Housewife's biting call-out, and 4 other songs you need to hear this week

Here at CBC Music, we're always on high alert for new songs by Canadian artists.

This week, we're listening to new tracks from:

• Carly Rae Jepsen.
• RealestK. 
• Nicole Ariana.
• Housewife.
• Tobi. 

Scroll down to find out why you need to listen, too.

What new Canadian tunes are you currently obsessed with? Share them with us on Twitter @CBCMusic.

To hear more about these standout songs, tune in to CBC Music Mornings every Thursday and Toronto's Here and Now every Wednesday afternoon, both available via CBC Listen.

'Talking to Yourself,' Carly Rae Jepsen

Trying to formulate a coherent idea of what Carly Rae Jepsen's upcoming album The Loneliest Time will sound like has been a wild ride so far. There was the folk-leaning lead single "Western Wind," then the borderline SNL skit on "Beach House." Now, we've arrived at "Talking to Yourself," perhaps the single that most resembles Jepsen's signature '80s-tinged pop that made her a cult fave on 2015's Emotion and 2019's Dedicated. Here, Jepsen looks back at a past relationship, wondering if there are any lingering feelings. "Are you thinking of me when you're with somebody else?," she asks, rattling off other late-night thoughts like, "Do you talk to me when you're talking to yourself?/ Are you reaching for me, making love to someone else?" Throw in a fun guitar solo and you've got another Carly Rae Jepsen hit on your hands. Wherever Jepsen decides to take us next, we're ready and excited to follow along. — Melody Lau 

'One 4 U,' RealestK

Can I be the one for you?
Baby, are you gonna choose me?
Baby, do you wanna lose me tonight?

Questions abound in the latest single from R&B singer-songwriter RealestK (Rony Kordab), a gently waltzing slow jam that sets an amorous mood with its vulnerable stance. "Take your time with me, oh/ And where you always stay, I'll go," he sings in the pre-chorus, laying his heart on the line with silky vocals and uncomplicated phrasing. At the bridge, he enters into a duet with a sample of his own voice — a zephyr whose meanderings accentuate the melody's yearning as he sings, "Can I (will I) be the one for you?" — Robert Rowat

'Master of Denial,' Nicole Ariana

Wish that I could save you,
God knows that I want to.
I'm sick of lying to myself,
I wish I wanted somebody else.

The brand new single from Nicole Ariana does that thing we love: it wraps an irresistible beat around devastating lyrics to make the truth sting a little less. "Master of Denial" folds you into its gentle, addictive synth rhythm before Nicole Ariana's silky vocals drop their bomb: even a hopeless romantic can't fix what might be too broken. While this track is the lead single off the Halifax singer's upcoming debut full-length, Crybaby (out Oct. 13), her list of behind-the-scenes credits is growing — and far-reaching. She co-wrote and sang on rapper Russ's 2020 album, which opened at No. 4 on Billboard, has worked with producers Eric Dingus (Drake, OVO) and YogiTheProducer (Kehlani, Jessie Reyez), and has written for best-selling Romanian pop star Inna. For "Master of Denial," Nicole Ariana reached out to two corners of her ever-expanding network, tapping Grammy-nominated U.K. producer Geo Jordan as well as Halifax's Breagh Isabel, who has been building her songwriting and producing resumé since leaving the band Port Cities. Apart, the two emerging Halifax artists are a force, and we're excited to see them joining their talents on this project. — Holly Gordon

'You're not the Worst,' Housewife

Time is precious, and it's not worth wasting on people who don't respect you. Toronto duo Housewife's latest single, "You're not the Worst," is an ode to finally working up the courage to cut those types of people out of your life, to finally stop letting people who the band describes as "overbearing and arrogant" take up space. Over the most pop-sounding hook Housewife has written yet, they pair a sweet and catchy chorus with the biting sentiment, "You're not the worst, but the bar is low so/ Why do I stick around?" It's an essential gut-check we should all have as we reevaluate who we want to give our time away to. — ML

'Move,' Tobi

If there's one thing Toronto rapper/singer Tobi is going to do, it's flex his ability to constantly evolve his sound. There's no getting bored with him, and "Move" proves that with its undeniable replay value. In the past, he's been jazzy, he's been hard, he's been soft and delicate, and now he's grooving. Over a gritty bassline he begins his rap with his signature bravado, flipping the script about a childhood marred by over policing and anti-Blackness. He refuses to let any of that hold him back; in fact, he wants all his people to move along with him: "Ay, we moving/ It's a whole lot of us grooving/ I ain't tryna hear no excuses/ Hit me up when you need some of that soothing." At face value, "Move" is an immediately danceable track with a cool edge and slick production, but it's not lost on me that dancing in the face of systemic adversity is one of the most integral forms of protest Black people possess. To dance is to be free, to move uninhibited by any constraints. — Kelsey Adams