Min Stora Sorg (English: My Big Grief) by Ann-Sofie Lundin started in 2011. Her first single is out - Svarta Ögon (English: Black Eyes) – with an EP being released in August 2012. Ann-Sofie’s music is melancholic, dreamy, big and serious, and in this song her pretty voice is singing about adult fragility through a child’s straightforward sincerity.

Artist: Min Stora Sorg

Title: Svarta Ögon 

Label: Bengtsson & Wirfält Skivbolag

Country: Sweden

More Info: Official Site // Facebook 

Ketamines strike gold by mixing some rancid pop sweetness with raging garage crackle. This Alberta-based band of rock-scene disciples includes members from The Myelin Sheaths, Square Waves and Engangered Ape. These pain-killing songsmiths provide a good dose of psych weirdness to warrant their newest album’s title Spaced Out. It’s a blast of hooks as addictive as a sugar rush and it will get stuck in your head like bubblegum. They have the right formula and it goes down easy for any discerning ear.

Artist: Ketamines

Album: Spaced Out LP

Label: Mammoth Cave Recording Co.

Country: Canada

More Info: Bandcamp // Facebook // Twitter

Hanne Kolstø is one of Norway’s most exciting singer/songwriters. With a voice and intuitive sense of melodies, she lures you into her world of intelligent lyrics and flourishing creativity. Always willing
to experiment, she mixes all possible genres – one moment she wispers softly in your ear, the next she howls with despair.

Artist: Hanne Kolstø

Title: La-La-La Lovesong

Label: Karmakosmetix Records

Country: Norway

More Info: Official Site // Spotify // Facebook // Twitter

Aaron Mangle is the mastermind behind Halifax’s garage darlings known as COUSINS. The line-up is a shifting cast of Mangle, Pat Ryan and Leigh Dotey with others coming and going as needed. The cheerful trio (or duo or quartet) make feelgood rock ‘n’ roll that seems as nostalgic as neon-framed sunglasses, 35mm slides and cassette tapes (go figure that they have incorporated all three of these into their band somehow). Lo-fi and solid songwriting is the mandate of their work, not to mention a wonderful demeanour that makes them instantly loveable.

Artist: COUSINS

Title: SECRET WEAPON

Label: Saved By Vinyl

Country: Canada

More Info: Bandcamp // Facebook // Twitter // Tumblr

Australian duo Canyons are some kind of phenomenon. They could easily be pinned down as ‘electro’, but there’s a whole lot more to love than just banging four-to-the-floor.

Although When I See You Again came out last year, we couldn’t resist featuring it (a little late) with thanks to the amazing new music video directed by Fleur & Manu (Midnight City by M83).

Artist: Canyons

Title: When I See You Again

Label: Modular Recordings

Country: Australia

More info: Official Site

Moscow-based 4-piece Human Tetris are at the forefront of Russia’s burgeoning indie scene. Sounding like the long-lost Soviet children of Ian Curtis, there’s a post-punk sensibility that draws instant comparisons to Interpol and Editors. Their stellar new record, Happy Way in the Maze of Rebirth, is available as a free download.

Artist: Human Tetris

Title: Insanity

Label: Self-released

Country: Russia

More info: SoundCloud // Facebook // Twitter

Roland Pemberton, whom the music community knows as Cadence Weapon, just released his third studio album. It shows his remarkable wordsmithery combined with a sonic pioneering prowess. Raised in Edmonton, Alberta by a native Brooklynite with a passion for hip-hop, Roland was introduced to the genre from a young age and had discovered his passion for rap by the age of 13. The album lives up to the hype as it shapes a new sound for hip hop.

Artist: Cadence Weapon

Album: Hope In Dirt City

Label: Upper Class

Country: Canada

More Info: Official Site // SoundCloud // Facebook // Twitter

Danish producer Andreas Asingh –  aka SLOWOLF – describes  his music as ‘the epic sound of downtempo dream pop, black metal & hip hop’. Within moments of hearing debut single See U In My Dreams, it’s easy to understand why. Sounding in the vein of buzzwonderkid The Weeknd, there’s a relentless passion driving through the breathy vocals and addictive hooks. File under: people will have sex to this.

Artist: SLOWOLF

Title: See U In My Dreams

Label: Slowolf Records

Country: Denmark

More info: Official Site // SoundCloud // Facebook // Twitter

Stoner. Pop. Punk. Rock. Psychedelia. Garage. Some words that could describe the sound of Riddarna, a Swedish trio from the island of Gotland who released their second album Bakom Molnen (translated as Behind The Clouds) in March 2012. Described by famous music magazine Gaffa: “the band plays straight off real music and does it as if life where depending on it”.

Artist: Riddarna

Title: Helvete

Label: Novoton

Country: Sweden

More info: Official Site // Spotify // Facebook

Dirty Paraffin are a South African-based Kwaito/ Pantsula music and performance duo. Their unique style has grown from living in one of the biggest and baddest cities on the planet – Johannesburg. Dirty Parrafin consists of two MCs – Okmalumkoolkat and Dokta SpiZee – who bring a truly original sound. These are not South African rappers trying to sound like Kanye; this is what Kanye would sound like if he grew up in Jozi.

Artist: Dirty Paraffin

Title: Papap! Papap!

Label: Self-released

Country: South Africa

More info: Official Site // Facebook // Twitter

BONUS: Music video for  Papap! Papap! just dropped!