Ciera Hamilton

I have a vivid memory of an interaction with a friend of mine in my first year of high school. It was late in the fall right after school. A bunch of us were standing around outside of the north building, talking at length about nothing, like only teenagers can. We got to talking about new music and did our best to impress one another with artists that the other kids hadn’t heard of yet. This one friend regularly humbled us by citing little-known bands that 14-year-olds should have had no way of knowing (especially before social media was a

Daniel Caesar’s Do You Like Me? sounds like it belongs in a different decade. The R&B single has a laid-back, funky sound to it, compliments of the slow-ish tempo and punchy baseline. Coupled with Caesar’s signature high-pitched voice, Do You Like Me? is airy and dreamlike. If you told me the song sampled a single from the 1970s, I’d believe you.   If you listen a little closer and pay attention to the lyrics, the dreaminess fades and brings the listener back to 2023. In it, Caesar tells a story of a complicated relationship he’s in. He finds himself overthinking,

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of stumbling on a great song by an artist that you haven’t heard of before. It can be hard to put into words, but I suspect you know the feeling I’m describing. For me, it’s equal parts excitement and intrigue. I have to hear the song again, followed quickly by a need to know everything about the artist. What else is in their catalogue? And how haven’t I heard of them before?! My deep dives are always followed by scrolling through my mental contact list to find the right friend to share the song

While most holiday media might have you convinced that the white Christmases we usually experience here in Canada are ideal, the reality is, winter weather is typically better experienced on screen than it is in real life. The cold and snow just make everything harder. It takes longer to get ready to leave the house; slick roads add to your travel time; and the days are dark and short. Winter comes around in Toronto by early November, and most years, it sticks around until early April. It’s far less magical than those Hallmark movies will have you believe. Truthfully, by

In a time when many artists are looking to cash in on your holiday coins, Meghan Trainor’s Holidays stands out from the norm.  I admit, I’m generally hesitant to listen when contemporary artists release Christmas albums. They reek of opportunism, and the music that comes out of it rarely stands the test of time. Since Mariah Carey struck gold in 1994, many mainstream artists have taken a page out of her book and tried to replicate her success in some way. In my opinion, this is an unrealistic goal. That kind of success on a Christmas song won’t ever be