The Beaches' late-night party anthem, and 4 more songs you need to hear this week

CBC

16-04-2025

Listen to new music from Allison Russell, Bambii, Sister Ray and more
Image | The Beaches SYNTH
Caption: The Beaches' new single, Last Girls at the Party, is a song you need to hear this week. (Meg Moon; graphic by CBC Music)
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Songs you need to hear is CBC Music's weekly list of hot new Canadian tracks.
Scroll down to discover the songs our producers are loving right now.
Last Girls at the Party, The Beaches
After taking home the 2025 Juno Award for group of the year, Toronto band the Beaches celebrated by releasing their first new single of the year, and a sneak peek at their upcoming third studio album, No Hard Feelings (out Aug. 29). Last Girls at the Party finds the women in their comfort zone: in the midst of a debaucherous night out, determined to party long after everyone else has gone home. "I'm not gonna slow down/ I'll never look as hot as I do now," singer Jordan Miller states upfront. The track is exuberant and so catchy that it'll likely stay in your head all night long, especially its shout-along bridge where they note how hours fly by when you're having fun ("It's only 1:00, right? It's only 2:00, right? It's only 3:00, right?"). Whether you're getting ready to head out for the evening or approaching last call, Last Girls at the Party is a new anthem for your night out playlist. — Melody Lau
Junos 2025: full list of winners
Superlover, Allison Russell feat. Annie Lennox
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Annie Lennox and Allison Russell are powerhouse musicians and activists in their own right, but together? They stop time. From Russell's first banjo notes, Superlover stands tall and sombre, a plea for peace and unity. "Tears of rage, tears of grief/ Palestine, Israel to Tennessee/ we need a superlove/ we need a superlover," she sings on the updated version of a song she originally released in 2018 as Birds of Chicago, the duo with her husband, JT Nero. Lennox's inimitable voice, which hasn't been recorded in seven years, takes over on the second verse, before she and Russell lace together for a goosebump-inducing chorus. Superlover is meditative and thoughtful, a prayer for the non-denominational. "I don't know how to pray, so I offered up this song," Russell explained in a statement, ending with: "All children are our children. All of them. Everywhere. No exceptions. This song is a calling in. We are one human family. Equally." — Holly Gordon
Wings, Sister Ray
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Sister Ray (the folk project of Ella Coyes) has a voice that coils around each note before unfurling over gentle guitar strumming on Wings, the escapist track from their second album, Believer. "I know exactly which ride I'm gonna want to ride first when I arrive with you," they sing on the track's opening line, flowing over bristling guitar. Each word floats up, sounding untethered and free. "The first verse is from 2020, watching videos of Canada's Wonderland rollercoasters, trying to feel the rush of the descent locked inside," Coyes explained on Instagram, pinpointing that butterfly-inducing feeling of creeping toward something new. The writing is equal parts quirky and poetic: "I could tell that you were wasted even in a foreign language/ You stare at stars/ I call out constellations," they sing matter-of-factly, the uniqueness of their inner monologue shining through. Wings is rollicking Americana, with Coyes basking in the excitement of uncertainty. — Natalie Harmsen
Bad Boy, Bambii
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When a distorted voice bellows "It's time to feel the music," before the cacophonous drop on Bambii's latest single, Bad Boy, it's a warning for the adrenaline rush to come. The Toronto producer and DJ's first solo release of 2025 (she appeared on Shygirl's EP Club Shy Room 2 in February) teases an explosive new era ahead of her upcoming EP. It's not that Bambii has shied away from bold and brash sounds in the past (hear: Spit and Shh), but Bad Boy is in a world of its own. Clashing drum breaks and dark horns ricochet across the heart-rate inducing track, ready to overwhelm all your senses. The accompanying music video, which finds Bambii squaring up against three assailants, taps into the song's primal energy. — Kelsey Adams
I Think I Do This, Sophie Noel
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Unravelling unhealthy relationship patterns can be a painful experience, but Nova Scotia-based Sophie Noel has managed to wrap that work up in a perfectly timed spring bop. "I think I do this/ I think I fall out of love, and I barely notice," they sing charmingly on the chorus, after detailing a near panic attack and a last-ditch effort to save a relationship in a Tanya Davis-style flood of nuance. Produced by Mo Kenney, I Think I Do This dips a folk sensibility in pop sheen, and cements the artist formerly known as Yukon's Magnolia as a now East Coast voice to watch. This newest track is the second in a one-two punch of releases that dropped just ahead of Sophie Noel's Eastern Canada spring tour, following the previously released Hurricane. — HG