Best Canadian Music Writing 2024

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

Music can be escapist, but it can also bluntly confront the realities of everyday life all over the world. It can also be immersed in sepia-toned nostalgia or assert a to-be-determined future.

In the spirit of the social network many music writers have decamped to in recent months, this is merely a starter pack for music musings by Canadian writers and journalists during 2024. With increasing fragmentation among podcasts, print publications, Substacks, etc., it’s anything but definitive.

Hopefully, within the 40 links below you’ll find something that recalls a vivid memory, leads to a newfound discovery, validates a deeply held belief, or provides much-needed respite.

• Canadian reggae’s past, present and future by Kelsey Adams (CBC Music)
• Toronto failed Mustafa in his darkest hour. On the singer’s aching new album, his horizons feel endless by Richie Assaly (Toronto Star)
• Candy Man: Legendary ‘Sugar, Sugar’ Songwriter Andy Kim, 77, is Not-So-Gently Rocking a New Generation by Michael Barclay (Zoomer)
• The many faces of Hawksley Workman by Martin Bauman (The Coast)
• NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD: Godspeed You! Black Emperor by Stuart Berman (Pitchfork)
• From International Student to Popstar by Aparita Bhandari (The Local)
• Aural History: Backstage Stories from the Budweiser Stage by Karen Bliss and Stuart Berman (Toronto Life)
• What We Have and What We Can Give,Is Massive by Alexia Bréard-Anderson (West End Phoenix)
• ‘Dance music is Black music,’ This Toronto DJ collective is celebrating 5 years of infusing African sounds into the city’s electronic underground by Janiece Campbell (NOW)
• Soundtrack to my youth: How Spirit of the West’s Folk-Rock Sound Impacted My Ideas about Art and Writing By Sarah Chodos (New Feeling)
• Music journalism as a gateway to empathic listening by Leslie Ken Chu (New Feeling)
• They’re the Stars: Rock Camp Montreal Empowers Queer and Trans Youth by Rosie Long Decter (New Feeling)
• TSO’s Mark Williams Is Proving that the Symphony is for Everyone by Nicole Edwards (3 Magazine)
• Kaytranada Owns His Influence by Connor Garel (Vulture)
• Kaïa Kater’s healing hiatus by Chaka V. Grier (Words and Music)
• Drake’s best diss tracks, ranked by Natalie Harmsen (CBC Music)
• ‘Punjabi Wave’ Music Hits the Juno Awards Stage by Vjosa Isai (New York Times)
• Eleanor Collins: Trailblazing jazz singer overcame racism with quiet dignity by Nicholas Jennings (Globe & Mail)
• ‘I was at a breaking point’: Why masked country-pop star Orville Peck dropped everything last year and returned with a terrific duets album by Nick Krewen (Toronto Star)
• Lost In History: One Of The First Black Entertainers To Record Music was a Canadian by Hillary LeBlanc (ByBlacks)
• Chiac and Roll: The Acadian Dialect Shaking Up Canada’s Music Scene by Devon Leger (Bandcamp)
• Cindy Lee and me: How a mysterious 32-song album by a gender-bending Canadian artist took the music world by storm by Jesse Locke (Toronto Star) 
• 10 years of Moonshine as Montreal’s federation of noise by Dave MacIntyre (CultMTL)
• Wondering how to make it as a musician in Canada? Do it yourself by Luke Ottenhoff (Globe & Mail)
• Exploring Toronto’s forgotten jazz landmarks: ‘There is creative history in this city that would blow your mind’ by Filipa Pajevic (Toronto Star) 
• Not Like Us  by Rollie Pemberton (Hazlitt)
• Nardwuar is the G.O.A.T. by Steve Pratt (The Creativity Guild)
• This really is the end for Tokyo Police Club by Ben Rayner (Toronto Star)
• Charlotte Day Wilson’s Blue Period by Sierra Riley (Range)
• Montreal’s New Wave of French Rap Could Be a Gateway to the Global Stage by Yasmine Seck (Billboard Canada)
• Toronto musician Luna Li wanted to take charge of her life. So she moved to L.A. and got vulnerable on her sophomore album by Heather Taylor Singh (Toronto Star) 
• What’s with the Anti-Indian Racism Against Musicians in Canada? By Rhea Singh (The Grind)
• On ‘Verbathim,’ Nehmasis Is a Clear-Eyed Truth Teller By Vijai Kumar Singh (Exclaim!)
• Cadence Weapon Wants the Win by Adriel Smiley (NEXT)
• Intergenerational Resistance by Laura Stanley (New Feeling)
• Behind Canadian Band BadBadNotGood’s Historic New York City Residency by David Stol (Sharp)
• Lu Kala wants you to feel worthy in her world of pop music by Chris Stoodley (Yahoo!)
• Nelly Furtado Is More Inspired, Excited and Confident Than Ever Before by Liz Trinnear (Elle Canada)
• k-os’s breakthrough album Joyful Rebellion turns 20 by Brad Wheeler (Globe & Mail)
• The Life, and Slow Death, of the Toronto Arts Critic by Carl Wilson (The Local)