Long time, no Refresh – hope you’re down for that to change. The past few months have brought a bit of everything into rotation – hazy, a little scrappy, et plus.

Enjoy some of what we’ve been spinning at Also Cool: Maryze, 17sport, Sasha Cay, Cola, and Cadence Weapon. As always, if you like what you hear, you can browse the rest of our Playlist Refresh series by saving our playlist on Spotify.

Hot girl hibernation is over.

Maryze - “SHY PRTY GRL”

With the glossy “SHY PRTY GRL,” Maryze stands firm as Also Cool’s synth-pop darling of choice. There’s a studied, fragile confidence running through the track, tracing Maryze’s move from the Plateau to Echo Park – where the pressure to be seen (and seen right) is constant.

The Hannah Fard-directed music video mirrors that push-and-pull: part raw performance footage, part stylized bathroom spiral. By the final chorus, “SHY PRTY GRL” has been pierced by an overwhelming swell of backing vocals, with every flavour of intensity surfacing at once: “I flaunt, I hide / I glamorize / I haunt the night / I’m terrified.”

Maryze makes their overdue return to la belle province with a performance at Santa Teresa Fest on May 10th – catch them on the Desjardins Stage.

17sport - “Kill”

17sport’s latest single “Kill” is a meandering, distorted catharsis chronicling the ever-relatable tenderness of grappling with inner turmoil: “Kill / And you must find / The love in you / And you know it will get stolen / Because you were a void with no end / Even killers need love.” Composed of Iris Lou Dune and Delphine Vise, partners in life and creation, 17sport’s “Kill” is the leading, emblematic single off of their next album, set to arrive later this year.

Previously wiped from debut Blue Heaven White Horse, “Kill” was tinkered on for almost two years, evolving into a “rageful explosion of liberating frequencies,” as described via email to the magazine. Reminiscent of CocoRosie with flickers of Broadcast, we recommend catching 17sport at their homecoming show in Montreal on May 3rd at La Sotterenea.

Sasha Cay - “BARREL”

“BARREL,” from Montreal multi-hyphenate Sasha Cay, unfolds gradually, beginning with a restrained atmosphere before a quiet pressure starts to build. The track’s production leaves enough breathing room for the mood to develop naturally, letting the instrumentation and vocals move together in a steady rhythm that feels both grounded and slightly unmoored. Rather than chasing a dramatic climax, the track hovers in that tension, allowing small shifts in tone and texture to guide the listener forward.

Cola - “Skywriter’s Sigh”

The latest single off their forthcoming album Cost of Living Adjustment, “Skywriter’s Sigh” finds Montreal post-punkers Cola in a slightly lighter register – bright, driving guitars carrying Tim Darcy’s measured, detached delivery.

“Feeling weak in jumbotron gaze / we brooded and waited, and where did it get to?” he ponders, sidestepping nostalgia rather than leaning into it.

Cadence Weapon - “Honus”

Fresh out of the studio, Hamilton-based, Edmonton-raised Cadence Weapon serves sophisti-hop on his seventh album Forager. Produced by Junia-T, the swanky, old-school leaning instrumentation on Forager is an impressive sonic swerve for Weapon, allowing his impeccable flow to take centre-stage with ardent confidence. A Trojan Horse for Weapon’s ever-conscious eloquence, “Honus” is the opening track of this luxurious “[...] love letter to fashion history and golden age rap.” Another notch in his ever-growing list of accolades, Forager is evidence that Weapon’s showmanship continues to get (even) better with age.