Best Canadian Music Writing 2022

Images: Album art for No Longer in the Suburbs by Dylan Sinclair and Let Go by Avril Lavigne.

This list is compiled by Del Cowie, Invisible’s intrepid Bibliophonic editor.

In many ways, 2022 was the year when music stepped outside again. After two years of pandemic restrictions, the loosening of regulations meant many tentatively stepped out into the fray to enjoy and connect with music in communal spaces for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. 

To say it was just like we never left, however, would be naïve. The domino effect of the last two years is often directly reflected in a myriad of factors from the music made by artists, to the closing down of venues and the exorbitant cost of touring,  just to name a few. All of these themes make their way into the pieces selected here, whether they be coverage of high-profile artists or vibrant scenes, opinion pieces, retrospectives, or essays on overlooked and obscure recordings.

This hangover effect has also filtered down to music journalism itself, which has already been curbed dramatically in recent years. In Toronto, NOW Magazine which covered music for decades, recently ceased publication. However, independent media tends to organically surface in these kind of voids and, in this case, publishing spaces for documenting music such as the West End Phoenix, The Local, and The Grind are stepping up to provide context.

As far as Bibliphonic goes, this year marked the publication of book #7 in our ongoing history of contemporary Canadian music: Melody Lau’s Tegan and Sara: Modern Heartthrobs. Written entirely during the pandemic (fuelled by several Zoom calls with Tegan and Sara themselves), the book critically analyzed and reframed Tegan and Sara’s place in popular music and culture. Lau’s book is a necessary intervention and reframing considering the blatant anti-LGBTQ sentiment that greeted their emergence.

With that said, I hope the context and background of the music discussed in these forty articles encourages new discoveries. As has been the case since I began this list in 2018, consider this a subjective snapshot of some of the undercurrents happening in Canadian music in the past year. If you feel your favourite pieces have been overlooked, please feel free to post them in the comments and add to the discussion.

• “Singing in the face of colonial danger: Music’s place in Indigenous resistance” by Kelsey Adams (CBC Music)

• “Jessie Reyez Wants to Fucking Win” by Vernon Ayiku (Exclaim!)

• “At Rolling Loud, Canadian rappers fighting for radio play and stage time find space to perform” by Veracia Ankrah (CBC News)

• “‘Industrial mall-pop’ and ‘villainous’ slam poetry: Dan Bejar deconstructs Destroyer’s unhinged new album” by Richie Assaly (Toronto Star)

• “Aquakultre Is More Than Just Halifax’s Hottest R&B Star — He’s a Community” by Tom Beedham (Exclaim!)

• “Alanna Stuart Embraces the Bombast” by Gloria Blizzard (Musicworks)

• “OVOFest’s All Canadian North Stars Show Proves Toronto Always Had A Sound” by Kevin Bourne (Shifter)

• “Avril Lavigne: Let Go at 20″ by CBC Music

• “Meet the queer voices taking the Canadian Country Music Awards by storm” by Dan Clapson (Xtra!)

• “Jully Black Is Here With A New Album. Here’s Why It Might Be Her Last” by Ann-Marie Collymore (ByBlacks)

• “Latin musicians are creating a space in Canada, but some say there isn’t enough support” by Anna de Sant’Anna (CBC)

• “Wayne ‘76” by Jim Di Gioia (Dominionated)

• “How Alexisonfire Learned to Love Each Other” by Adam Feibel (Exclaim!)

• “Tate McRae: The next Canadian pop superstar has arrived” by Rayne Fisher-Quann (Next)

• “Eric Mercury, Canada’s ‘Electric Black Man’ dies” by David Friend (Canadian Press)

• “Dylan Sinclair, a Toronto R&B King in the Making” by Alex Nino Gheciu (Complex)

• “Carly Rae Jepsen’s Lonely Hearts Club Playlist” by Melissa Giannini (Elle)

• “Two Toronto radio stations have merged. Here’s why music execs say it’s a loss for Black culture” by Demar Grant (Toronto Star)

• Pierre Kwenders Dreams for the World by Chaka V. Grier (Musicworks)

• “I’m Here’: Savannah Ré Is Ready for Her Unapologetic Next Phase” by Natalie Harmsen (Complex)

• “Sloan on the 30th Anniversary of Smeared“ by Alex Hudson (Exclaim!)

• “Ronnie Hawkins: Last of the Good Ol’ Boys” by Nicholas Jennings (Globe & Mail)

• “Toronto’s Deborah Cox may be internationally famous, but she hasn’t forgotten the struggle” by Nick Krewen (Toronto Star)

• “How Asian–Canadian artists are incorporating their heritage into their music” by Melody Lau (CBC Music)

• “Alvvays Enter Their Epiphany Era” by Carly Lewis (Pitchfork)

• “Buffy Sainte-Marie reflects on Illuminations“ by Jesse Locke (Musicworks)

• “The Shape of A Scene” by Rosie Long Decter (Maisonneuve)

• “‘I am striving for longevity’: Montreal rapper Skiifall wants to make his fast rise to fame last” by Antoine-Samuel Mauffette Alavo (CBC Music)

• “Meet the musicians who say Afrobeats is coming to Ottawa” by Christine Maki (CBC)

• “8 Essential Moments From Legendary Battle Rapper Pat Stay” by Wesley McLean (Complex Canada)

• Building Fun In A Notoriously Unfun City by Max Mertens (The Local)

• “How the Somali Diaspora is using music as a tool to piece together lost histories” by Sun Noor (New Feeling)

• “Musicians like me can no longer afford to tour. Live music won’t survive unless the industry changes” by Rollie Pemberton (Toronto Life)

• “After losing singer and guitarist Dallas Good, the Sadies talk healing, touring and what’s next” by Ben Rayner (Toronto Star)

• “Saving Music City” by Luc Rinaldi (West End Phoenix)

• “Hip hop’s David Strickland says reconnection to Indigenous identity has been a ‘beautiful thing’” by Crystal St. Pierre (Windspeaker)

• “How Metal Heals” by Melissa Vincent (Elle)

• “Grieving, dreaming and ‘Drinking in L.A.'” by Andrea Warner (CBC Music)

• “Guitarist Gord Lewis co-founded the ill-fated Canadian punk band Teenage Head” by Brad Wheeler (Globe & Mail)

• “The Weeknd’s New Album Co-Stars … Jim Carrey?” by Carl Wilson (Slate)