo's partner, Adam Hogan, on acoustic guitar and Kyle Cunjak on acoustic bass, Intervals_o is an all-too-brief 14 minutes that will help you move through whatever metamorphosis you're facing in 2025. — Holly Gordon
Artist: Nav
Album: Omw 2 Rexdale
Release date: March 28
At the end of March, rapper Nav released Omw 2 Rexdale, an album that is a mild return to the spacey, atmospheric and melody-driven sound that got him signed to the Weeknd's XO label in 2017. The project is succinct and purposeful, with 14 songs that not only reflect Nav's underdog beginnings but also showcase his growth and success in the years since. Standout songs like Burbs, U.N.I. and Red all feature the hard-hitting and smooth production fans have come to love from Nav. — Bhaven Moorthy
Reyez's third album continues to expand the Toronto artist's sonic palette while being anchored by her signature brand of fearless songwriting. From the smooth R&B of **Cudn't B Me to the disco-pop bounce of **NYB**, not to mention the all-star cast of features including Sam Smith, Lil Yachty and Miguel, Reyez proves that she's a jack of all trades with an arsenal of soon-to-be chart-topping hits. — ML
Artist: Destroyer
Album: Dan's Boogie
Release date: March 28
Dan Bejar continues to surprise and delight fans on Destroyer's 14th studio album, Dan's Boogie. Despite what the title may suggest, these nine songs aren't your straightforward dance anthems; instead they soundtrack a smoky lounge that lives in a Lynchian alternate universe — a perfect extension of the beloved Destroyer sonic world. — ML
Aqyila's debut album, Falling Into Place, was a long time coming, and the collection of 11 songs were well worth the wait. The Toronto singer made viral moments during the pandemic TikTok boom work in her favour, slowly amassing a fanbase that keeps coming back for her delectable morsels of pristine R&B. On the album, she's really come into her sound — Bloom, her breakout hit from 2024, is a testament to that — and has begun experimenting with more pop-leaning melodies, like on the endlessly catchy Wolf. Falling Into Place is Aqyila's official arrival as an undeniable fixture in the country's R&B scene. — Kelsey Adams
Watch Aqyila's soulful performance of Bloom at the 2025 Juno Awards
Back in 2011, two brothers from Montreal launched a hip-hop duo called the Celestics, and after 2014 they moved on to solo projects. For any past fans, Lou Phelps's new album, Chèlbè, produced in large part by his brother, Kaytranada, will feel like a welcome return. The album is equal parts fun, summery bops and introspective, existential moments all pulled together by Lou Phelps's signature cheeky delivery. Many listeners know Kaytranada as an electronic music powerhouse, but his beat-making roots are in hip-hop, and it's always a treat to hear him return to form. — KA
To mark the occasion of Joel Plaskett's 50th birthday, 22 of his friends and collaborators secretly came together to record a tribute album of songs pulled from the beloved singer-songwriter's catalogue. Titled Songs From the Gang — a nod to a song from Plaskett's first band, Thrush Hermit: Songs for the Gang, off the group's final record, Clayton Park — the tribute album boasts heartfelt reworkings by Mo Kenney, City and Colour, Julian Taylor, Jah'Mila, Sloan and Alan Syliboy and the Thundermakers, who described their contribution as an "Indigenized" version of Nowhere With You, including a translation of some lyrics into Mi'kmaq. Jenn Grant, who covered Lying on a Beach, perfectly summed up the album's heart in the liner notes: "It's a joyous thing to celebrate the continued legacy of this artist and friend, and the eagerness of all to be a part of it is part of what makes this scene so special, and what it has always been about." — HG
Shub (formerly known as DJ Shub) builds on the energetic, hypnotizing sounds of his first solo record, War Club, with the first part of his new album, Heritage. Rippling with rapid beats, Shub shows off a slightly more pop-leaning sound on the project's first singles, Victorious and Long Way Down. The voices of Tia Wood and Badlook propel those tracks, spotlighting how the pathways to success can be a roller-coaster ride. Catchy hooks abound over anthemic rhythms. "I wanted this album to be a celebration of our traditions while pushing the sound of powwow step forward," Shub said in a statement, adding that the record's concepts spotlight "resilience, identity and bridging the past with the future." Polished vocal performances intermingle with powerful drumming and crisp drum and bass breaks, all expertly woven together by Shub's invigorating production, which will inspire bodies to dance. — Natalie Harmsen
Raf Reza's Ekbar is a testament to the mix of diasporas that converge in cities like Toronto. The Bangladeshi Canadian producer's devotion to Jamaican dub music persists on this new record, but for the first time he's implementing Baul folk music from Bangladesh in his carefully crafted pieces. "There is a seed from all the musical musings throughout my life, scattered across this record. Those of [you] who know me, know about my fascination with the subsonic frequencies of the soundsystem. I wanted to channel that feeling through the lens of my diasporic experience as a Bangladeshi growing up outside of my home country," he shared on Instagram. On the album opener, Taal Riddim, Reza welcomes listeners into his esoteric sonic exploration: the imminently danceable track begins like a call to prayer, then descends into a polyrhythmic sensual smorgasbord pulled together with a hypnotic vocal sample. His time spent digging through crates in London record shops is on display in the music, as is his dedicated study of '80s and '90s Bengali music. — KA
Artists: Bells Larsen
Album: Blurring Time
Release date: April 25
Bells Larsen's sophomore album has been years in the making, but one could also argue it's been a lifetime. The Toronto-raised, Montreal-based singer-songwriter planned Blurring Time to follow his transition, recording his voice before he started taking testosterone, then waiting for his voice to drop to record again. Working with friend Georgia Harmer, the two wrote arrangements for Larsen's new voice, and Blurring Time is where the two voices meet: sometimes harmonizing, other times letting one take lead over the other. "Many coming-of-age stories are furnished with dichotomies of the before and the after, without the two ever merging," Larsen said via press release. "I didn't want to have to choose between showcasing my past or present. Through the creation of this album — and of myself, I suppose — I wanted to change 'or' to 'and' with the hopes of extending a hand to older versions of myself, carrying them with me as I grow." Larsen weaves his past and present with an open heart and bilingual lyrics, moving through relationships both familial and romantic. With a sensibility that immediately draws connection to Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker, Blurring Time is a gorgeous coming-of-age story that we're lucky to witness. — HG
It's been three years since Lights' last album, but the electro-pop star has been busier than ever, releasing music with Felix Cartal, Eddie and Pvris in the interim, as well as touring with Deadmau5. But this year, Lights is ready to refocus her energy on a new album, aptly titled A6 (short for "album six"). On lead single Damage, she reassesses her identity, trying to figure out which parts are "really me, and which are a response to the way we've all been conditioned by our present circumstances," as she explained in a statement. In its accompanying video, we see Lights chop off her signature long hair to shed those outside pressures and expectations. What's left, as revealed on A6, is a mix of songs that are true to her pop form (White Paper Palm Trees) next to deeper explorations of darker themes (Alive Again) and darker sounds (the nocturnal German turn on Surface Tension). With A6, Lights continues to show us why she's one of the country's most reliable pop songwriters. — ML
If there's one thing Toronto punk band Pup knows how to do, it's let it rip. And on the group's fifth album, the bandmates do exactly that, turning up their feelings — and amps — to full volume. The first three singles from Who Will Look After the Dogs? are a well-rounded sampling of growth: there's the riotous energy of Get Dumber, which growls with twitchy guitars and frontman Stefan Babcock's explosive vocals; the heartache-y lyricism on Hallways that slowly fizzes with sadness; and the frenetic pacing of Paranoid, on which the band asks, "Did you get what you wanted?" But each piece fits into the overall project, with a splash of existential dread humming at its core. In a press release, the band explained that it "rediscovered the joy of making loud music together," and that sunny attitude shines through, even on the more intense songs tackling heartbreak, introspection and other obstacles of adulthood. Who Will Look After the Dogs? feels fully realized, acting as a tight group hug celebrating what it means to be in a band, growing alongside each other. — NH
The Montreal music collective Moonshine is back at it again, with the sixth iteration of its beloved SMS for Location mixtapes. As always, Vol. 6 is a journey through the African continent, with the consummate tastemakers joined by a plethora of guests across the mixtape's 20 tracks. Angolan batida, Congolese rumba, Tanzanian singeli and South African amapiano meet R&B and hip-hop in a collision of sounds designed to cover a dance floor in sweat. The four singles that have been released so far traverse such disparate sonic terrain, from the melodious Afrobeat groove of Moon to the hair-raising gqom of Monkey Effects, which is a reflection of Moonshine's ability to bring multiple musical conversations together cohesively. The collective's boundary-pushing counterparts — DJ Lag, Bianca Oblivion, Uniiqu3, Vanyfox and Black Rave Culture, to name a few — all bring the heat, drama and musicality that a Moonshine production demands. — KA
While Montreal band Stars has maintained a steady output over the decades, it's been 16 years since singer Amy Millan has released a solo project. (For those unfamiliar, we highly recommend checking out Millan's first two albums: 2006's Honey From the Tombs and 2009's Masters of the Burial.) While I Went to Find You is a solo album, much of it came together thanks to a collaborative relationship that formed between Millan and musician Jay McCarrol, best known for his film scores for Blackberry and The Kid Detective (McCarrol is credited as a songwriter and producer on the album). On the lush make way for waves and the gentle waltz of wire walks, Millan thoughtfully reflects on the passage of time and the self-revelations that come with that. There's beauty and wisdom woven throughout, even if the answers revealed aren't always the ones you expected. "I thought when I was younger time would mend all wounds, but I was wrong, it does not," Millan said, of wire walks. Even so, Millan's self-described "gentle songs for difficult times" might just be what we need right now. — ML
It's been seven years since Foxwarren's self-titled first album dropped, and on the followup, 2, Dallas Bryson, Avery Kissick, Darryl Kissick, Colin Nealis and Andy Shauf have expanded on their folksy, singer-songwriter sound by weaving in zippy guitar and unusual samples. The album's first single, Listen2me, features a sample of a mysterious voice before a wash of fuzzy, reverb-y guitar sweeps in, similar to the sounds that first cropped up on the band's first ever single, Everything Apart. However, this time things chug along with a more psychedelic tinge. The band used a sampler to circulate new sounds (think: barking, dialogue between two lovers) and ideas when making the album, opening them up to a kaleidoscopic range. On the first half, there's a hum of strings and bouncy piano that lay the groundwork for later songs where guitar riffs buzz as Shauf begs someone to continue dancing. Further in, an unusual funk-inspired groove punctuated by gentle handclaps bleeds into the closing tracks. Each song is a blur of unexpected sonic collisions, and the result is a playful, whimsical experiment that mines soft rhythms and eccentric textures to ground the group across space and time. — NH
Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard knows his way around a guitar: He used to front the band Calpurnia and later released an album with the Aubreys. Now, he's gearing up to drop his first solo record, Happy Birthday, which fits comfortably in the same vein as those other projects with its summery, Mac DeMarco-esque indie rock. It's fuzzy and lo-fi, and embraces all of the ups and downs of early adulthood: "Why spend the night alone when we can lose tomorrow?" he sings on Choose the latter. "I soon noticed a recurring theme in my writing: identity, my place in the world, anxiety, becoming a young adult, losing relationships, feeling uncomfortable with my emotions — basically, all the good stuff," Wolfhard shared on his website about the project. Growth is rarely linear and isn't always pleasant, but Wolfhard leans into the quirkiness of it all. On Trailers after dark he sings about missing a past love and on Choose the latter, he pushes himself to chase excitement. With each track, there's enough of a balance between lighthearted humour and introspection that it all comes across as genuine fun with Wolfhard's breezy vocals guiding listeners through. — NH