Canada has often been overshadowed by its proximity to the juggernaut that is the USA but in the past few years it’s enjoyed some of its best years for music. So many of the biggest names in music right now are from Canada continuing a legacy built by artists like Celine Dion, Neil Young, Justin Bieber and even Carly Rae Jepsen.
Celebrating all things Canadian, here are eight artists from the country that are everywhere in 2018.
Scott Helman
Toronto singer/songwriter Scott Helman may be a relatively new name in the Canadian music scene but he’s already making some serious waves. He counts fellow Canadian Shawn Mendes as one of his fans and his debut album Hotel de Ville just continues to gain momentum thanks to ridiculously catchy singles PDA and Kites. He combines acoustic styling, as an acoustic guitar player, with addictive pop melodies that’ll circle your head for days. It’s only a matter of time until Australia falls as in love with him as his home country is.
Drake
This man needs zero introduction. He’s already a megastar and it seems like every year is a great year for him. This year, Drake released his playlist More Life, teaming up with everyone from Kanye to Skepta for one of his best projects in a long while. Now, he’s set to come to Australia for the first time since 2015 with the Boys Meets The World. Despite all his fame, he’s still a proud Canadian, recording many of his projects in Toronto and big-upping Canadian artists with his OVO label.
The Weeknd
One Canadian artist Drake pushed heavily in the beginning was The Weeknd. Drake featured on the third of his Trilogy mixtapes while The Weeknd featured on Drake’s Crew Love. Nowadays The Weeknd is a household name. He’s one of the most streamed artists in the world and his 2016 record Starboy went to number one here in Australia. Now he’s set to bring his world tour here in December.
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire are Canadian veterans but every time they release an album they reinvent themselves and become relevant once again. They surprised everyone by nabbing Album Of The Year for The Suburbs in 2011 and since then have lost zero momentum. Their 2017 record Everything Now saw them channel the disco era as they attempted to make sense of mass content consumption. It’s a beautiful, entertaining record that proves once again why they’re one of the best bands in the world.
Tegan & Sara
Speaking of reinvention, Tegan & Sara have effortlessly gone from alternative darlings to superstars over the course of their career. 2016’s Love You To Death as a flawless pop record but this year, as well as touring that album, they’re celebrating the 10 year anniversary of one of their most iconic records The Con. They gathered everyone from Grimes to Hayley Williams to cover songs from the record as part of Tegan and Sara Present The Con X: Covers.
Majid Jordan
Canadian R&B duo Majid Jordan are signed to Drake’s OVO label and they’ve just released their excellent second album The Space Between. It comes just a year after the release of their debut album, which featured Drake himself, but the growth is already evident with the second drop. It’s a neon-lit R&B record full of velvety vocals and smooth melodies. The album’s lead single One I Want has already racked up more than 20 million streams on Spotify.
