Le Ren

Mariposa Folk Festival Gets Mavis Staples, the Weather Station, Lido Pimienta, Kathleen Edwards for 2022 Edition

PUBLISHED Feb 3, 2022

After two years away, Orillia's Mariposa Folk Festival is finally due to return to Tudhope Park this summer from July 8 to 10. The three-da...

Canadian Artists Pick Their Favourite Albums of 2021

PUBLISHED Dec 3, 2021

The critics have had their say and picked the best albums of 2021. Here at Exclaim!, we crowned Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Si...

Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of 2021

PUBLISHED Dec 1, 2021

After 2020's many delays and cancellations, 2021 was a year of blockbusters. Pop superstars returned after several years of silence, the wo...

The Sound of November 2021: This Month's Essential Listening

PUBLISHED Nov 3, 2021

If the winter blues haven't set in yet, they surely will by the time November is over. As we all dig into our trove of self-soothing tools,...

Le Ren's 'Leftovers' Is a Folk Music Feast

PUBLISHED Oct 13, 2021

Strumming thunderbolts out of her guitar, Lauren Spear's debut LP as Le Ren is a folk music marvel, one that charts the human heart and all...

Canadian Alt-Country Artists Use the Genre's Past to Push It into the Future

PUBLISHED Oct 5, 2021

They say to do a cover right, you have to make it sound like your own song. In that case, Lauren Spear's father definitely did them right....

Tour the Jam Spaces Where Canadians Artists Make Music

Show & Tell

PUBLISHED Oct 1, 2021

These days, a musician's "jam space" can mean almost anything. It could be a soundproofed garage or a lockout room in a practice facility —...

POP Montreal Announces 2021 Lineup with Backxwash, Soccer Mommy, Cadence Weapon

PUBLISHED Aug 17, 2021

POP Montreal is now in its 20th year, and the festival will be celebrating the anniversary with a hybrid in-person/virtual event. It runs S...