Most Anticipated of 2022
Most Anticipated of 2022
<><><><><>
Every January, we tackle a list of our “Most Anticipated” releases from the upcoming year. This isn’t a new idea, most music publications do something similar but we’d like to think we put a little extra effort into it. While other publications simply put together a list of releases they’ve obtained press info for, the Cups N Cakes Network goes further. We sleuth out albums that haven’t been announced, talk to the artists and labels and deliver some true “Breaking News.”
Along with finding info on forthcoming albums that have yet to be announced, sometimes we are even able to sneak you an “unofficial premiere” of a song… I think there’s three such premieres hidden within this article!
Sometimes we swing for the fences and strike out hard (like with Faith Healer the past two years… seriously Jessica and Renny! When is that album coming out!!!), but for the most part we nail down facts on albums that no other publications are reporting. For this reason, this article has become (pardon me for this), our most anticipated article of the year.
Enjoy checking out our 22 Most Anticipated Albums of 2022!
Altameda
Altameda have become known as one of the best acts in Canada for fans of Americana tinged Rock N Roll. They have conquered this sound better than some of the original masters of the genre. We are happy to report that this year will see the follow up to their fantastic 2019 album, Time Hasn’t Changed You.
What We Know:
Since the release of Time Hasn’t Changed You, Altameda relocated from Edmonton to Toronto and saw some lineup tweaks. The new album will be released on April 15th through Pheromone Recordings in Canada, Modern Sky in the UK, and Missing Piece Records in the USA. It was produced by Thomas D’Arcy (Neko Case, The Sheepdogs) and mixed by Tucker Martine (Whitney, My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens). Two singles have been released so far, check them out below.
Cain Price
Cain Price released their debut EP, Open Call, late in the summer of 2021. In its review, Cups N Cakes writer Brandon Kruze called it:
“a relaxing blend of jazz, folk, and lo-fi – soulful melodies and instrumentals. This is a release bound to make you close your eyes and groove out to its lush sound.”
It was a truly impressive debut statement that has us very intrigued and excited to hear more. Turns out we won’t have to wait long as Cain Price prepares another EP for release this year.
What We Know:
Cain Price's sophomore EP is due for release in the fall of 2022. It was recorded entirely at Catalogue studios in Victoria and it’s Price's first foray out of their bedroom-pop roots and into the studio. The album combines sampling, auto-tune and programming with classic folk-pop for an almost otherworldly sound. The first single arrives on January 21st but in a teeny little guerrilla marketing twist, the Cups N Cakes Network is delivering an unofficial premiere of this track today! Check out “Truth Truth Truth Truth” below.
Dead Fibres
Vancouver/Edmonton noise punks, Dead Fibres, were supposed to be delivering their new album in 2021 but pandemic related issues made them decide to hold off for another year. They are very hopeful that it will find the light of day in 2022 and that they’ll be able to tour it across the country.
What We Know:
We premiered a Dead Fibres song called “Quarterly Report” in October of 2021. At the time, little was known about the release that this song would be a part of… Now, we can confidently say that the album will be called John Q Citizen and it was recorded with Chris Dadge (Lab Coast, Chad Van Gaalen, Samantha Savage Smith) throughout 2019. The band took a different approach to recording this time around, they gave themselves time to flesh out these songs and experiment with new elements while in the studio. We’re told the result is their most experimental and sonically diverse album to date. To celebrate Dead Fibres finding their way into this article, the band have been kind enough to give us another taste from John Q Citizen. Please enjoy this unofficial premiere of “Trees Are Melting.”
Eine Kleine China
Calgary’s Eine Kleine China (pronounced: “eye-na kly-na china”) came on our radar in 2019 with the release of their album User Illusion II. The record was an exciting electronic journey of technological tomfoolery and since its release, we’ve been thirsting for more. A single here and there have been released but they’ve only made our thirst grow. We are excited to report that this year, Eine Kleine China will finally deliver an album that is sure drown us in the guitar melodies, fidgety beats, and playfully mangled samples we’ve been craving.
What We Know:
The album will be called Prince Tsushinkogyo and it was mastered by Jamie Sitar (Destroyer, Black Mountain, Bend Sinister). It will arrive on January 28th and it’s meant to be an invitation to a vibrant trip that will take us into the daydreams of Eine Kleine China. Get excited by revisiting the track “Lupus in Fabula” which was released in February of 2021.
Eliza Niemi
Eliza Niemi is a huge favourite of ours. Since her band, Mauno, dissolved, she has released two incredible EPs - 2019s Vinegar and 2020s Glass - the latter found its way on to our list of the “Best EPs of 2020.” She also founded the fantastic label Vain Mina which, in 2021, dropped an EP from a Montreal band called Soul Boner which ended up on our list of the “Best EPs” from last year. Her busy schedule with Vain Mina has kept us wondering when her debut album will finally arrive… well… we wonder no more!
What We Know:
We are very lucky to have a great working relationship with Eliza through her label so we are soooo happy to get to be the first to report that her debut full length will arrive this year! It was recorded over the course of the pandemic by sending stems back and forth with a who’s who of Canadian indie acts. Who you ask?…
How about Cedric Noel and Le Ren (both featured on various “Best of 2021” lists) as well as Matthew Cardinal, Orchidae, Louie Short, Evan Cartwright, and Vain Mina label mates - Poolblood and Ways Lain.
The announcement is too fresh for us to be able to deliver any more than that… all we can say is that this news has us vibrating with anticipation! Revisit Eliza Niemi’s 2020 EP, Glass, below.
Fortunato Durutti Marinetti
At the start of December 2021, the Cups N Cakes Network were honoured to announce the sophomore album from Fortunato Durutti Marinetti and premiere the title track, (which might actually not be appearing on the album), “Memory’s Fool”. We’ve been big fans of this project since the release of their debut album, Desire, in 2020.
What We Know:
The album is called Memory’s Fool and is scheduled to arrive on March 18th, 2022 through Bobo Integral Records and Soft Abuse Records. The release sees Marinetti channeling the explorative spirit of 1970s songwriters like Lou Reed, Robert Wyatt and Joni Mitchell. He took a “lyrics first” approach then assembled a band of incredible Canadian musicians to craft a jazz-rock sound that was befitting his poetic approach to this release. He brought in Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle (Energy Slime) to craft his band but also reached out and found help from violinist Josh Zubot and underground Canadian music icon Sandro Perri, who also mixed and mastered the album.
Hear the track “Memory’s Fool” below.
Ghostkeeper
Calgary’s Ghostkeeper have been loved in Alberta for a long time. The genre fluid band has released three albums over a span of more than a decade. Each release has been more interesting than the last which is why we’ve been dying for a follow up to 2017s Sheer Blouse Buffalo Knocks. Five years is a long time to wait but we’re very happy to report that the wait is nearly over!
What We Know:
The new album will be released in May via Victory Pool Records. The record was produced and mixed by Lorrie Matheson and recorded at OCL studio. On this release, Ghostkeeper will once again consist of vocalists Shane Ghostkeeper and Sarah Houle, drummer Eric Hamelin, and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Bourne. The first single, “Grassy Plains” was released near the end of 2021 and the next single (along with a music video) will be out on February 17th.
The Golden Age Of Wrestling
Vancouver electro-pop powerhouse, Jeff Cancade, delivered us one of our Favourite Albums of 2021 under his Devours moniker. We are very excited to report that 2022 will see the release of an album from his other project, The Golden Age Of Wrestling. The new record will be the second of this project, following 2020s incredible effort, Tombstone Piledriver.
What We Know:
The sophomore album will be called Crossface Chicken Wing and is set to arrive late winter/early spring under Cancade’s label, Surviving The Game. Described as “cinematic video game music,” we can expect a new single to arrive on January 20th with an accompanying music video. Cups N Cakes recently premiered a double single from The Golden Age Of Wrestling, unknown to us at the time, we’ve since learnt that those two tracks will appear on Crossface Chicken Wing. Check them out below:
Jared Jackel’s Bad Vibrations
Jared Jackel is likely a new name to most reading this list. The Bad Vibrations debut album, Saw-Horse Pentagrams, came out in 2019 and was a loose, ramshackle collection of psychedelic garage vibes that absolutely blew our minds! We are very excited to learn that a follow up will be arriving this year.
What We Know:
The EP, called Mal Casual, will be released on March 4th via Factotum CO and will consist of five tracks. The effort has been described as "goth boogie" and inspiration was drawn from the cover art, which is a piece that Jackel embroidered and laser engraved. The release hasn’t been announced yet but Factotum CO was kind enough to hook us up with an early look at said cover art and, even better, they’ve gifted us the honour of sneaking an unofficial premiere of the track “The Woodwork.”
Mal Casual Track Listing
1. The Woodwork
2. With You
3. Here We Come Gallopin'
4. University Town
5. Mal Casual
JP Lancaster
Fresh off his utterly fantastic 2021 debut album, Around Town, that landed him on our “Best Albums of 2021” list, JP Lancaster is riding that momentum into 2022 with a new six track release called Prowl.
What We Know:
Cups N Cakes premiered “Los Dopicos,” the first single from Prowl near the end of 2021. Since then, we’ve learnt that physical copies of Prowl will be released as a double album split with Jared Jackel’s Bad Vibrations through Factotum CO in early 2022. Musically, the new effort carries on where Around Town left off and features the same core band (Graham Jones on drums and Jackson J Gardner on bass) with guest appearances from Factotum label mates Yaris Paris, Jared Jackel, and suffer fools. Hear the first single below:
Katie Tupper
Folks on the prairies always notice when one of their own succeeds. We congratulate them, champion them, and always feel pride, even when they leave for larger music hubs. This is very much the case with Saskatoon’s Katie Tupper. Our Saskatchewan writers have been swooning over this young, gifted songwriter for awhile now and her signing to Arts & Crafts has us all excited for her future.
What We Know:
Her debut EP is called Towards The End and will arrive on February 18th through Arts & Crafts. Two singles have been released so far and the vivid prairie imagery crafted from Tupper’s soulful smokey vocals are the reason we have a debut release on our list of the “Most Anticipated of 2022.”
Kellarissa
It’s hard to believe but we are closing in on four years since Vancouver’s Larissa Loyva last gave us an album of her driving synth-pop. That album was called Ocean Electro and its femme psych electronica had Canada enthralled. Although an album hasn’t actually been announced yet, we are pretty darn sure that 2022 will be the year Kellarissa returns to our collective hearts.
What We Know:
Like we mentioned above, there is no official announcement but our music sleuths are confident something will arrive in the spring and it stands a good chance that Kellarissa will continue her long standing relationship with Mint Records. We’ve also been told that the album will feature a collaboration with Vancouver queer electro-pop madman Jeff Canacade (Devours, The Golden Age Of Wrestling). We are very excited to learn more, but until then you can get reacquainted with Kellarissa’s 2018 album, Ocean Electro, below.
Lab Coast
Yeah yeah yeah… We’ve been here before. Cups N Cakes tells you to expect the LONG awaited new Lab Coast album will emerge in the next year, and after twelve months pass you realize we led you astray. Well that isn’t going to happen this year… we hope. In fact, drummer and producer Chris Dadge has stated that he plans to finish the album before the middle of the year so that he can finally be done with the never ending pestering he gets from the Cups N Cakes team about its arrival.
What We Know:
Dadge was kind enough to fill us in with a bunch of details. The album will be called Here You’re Nowhere and will be released digitally and on cassette. It was produced, recorded, and mixed by Chris Dadge at Child Stone Studios. The album was recorded between 2016 and 2020, performed mostly by the core duo of David Laing (vocals, sax) and Chris Dadge (all other instruments) with guest appearances from Darrell Hartsook (live member of Lab Coast, Pre Nup, Sections), Nate Waters, Scott ‘Monty’ Munro (Preoccupations), and Chad VanGaalen. By the sounds of it, we shouldn’t expect Here You’re Nowhere until the back half of 2022 but we recommend you get reacquainted with Lab Coast by listening to their 2021 covers EP, Cover To Cover, or by browsing them on your favourite streaming service and being pleased to see a bunch of their older material finally available to stream.
Mitch Davis
Music fans in Alberta may remember Mitch Davis (the new moniker of Mitch Holtby) from his jazzy hip hop project, Mitchmatic. Music fans in Montreal probably know him best as the multi-instrumentalist that you need to bring your album to another level. The Cups N Cakes Network is excited to report that in 2022 the rest of the country (and more) will get to know Mitch Davis from his incredible indie-pop sounds when his debut album drops.
What We Know:
The album will feature ten tracks total and is set to arrive this spring on Arbutus Records. The two tracks Mitch released last year will appear on the album but they have been reworked.
Motherhood
Ok… So Motherhood was on this list last year. That didn’t happen. With an entertaining “insider” list like the one the we provide, sometimes you swing and miss. That being said, the band fully expected to be able to get their new album out in 2021. Anyway… this time around, we can confidently confirm that this year Motherhood will deliver their follow up to 2019s Dear Bongo (which was ranked at #1 on our list of the “Best Albums of 2019”)
What We Know:
Needless to say, we are very excited. After talking with the band, we are allowed to say that the album will be called Winded and it will arrive in the fall through Forward Music Group. It was recorded to tape with Mike Trask at Memramrock Recording Company and mixed by Greg Saunier from Deerhoof. We may start seeing singles arrive in the spring but you can start getting pumped today by revisiting Dear Bongo.
OMBIIGIZI
Perhaps the most anticipated album on this list comes from a brand new collaborative project between Anishnaabe artists Daniel Monkman and Adam Sturgeon. Monkman is best known for crafting shoegazey perfection under the name Zoon. Their last album, Bleached Wavves, was ranked our tenth favourite album of 2020. While their collaborative partner, Adam Sturgeon, is also no stranger to our “Best Of” lists with his band Status/Non-Status ending up on our “Best EPs of 2021” list as well as a number six ranking on our “Best Albums of 2019” list at a time when his band used to go by the name WHOOP-Szo. This year, the two will come together to release an album under the name OMBIIGIZI (pronounced om-BEE-ga-ZAY, meaning 'this is noisy')
What We Know:
For this project, Monkman and Sturgeon strip away some of the distortion of their other projects to craft a cleaner sound, one where the vocals are front and centre. They have something to say and we’re gonna hear it! The album is called Sewn Back Together and it’s set to arrive on February 10th through Arts & Crafts. It was produced by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene and Nyles Spencer of The Bathouse Studio and features additional instrumentation from Sturgeon’s Status/Non-Status bandmates Eric Lourenço and Drew McLeod. The first single, “Residential Military,” was released at the end of 2021.
The Sadies
Easily one of Canada’s most revered bands… ever. The Sadies have been a beacon of light in this country’s independent music scene for over 25 years. They blend of country, rock, garage, and psych better than any others and we should all consider ourselves blessed to have them in our lives. So whats the deal for 2022???
What We Know:
This is 100% pure speculation but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a new Sadies record in 2022. First off, their last album, Northern Passages, was released nearly five years ago making this the longest wait between albums in their history as a band. Also, they played a bunch of shows in 2021 up until they started getting cancelled due to the Omicron fueled fifth wave of the pandemic. Might one take all that gigging to suspect The Sadies were honing their craft once more before an album cycle?… Not convinced? Well how about the brand new song, “Stop and Start,” that mysteriously appeared without any press notice? The only way to know that this song was released was to follow The Sadies on social media. The artwork fits the motif for the artwork on their past few albums. So, in conclusion… we have no evidence to back this claim but the sum of all the parts would lead us to believe we’ll see a new release from The Sadies this year.
Samantha Savage Smith
January 27th, 2015 marked the release date of Fine Lines, the last release from Calgary songstress Samantha Savage Smith. It was an absolute indie-pop gem that had Canada swooning. We’ve been waiting… and waiting… and waiting… and waiting… seven long years!!! Seven years since we’ve heard Smith’s beautiful voice through our speakers with new music. We actually had SSS on this list last year, that didn’t happen but a press release ended up in our inbox at the end of 2021 that had us jumping with joy!
What We Know:
Samantha Savage Smith will release a new studio album entitled Fake Nice on April 22nd through Saved By Vinyl. The album was co-produced by Chris Dadge (Alvvays, Chad VanGaalen), at Child Stone Studio in Calgary and features guest appearances from: Scott Munro (Preoccupations), Ryan Bourne (Ghostkeeper) and Marlaena Moore. The first single is called “In It To Win It” and it was released at the start of December.
Subterranean Lovers
We fell hard for the project from Vancouver’s Nikki Nevver with the release of their debut, self-titled album in 2020. We placed it on our list of the “Best Albums” of that year with Cups N Cakes writer, JD Ormond stating:
“Post-punk and new wave collide splendidly in synth-laced acoustic jams that sway but refuse to dance, sigh but refuse to burst into tears, just keep that perfect bitterness in the back of its throat, singing the primordial caterwaul of the broken hearted punkstress in distress. Subterranean Lovers slinks along the alleyways, lured by the call of duty and danger”
We are excited to speculate that we might get to see its follow up this year.
What We Know:
We are expecting Nikki Nevver’s sophomore album as Subterranean Lovers to arrive in the spring. It appears as though Nevver reunited with Jordan Koop at Noise Floor on Gabriola Island, BC to record the album. A new song entitled “I Was A Wild Storm” appeared on Bandcamp at the end of 2021 with a second track called “Idol Crushed” appearing last week. The latter came with some text explaining that it is an outtake from the upcoming album which leads us to believe that “I Was A Wild Storm” will appear on the record and is its first single.
Sunglaciers
Calgary’s Sunglaciers embody the blue-collar spirit of a band you are dying to see succeed. They whirl between genres with confidence and poise as art-rock, post-punk, psych-pop and synth-pop have all become part of their repertoire. They’ve been a staple in their home province since they burst on to the scene in 2017 with their Moving In Darkness EP but haven’t dropped new music since the release of their debut album Foreign Bodies in 2019. We have learnt that the sophomore record will arrive in 2022 and we are absolutely ecstatic to get to hear it!
What We Know:
The band have been kind enough to let us say that their new album will arrive in the spring through Mothland, our favourite new label in Canada. They confirmed that the track “Draw Me In”, that was released in October of 2021, will be on the album. Check it out below!
Tanya Tagaq
We were beginning to wonder if we’d ever get a new full-length record from Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq. Her last album, Retribution, came out in 2016!!! Sure, Tagaq gave us an EP in 2019 but her style of experimental music is best served in long form. You could image how excited we were to hear that Tanya Tagaq will deliver a new album this year.
What We Know:
The album is called Tongues and it will arrive on March 11th via Six Shooter Records. It was produced by Saul Williams and mixed by Gonjasufi. The first single is the title track and it was released in September.
Ultra Mega
Loyal followers of the Cups N Cakes Network may recognize the name Ultra Mega. We’ve been championing this Winnipeg band for some time now and even had them on this list last year for a different release, an EP called Money Shot that never managed to see the light of day.
What We Know:
The album is called Panis Angelicus and it moves Ultra Mega into different territory with storytelling, stream-of-consciousness lyrics over a laid-back country sound. Cups N Cakes has been helping them roll out the release with video premieres. We’ve already premiered two of the six videos that will accompany the new album and will continue premiering a new video every Wednesday up until the album is released on February 4th. Check out their YouTube channel to watch the videos for the first two songs - “Goodbye, Felicia” and “The Breeze Is Beckoning.” As a bonus for those who’ve read all the way to the bottom of this list, you can get an early watch of the video for “Motorbrains” which will be premiered by us on Wednesday.