Fall is often the busiest month for music releases, as it’s the final chance for artists to make an impact before Christmas tunes take over airplay and year-end lists are finalized. So it’s no wonder that this year’s fall slate includes long-awaited albums from some of Canada’s biggest stars, from Nelly Furtado to the Weeknd. But there are also lots of great emerging talents waiting to be discovered, too, with debut projects from Nicky Lawrence and Tia Wood.
Below are 21 Canadian albums we’re looking forward to hearing this fall.
Artist: Nelly Furtado
Album: 7
Release date: Sept. 20
It’s been seven years since Nelly Furtado released her last album, but rest assured the Grammy-winning star is back in peak pop shape, as she sings on one of her new tracks: “So I took the time, now I’m better than ever.” On 7, Furtado brings together all the sounds she’s explored in the past, but modernized to fit neatly on the charts today. She embraces Latin pop on the Bomba Estéreo-assisted “Corazón”; she pushes her dance boundaries on “Love Bites” featuring Tove Lo and SG Lewis; and she slows things down on the soulful piano ballad “All Comes Back” alongside R&B artist Charlotte Day Wilson. The songs take listeners through Furtado’s journey of heartbreak and rediscovering her identity, and the joy and confidence is palpable throughout the album’s 14 tracks. “I found my voice again,” she said in a statement. And we couldn’t be more excited to welcome back one of Canada’s best pop stars. — Melody Lau
Artist: Dylan Sinclair
Album: For the Boy in Me
Release date: Sept. 27
Dylan Sinclair’s lovelorn R&B has shone on several EPs, and even helped him score two Juno nominations. Now, he’s finally prepared to drop his debut album, For the Boy in Me, and it’s a deep dive into Sinclair’s growth from heartbreak kid to loverboy. The melancholy taste of songs such as “If You Feel Like Leaving Me” from his last EP, No Longer in the Suburbs, feels incredibly distant in comparison to the sounds of the first few singles on For the Boy in Me: “Lemon Trees” is a hazy song that has nostalgic traces of early Usher or Miguel; “Forever” contrasts Sinclair’s emotional vocalizing against minimalist instrumentation; and “I Lo<3 My Ex” boasts a Daniel Caesar-ish sense of experimentation (think: his track “Homiesexual”). But across all songs, there’s an air of playfulness and imagination that helps each song soar, as Sinclair embraces his candid side. “She don’t wanna leave/ she won’t let me go/ she says it’s me and her against the globe,” he sings on “Forever,” making it clear that he’s evolved past the lust he felt on No Longer in the Suburbs. Now, his dizzying desires have blossomed into a full-blown romance. — Natalie Harmsen
Artist: Mustafa
Album: Dunya
Release date: Sept. 27
Toronto folk artist Mustafa has delivered yet another gorgeous and heartrending record with Dunya. The new album follows 2021’s When Smoke Rises, which included singles “Stay Alive” and “Ali,” which thrust him into the spotlight after years of songwriting behind the scenes for other artists (the Weeknd, Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez). If When Smoke Rises was a way of memorializing the friends and loved ones Mustafa lost to gang violence, Dunya is a deeper exploration into his own psyche and the ramifications of all that he’s witnessed. The album is deeply personal, but Mustafa still found ways to invite collaborators in to share these intimate stories: Rosalia, Aaron Dessner, Clairo, Daniel Caesar, Nicolas Jaar and Simon Hessman all have songwriting or production credits. On Dunya, Mustafa parses over his relationship with God, his religion, the resentment, but also the love he holds for the hood and the city that made him. The crux of the album’s penultimate song, “Leaving Toronto” featuring Caesar, lies in the line “I’m leaving Toronto/ if it ever lets me go.” The latest single “Old Life” encapsulates a similar sentiment, as Mustafa reminisces about a past relationship that became fractured by life in the hood. Dunya feels like both a farewell and a welcoming, as Mustafa comes to terms with who he is as an artist and as a man. — Kelsey Adams
Artist: Tia Wood
Album: Pretty Red Bird
Release date: Sept. 27
The anthemic, soaring sounds of Tia Wood’s debut single, “Dirt Roads,” immediately cemented the emerging singer-songwriter as a dynamic force: “Should I take out my braids or leave ’em in?/ They look at me like I’m a martian,” she sings, her impassioned vocals stretching all the way back to her home in Saddle Creek, Alta. Wood has been performing for years with her musical family — her sister is Juno-winning singer Fawn Wood; her father, Earl Wood, is part of the drumming group Northern Cree; her mother, Cynthia Jim-Wood, was part of an all-women drumming group — and now her debut EP, Pretty Red Bird, highlights those sounds of her heritage alongside her own upbeat blend of R&B and pop. “Losing Game” has smooth grooves about moving on from a romance that’s petering out, while “Catch and Release” is a soulful yet dreamy ode to growing up. “I love to intertwine Indigenous vocals and sounds as well, because my traditional music is where I got my start,” she told Vogue earlier this year. Identity and love are the core themes of the project, with Wood’s effervescent charm lighting up each song. — NH
Artist: Caribou
Album: Honey
Release date: Oct. 4
Armed with his handy synthesizer, Caribou (a.k.a. Dan Snaith) has returned with another banger. Four years after his last album, Suddenly, the electronica stalwart delivers an atmospheric smorgasbord of sounds that entice, enthral and titillate the senses. Honey is a collection of songs teeming with life, pulsing with energy and high-octane BPMs. There are a couple moments to rest and catch your breath (“Campfire,””Only You”) but for the most part, Honey keeps your heart rate up. The first song on the album, “Broke my Heart,” is a heartbreak anthem on steroids, amped all the way up for those who prefer the dance floor to a pint of ice cream. Cheery synths and glittery hi-hats abound throughout the record, while sparse but vibrant vocals lift the productions without stealing focus from the intricate walls of sound that Snaith is crafting.— KA
Artist: Jonah Yano
Album: Jonah Yano & the Heavy Loop
Release date: Oct. 4
Jonah Yano has quickly become one of Toronto’s most in-demand collaborators. Having cut his teeth working with BadBadNotGood, he has more recently been tapped by Mustafa and Charlotte Day Wilson to work on their latest albums, while also putting out projects with Le Ren, Ouri and Clairo, the latter two of whom appear on his upcoming third album, Jonah Yano & the Heavy Loop. Yano’s own music displays all the qualities that make him so attractive to his peers: an easygoing spirit that’s open and experimental paired with a raw emotionality that can only emerge from such a natural setting. On Heavy Loop, Yano is backed by a five-piece band, but whether he’s navigating big, bright bursts of horns or more intimate acoustic riffs, Yano is always striving for connection. “No one’s here, I’m looking for my lover,” he sings on “Romance ESL.” “No one’s here, is anybody there?” From the sound of his growing portfolio and the beautiful output on his new album, Yano shines whether in community or solo. — ML
Artist: Klô Pelgag
Album: Abracadabra
Release date: Oct. 11
Giving yourself over to the creative mind of Klô Pelgag is always a privilege, and the Quebec singer-songwriter and composer is back this fall with a fourth full-length that will cast a whole new spell. Abracadabra is the followup to Pelgag’s Polaris-shortlisted and Juno-nominated 2020 release, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs, an album that wrestled with the intense grief the singer experienced after the death of her father. That album had glimpses of joy, too, and Abracadabra leans into that bright space, as Pelgag takes the helm as producer and joins forces with bandmates Étienne Dupré (bass), François Zaïdan (guitar), Pete Pételle (drums) and Virginie Reid (keyboards). Each of Abracadabra‘s 12 tracks are self-contained worlds, as Pelgag builds tension and release into each richly layered experience. With Abracadabra, Pelgag sounds like she has an entire orchestra at her fingertips — and that’s just the beginning of the magic she wields. — Holly Gordon
Artist: Pillow Fite
Album: Hard Feelings, Soft Promises
Release date: Oct. 11
“What if Suzanne Vega fronted the Strokes, but they were gay and poor?” This self-description from Halifax’s Pillow Fite contains so much so quickly (and so hilariously), making it the perfect introduction for anyone who hasn’t yet heard the folk-pop duo of Art Ross and Aaron Green. Formed mid-pandemic, Pillow Fite has evolved over the last handful of years into a band that steadily delivers an alluring combination of gut-punching lyrics atop guitar riffs and tones that settle in your bones. “How do I go after that?/ Grabbing your face, wanting it to last/ why’d it have to be so fast?” Ross sings on recent single “More of That,” conveying a vulnerability that permeates much of their work — and one of the reasons Pillow Fite’s music resonates so easily. The true mark of a Pillow Fite project is something that deftly braids sadness with humour and joy, and Hard Feelings, Soft Promises — the duo’s debut full-length album — delivers in spades. — HG
Artist: Wolf Castle
Album: Waiting for the Dawn
Release date: Oct. 18
They say it’s always darkest before the dawn, but the truth is that a whole world exists in the colours before sunrise — and on Wolf Castle’s new album, the Mi’kmaq rapper uses the night sky as a timeline for both personal and professional evaluation. Just before starting work on Waiting for the Dawn, Wolf Castle, a.k.a Tristan Grant, lost his grandfather, Gilbert Sewell, a former Pabineau First Nation chief. It spurred a reckoning. “It got me thinking about life and death, and how I’m 27 — I’m not a kid anymore, I have real life responsibilities,” he explained via press release. “It kicked me in the ass to work on myself and be like, ‘Hey, what do you really want to do?'”
The answer is a project that shows Wolf Castle firmly standing at the forefront of today’s most exciting rappers. Four albums in, he’s not a newcomer anymore: he’s confident and steady, his flow (somehow) tighter and more refined, his tastes still delightfully leaning toward ’90s influences. On live show favourite “Ulgimoo,” Wolf Castle fires off lines about breaking through everyone’s lacklustre expectations; on “You,” featuring Halifax R&B singer Zamani, he serves a slow jam for the ages. Album closer “Hey Ya Hey (Sewell St. Song)” sees him mix a bit of country into an unhurried, appreciative ode to home. It’s been three years since Wolf Castle’s last album, and Waiting for the Dawn is a definitive new chapter. — HG
Artist: Shawn Mendes
Album: Shawn
Release date: Oct. 18
In July 2022, Shawn Mendes announced the cessation of his Wonder world tour, attributing the decision to the state of his mental health. Now, two years later, he’s set to release a new studio album, Shawn, and it bears witness to nothing short of a transformation. Gone is the urbane, impeccably groomed, Colgate-smiled pop star of “Life of the Party” and “Treat You Better” fame. In his place: an unshaven, barefoot smoker with matted hair, looking generally unhygienic despite bathing in a creek. This woodsy Shawn 2.0 has a new sound, too, situated somewhere between the front-porch folk of the Lumineers and the alt-folk anthems of Noah Kahan. It’s a musical shift that’s seemingly brought Mendes closer to his centre. “Why, Why, Why” finds him energetically strumming while asking existential questions. “Nobody Knows” is a gently waltzing country-rock ode to “the one” with some hair-raising vocals. And on “Isn’t That Enough,” a harmonica chimes in while he sings about heartbreak and conjures the stirring melodic contour of Kern & Hammerstein’s “Old Man River.” Mendes has been performing the complete album — 12 songs, altogether — during a tour of intimate theatre concerts that began in Woodstock, N.Y., on Aug. 8 and will culminate in Seattle on Oct. 24. — Robert Rowat
Artist: Nicky Lawrence
Album: Ugly Black Woman
Release date: Oct. 18
Nicky Lawrence has arrived.
Well, she’s actually been here for a long time, creating music and art in a variety of capacities on and off stages, theatres and screens across the country. (Lawrence is Amanda Marshall’s backup singer, as well as an actor, creative director, producer and singer-songwriter.) But Ugly Black Woman is her debut solo album and it signals a vital new voice claiming her rightful place in the spotlight. UBW is a lushly layered love letter to herself and the women who came before her. A mix of soul, R&B and pop, the record follows Lawrence’s acclaimed multimedia stage show of the same name in which she shared poems and songs inspired by and about the experiences of herself and Black women in Canadian history.
Lawrence calls the album a window into her soul, and it feels that powerful and personal from start to finish. It’s hard to choose just one track on which to focus, but the music video for her funk-tinged single “Middle” is a gorgeous feast for the senses: from the glorious swoop of her lower register to the fashion show of fantastic coats, I’ve been watching on a loop for weeks. — Andrea Warner
Artist: Japandroids
Album: Fate & Alcohol
Release date: Oct. 18
After a rip-roaring 18-year run, Vancouver rock duo Japandroids is calling it quits. But before they split up, Brian King and David Prowse are offering fans one final parting gift: their fourth and final album, Fate & Alcohol. While it’s been seven years since their last release, 2017’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life, Japandroids sound like they haven’t missed a step on this last collection of songs. There’s a sense of urgency that comes charging straight out of the gate on opener “Eye Contact High,” as the band pushes its anthemic rock sound to its furthest limits. While Japandroids don’t plan on dragging out their goodbye with touring or live performances, all the sentimentality can be found in their galvanizing, heart-on-sleeve lyrics. Shots are “hitting my head, hitting my heart” on “D&T,” while they admit that they’re “in love with it all, never want it to end” on lead single, “Chicago.” But while Japandroids may be over, they assure their fans on the album’s final track, “All Bets are Off,” that “the night is far from over” — the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll will live on forever. — ML
Artist: Sarahmée
Album: TBD
Release date: Oct. 18
The first two singles from Montreal-based rapper Sarahmée’s forthcoming album are a study in contrasts and a fascinating framework for the followup to her 2021 opus, Poupée russe. That record was made in the beginning of the pandemic and a little over a year into sobriety. This, Sarahmée’s fourth album, was made following the sudden death of her brother, Juno award-winning musician Karim Ouellet, in late 2021.
Sarahmée bares all in the debut track, “Way Too Long.” It’s low key but urgent, and even if you don’t speak French very well, the myriad hurts Sarahmée raps her way through — grief, heartbreak, exhaustion, rage — are achingly evident in the music. “Ayoye” flips the script sonically, offering up high-octane swagger against a backdrop of electronic Afrobeats and reggae. It’s a dynamic one-two punch that leaves the listener wanting more. — AW
Artist: Wild Rivers
Album: Better Now
Release date: Oct. 18
Wild Rivers have been quite busy lately. They started the year off as special guests on the U.K. and Ireland leg of Noah Kahan’s world tour, released their third album, Never Better, in July and are set to release another album, Better Now, on Oct. 18. The trio, made up of singer and guitarist Khaled Yassein, singer Devan Glover and lead guitarist Andrew Oliver, recorded both albums simultaneously with producer Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Adrianne Lenker) in Joshua Tree, Calif. Their brand of indie folk is as sharp and endearing as ever, and Yassein and Glover’s harmonies are transcendent on songs “What Kind of Song” and “If You Will I Will.” The trio shared in a press release that the new album is the afterglow of the “raw, absolute and instinctual feelings” of Never Better. “We’re reflecting and understanding that relationships change over time. Complicated situations can be just that, complicated. Feelings can remain unresolved.” — KA
Artist: Peach Pit
Album: Magpie
Release date: Oct. 25
“Magpie,” the first rumbling single from Peach Pit’s upcoming fourth album of the same name, blasts off with a bursting electric guitar riff. It’s a darker, more in-your-face sound for the indie-pop band that harkens back to 2018’s “Alrighty Aphrodite,” Peach Pit’s most-streamed song on Spotify. While the chorus of “Magpie” does contain some of their signature summery, folk-tinged pop, there’s an undercurrent of something slightly edgier driving the rest of the new project. “Magpie symbolizes the heartbreak that led to many of the songs we were writing, as well as the new love that inspired the others,” vocalist Neil Smith told Vents Magazine. “The year it had taken to make Magpie had been full of ups and downs — constantly changing and leaving the good for the bad and the bad for the good, just like the songs on the record.” From 2 to 3, the band’s previous album, was more folksy, and 2020’s You and Your Friends was swimming in jangly, euphoric pop, so Magpie is set to build on that foundation of sounds. — NH
Artist: Tommy Lefroy
Album: Born Blue EP
Release date: Oct. 25
American Canadian duo Tommy Lefroy is gearing up for its third EP in four years. Born Blue gets its name from an unreleased song called “You Exist” where Tessa Mouzourakis and Wynter Bethel sing: “We’re born blue/ got used to it/ ’til you came to keep me alive.” This EP’s six tracks reflect the sadness, beauty and friendship behind that lyric. For example, the chugging indie rock of “Let Me” dissects the grace and frustration that comes from finding release when there’s no closure. Elsewhere, they confess, “I wanna be free and I wanna be ugly,” on the tender “Girlhood, Godhood.” If you’re into melancholic melodies, Tommy Lefroy is quickly ascending to that department’s top tier right now. Here’s hoping they follow up with a full-length debut in the near future. — ML
Artist: Bruce Liu
Album: Tchaikovsky: The Seasons
Release date: Nov. 1
Bruce Liu’s debut studio album, Waves, was an exploration of French keyboard music, and it earned the young Canadian pianist the 2024 Opus Klassik Award for young talent of the year. For his followup album, he turns to Tchaikovsky, with The Seasons as its centrepiece. Tchaikovsky intended these 12 miniatures for amateur pianists, so their challenge, as Liu explains in a press release, lies not in their technical demands but rather in capturing their essence:
Because there are comparatively few notes, you have to care about every one of them. Each note must really speak. What’s so special about the work is that it’s so intimate, as if Tchaikovsky were speaking to himself when he wrote the pieces. It combines the folk element that inspired his ballets with the brilliance and flamboyance found in his concertos. More than that, it has a thoughtfulness and calmness at its core.
Liu rounds out the album with Tchaikovsky’s Romance, Op. 5, while a deluxe edition of the album contains five extra tracks, including transcriptions by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Earl Wild. In Canada, fans can hear Liu play Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons in Kingston, Ont., on Jan. 17 and in Toronto on Jan. 19. — RR
Artist: Ombiigizi
Album: Shame
Release date: Nov. 1
Ombiigizi’s second album, Shame, deepens the ongoing collaboration that Daniel Monkman (Zoon) and Adam Sturgeon (Status/Non-Status) began with their wondrous 2022 debut, Sewn Back Together. Across Shame‘s 10 tracks, the artists fuse their musical and cultural backgrounds with startling effect. The album’s opening track, “Laminate the Sky,” is low-key rock at its best, moving with a steady beat, adding layers until it meets the very sky they’re singing about. “Street Names and Land Claims” is a staccato stomper drenched in reverb. On “Ziibi,” fuzzed-out choruses flow over the listener like the Red River that inspired Monkman to write the song. Hard metal scream-like slices of cacophony punctuate the otherwise strummy, dreamy “Photograph.” It all builds to the glorious finale, the title track, which starts with a spare, plaintive vocal stretching into the vast emptiness as the percussion and guitar slowly fill in, building up as the voice eventually becomes a scream, and the slow reveal of a night sky letting the stars shine. — AW
Honourable mentions
A section to highlight some buzzy rumoured releases and shorter projects.
Artist: the Weeknd
Album: Hurry Up Tomorrow
Release date: TBA
“Our final odyssey, oh,” the Weeknd sings on “Dancing in the Flames,” likely noting that his upcoming album, Hurry up Tomorrow, will be the last in a trilogy of albums reportedly under his long-running moniker. Its lead single suggests that the Toronto R&B star will continue exploring a synth-pop sound that produced hits like “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears.” A recent São Paulo concert also revealed potential guest appearances from Anitta and Playboi Carti. — ML
Artist: Alessia Cara
Album: TBA
Release date: TBA
With the release of “Dead Man” in July, her first new song since 2022, Alessia Cara kicked up the anticipation for her fourth album. Her voice is singular in the pop/R&B space, and it’s been greatly missed. While there is little information out, the singer’s label says the new record is coming very soon. — KA
Artist: PartyNextDoor and Drake
Album: TBA
Release date: TBA
Frequent collaborators and OVO labelmates PartyNextDoor and Drake united at PartyNextDoor’s Toronto concert in August, where Drake teased a fall release from the pair: “I know all you girls are outside and when it gets a little chilly, [the] PartyNextDoor and Drake album will be right there for you,” he said. — NH
