Trump’s threats. Tariffs. Elon Musk’s antics. Ukraine. Gaza. The news cycle has been insane, so here’s an opportunity to catch your breath and reclaim a little sanity with the pleasures of New Music Friday. There’s some very strong stuff this week.

Singles

1. The Beaches, The Last Girls at the Party (AWAL)

The Beaches picked up a big win at the JUNOS last weekend after being named Group of the Year, so the timing for the release of this new single is perfect. They’ll be roadtesting this song (as well as a few others, I’m sure) from their upcoming third album as they make their way through headlining gigs and festivals like Coachella, Governer’s Ball, and Osheaga. The album will be called No Hard Feelings, which is due August 29. I guess they’re done blaming Brett.

2. The Hives, Enough is Enough (PIAS)

Sweden’s Hives, one of the leaders of the indie rock revival of about 25 years ago, are still making music in their sharp suits. The next album, The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, will be released on August 29. And get this: It was co-produced by Mike D of The Beastie Boys and features contributions from Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Curious? You should be.

 

3. New Pornographers, Ballad of the Last Payphone (Merge)

The New Pornographers are on an analogue kick right now with a limited 7-inch single. Their object of curiosity is once ubiquitous but now obsolete payphone. And not just any payphone, but the last one in New York City which now lives at the Museum of the City of New York. Its last location was in Times Square. Kinda nostalgic, you know?

4. Sum 41, Radio Silence (Rise Records/BMG)

Back to the JUNOS for a second. Sum 41 appeared on the broadcast with what could very well be their last-ever performance as part of their induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. This, we are told, will be their final single and video, ending 30 years of their particular band of Canadian punk rock. They will be missed.

5. Wet Leg, Catch These Fists (Frontside)

At long last, we have a new Wet Leg single! The band’s self-titled debut album, released back in 2022, was one of the fresh-sounding releases that hauled us out of the pandemic and was sensational. Now it’s time for the Difficult Second Album. Will they do it with Moisturizer (due July 11)? If this single is any indication, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

Albums

1. Miki Berenyi Trio, Tripla (Bella Union)

Shoegaze fans will know Miki from her time with Lush, a dreamy and fuzzy band from the early 90s who toured with Lollapalooza in 1992. This is the debut from Miki’s new project–which, if you wanna be cool about it, can be referred to as “MB3.” There are aspects of Lush in their sound, but there’s also a new electronic element to things. Love it.

2. Craig Finn, Always Been (Tamarac/Thirty Tiger)

The frontman of The Hold Steady likes to keep busy when the band isn’t going anything. This is his sixth solo album. The War on Drugs, Kathleen Edwards, and Sam Fender all make guest appearances.

 

3. Mekons, Horror (Fire Records)

The Mekons, the British art collective that has been around since 1976(!!!) have just released their first album in five years, This could be their…26th(?) album, but they’ve released so much over the decades that I just can’t be sure.

4. Waterboys, Life, Death, and Dennis Hopper (Sun Records)

Finally, the welcome return of Mike Scott’s crew with their 16th album and first in three years, I can’t wait to hear about the fascination with Dennis Hopper. There are also contributions on the album from Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Fiona Apple. Sounds like it’s time for some Big Music again.

 

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

When the news broke of Sinead O’Connor’s death on July 26, 2023, there were a couple of different reactions. One was “Who’s Sinead O’Connor?” That wasn’t terribly surprising. Her last hit album was released in 1990. A couple of generations have gone by since she was on the charts and may have never heard of any of her songs. The second reaction came from readers of tabloids and gossip columns, those who had at least peripherally heard about her struggles through middle age. The third reaction came from those who remembered not only what a talent she was, but that she was also a force of nature unlike almost anyone we had ever seen in music. That is why her death was front page news around the planet. Sinead O’Connor took a position—many positions, in fact—with her art and her public persona and never, ever backed down… she was always herself…she was a nonconformist. She would not be put in a box and refused to be silenced. Sinead spoke up on things few people would dare talk about, including her own personal struggles (of which there were many). She spoke up on women’s rights, children’s rights, organized religion, the struggles of gay, lesbian, and transgender people, aids patients, racial minorities, and the patriarchy of the recorded music business. Did you know that she donated her house in Hollywood to a family of refugees from Somalia? When she died, she left behind an intriguing body of work that includes solo material and collaborations. Two of those solo albums are all-time classics. But if you know Sinead O’Connor, you already know this and what you’re about to hear will bring back a flood of memories. But if you’re late to the party, you may still be asking yourself “What’s the big deal about Sinead O’Connor?” Here: let me show you. Songs heard on this show (all by Sinead O’Connor)

• • I Am Stretched on Your Grave
  • Heroine (with The Edge)
  • Troy
  • Nothing Compares 2 U
  • All Apologies
  • No Man’s Woman
  • Milestones

Here’s a playlist from Eric Wilhite. The Ongoing History Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.

• • 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
  • Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
  • Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
  • 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
  • Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
  • 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
  • Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
  • The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
  • The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
  • Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
  • WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

Don’t forget about my other podcast, Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry. If you love true crime with your music, you’ll love this. Get Uncharted wherever you get your podcasts.

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Many musicians engage in extreme behavior, including things that are dangerous and illegal. Why? Probably because artists can turn into thrill junkies. Neurologists believe dopamine—the body’s feel-good hormone—may have less impact on them. Okay, why? Hard to say.

Each of us has individual brain chemistries, meaning that we react to dopamine in different ways. Extreme people need extreme things to get the same dopamine hit as the average person. In other words, they may have a dopamine tolerance that’s built up over years of chasing that feeling on a daily basis. The longer they live, the harder they have to go to get a meaningful and transcendent dopamine high.

This may also extend to areas of their lives beyond music. Here’s where we get into things like becoming addicted to risky and dangerous behavior—anything to feel that feeling that most of us get a much lower levels of dopamine.

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The very late/early 1990s were a volatile and prolific time in British indie music. Coming off the 80s rave and dance scene, the country was also spitting out Madchester, alt-dance, shoegaze, dreampop, and various forms of pre-Britpop. Among all that was grebo, a short-lived alt-rock/shoegaze cousin that had a lifespan of maybe 24 months. The key acts were Pop Will Eat Itself, Gaye Bikers on Acid, and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin.

Complex dance beats? Check. Fuzzy guitars? Bingo. Two bass players? Why not?

This was one of the singles from their 1991 album, God Fodder. Glorious stuff. Where’s me baggy shorts?

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Everyone reacts to music at different levels and in different ways. You might be a laid-back kind of listener, someone who just sits back and takes it all in. Or you may be the kind of music fan that loses their mind over all music with singing and dancing and jumping about. Why the difference?

It’s largely neurological and chemical. The spectrum of musical reactions is related to how an individual creates and reacts to dopamine, the brain’s feel-good hormone. Dopamine can have wide-ranging effects depending on our own individual chemistries. It doesn’t mean that the quiet listener is less of a music fan than the spontaneous singer and dancer; it just means that the physical reactions are different. Dopamine is an interesting hormone.

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Two Toronto councillors want the city to change garbage day in three west-end wards as the current schedule “negatively impacts” patio season.

Scarborough-Guildwood Coun. Paul Ainslie and Spadina-Fort York Coun. Ausma Malik are making the ask, saying in a letter to the infrastructure and environment committee that a change in garbage pickup will “create a more pleasant environment” in that part of the city.

Ainslie and Malik singled out the Ossington, Queen West and College Promenade areas in their letter; those neighbourhoods are in the wards of Parkdale-High Park, Davenport and Spadina-Fort York.

“Currently, garbage collection is scheduled for Thursday nights,” the councillors said in part.

“The presence of garbage bins on Thursday nights negatively impacts the dining experience for patrons enjoying the vibrant nightlife and outdoor dining options.”

The councillors added that several residents and businesses have voiced their complaints over the current garbage collection schedule.

So, they’re pitching the idea of adjusting the collection schedule to an off-peak evening, like Monday or Tuesday.

“By adjusting the garbage collection schedule, we can create a more pleasant environment for dining and shopping, thereby supporting the local economy and improving the quality of life for residents and visitors alike,” they wrote.

In their letter, they’re requesting city council to ask the general manager of solid waste management services to consult with community stakeholders about a possible change and report back with any recommendations resulting from those consultations.

The infrastructure and environment committee will consider the request on April 9.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TORONTO – John Tavares put the puck in the net off a slick William Nylander feed.

Mitch Marner then finished a nice setup from Auston Matthews before finding Matthew Knies with a breathtaking stretch pass that led to a breakaway goal.

The Maple Leafs’ stars rose to the occasion offensively in Wednesday’s crucial tilt atop the Atlantic Division standings.

Toronto’s big guns also brought it at the other end of the ice to secure a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers that clinched a playoff spot.

“That’s a goal at the start of the year,” Marner said. “Still a lot on the line.”

Matthews, Marner and Tavares were on for a tense final minute that saw the visitors press in a game that felt a lot like a post-season matchup between teams with designs on making deep runs this spring.

“They’re not there just to score,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “They’re there to play 200 feet of hockey, whether it’s penalty killing, protecting the lead, just playing good defence. You need that for everybody. Everybody.

“Doesn’t matter who it is. Guys need to be bought into sacrificing to play the other side of the puck.”

Toronto showed that level of commitment against the defending Stanley Cup champions, a team on the tail end of a back-to-back and missing a couple of key pieces, including injured captain Aleksander Barkov.

Marner jumped, scratched and clawed to get the puck out of the defensive zone during one sequence in the dying moments — an example of the commitment Berube has been preaching since taking over from the fired Sheldon Keefe last May.

“They’re going to be our horses and they’re going to have to lead offensively and defensively,” said Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who won the Cup with Florida and made 29 saves to pick up the victory against his former team.

“For us to go far, those guys are going to have to commit to a 200-foot game. We’re doing a healthy job of that. When they’re going, everyone else follows suit.”

The Leafs lead the Tampa Bay Lightning by three points atop the division and sit four up on the Panthers. The Lightning have a game in hand.

Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, was brought in by general manager Brad Treliving to get Toronto, which has one series victory since 2004, over the playoff hump with a more north-south, defensive-minded, straightforward approach.

“Our team has played very consistent this year and did a real good job of changing their style of play and playing a certain way and adapting to it over time,” Berube said. “It doesn’t happen overnight … takes awhile. But they’ve learned to figure it out with the different areas of the game.

“It’s been a pleasure.”

Tavares, who scored his 36th goal of the season, said trying to create offence while staying within the group’s structure has been a balancing act.

“We want to step up and make plays, but it’s the details and the consistency of your game, and not getting away from it just to find a way to make a play and score a goal,” he said. “Earning that through the process of our identity in our game is extremely important. You’ve just got to stay with it and work for your opportunities.

“Win those small battles.”

Securing the Atlantic crown would see Toronto avoid Florida and Tampa in the first round of the playoffs, and instead book a date with a wild-card opponent — potentially the Ottawa Senators.

“It’s not the be all and end all,” Berube said. “First place in your division would be great, but that’s a ways away.”

Stolarz said getting a victory over the Panthers after suffering 5-1 and 3-2 losses earlier in the schedule was confidence boost.

“We know what’s at stake,” he said. “Our goal is to win the division and get home-ice advantage.

“This is a team more likely than not, if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish, that we’re going to have to run into in the playoffs.”

Wednesday was an example of the required commitment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

© 2025 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Mitch Marner scored the goal-ahead goal in the third period and Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Florida Panthers 3-2 in a key matchup atop the Atlantic Division standings Wednesday.

John Tavares and Matthew Knies had the other goals for Toronto (46-25-4), which clinched a playoff spot. Marner and Knies added an assist each to register two-point nights.

Sam Reinhart, with a goal and an assist, and Gustav Forsling replied for Florida (44-27-4). Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.

The Leafs stretched their division lead to three points on the Tampa Bay Lightning and are now four up on the Panthers. Tampa has a game in hand.

Florida, which beat Toronto 5-1 at home in November before picking up a 3-2 victory at Scotiabank Arena last month, was minus captain Aleksander Barkov (upper-body injury) after he was hurt in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Montreal.

The Leafs and Panthers play once more in the regular season — Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

TAKEAWAYS

Leafs: Tavares has 15 goals in 20 games since the 4 Nations Face-Off to lead the NHL. The 34-year-old pending unrestricted free agent has scored 36 times in 68 contests this season.

Panthers: The club also continues to play without star forward Matthew Tkachuk (lower-body injury) and minute-crunching defenceman Aaron Ekblad, who’s serving a 20-game suspension for violating terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. The top pick at the 2014 draft isn’t eligible to return until Florida’s third playoff contest later this spring.

KEY MOMENT

Marner snapped a 1-1 tie midway through the third after Bobrovsky, who stopped Bobby McMann on a breakaway moments earlier, couldn’t squeeze the initial shot off the stick of Auston Matthews.

KEY STAT

Matthews needs one goal to become the fifth player in franchise history with at least 30 in their first season as captain, joining Rick Vaive (54), Darryl Sittler (41), Mats Sundin (33) and Dave Keon (32).

UP NEXT

Leafs: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Panthers: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

© 2025 The Canadian Press

Watch the full broadcast of Global National with Dawna Friesen for Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

View more Global National videos here

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A Manitoba judge has sentenced a woman to 10 years in prison in the stabbing death of her ex-boyfriend, whose killing left a “significant” impact on family, friends and the First Nation they lived on.

Sheryl Leanne Thompson was initially charged with second-degree murder in the death of her former partner Lance Moosetail in 2022 but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The two had been in a relationship for approximately two and a half years and lived together in Moosetail’s home on the Pine Creek First Nation, northwest of Winnipeg.

At the time of the attack, Thompson was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.

Court heard from Moosetail’s children, mother, colleagues and community members about the impact the 51-year-old First Nations safety officer had on those around him.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Sandra Zinchuk says Moosetail was a leader and role model in Pine Creek and that his sudden and tragic death left the community feeling heartbroken, vulnerable and unsafe.

“The impact of Moosetail’s death can be summarized in a single word: immeasurable,” Zinchuk said in a recent decision.

Court heard Moosetail and Thompson would argue about finances, jealousy and the woman’s substance use. Moosetail did not drink or use drugs.

The two ended their relationship, but Thompson remained in the home as she tried to find a new place to live. On the day of Moosetail’s death, Thompson was “highly intoxicated” after using alcohol and cocaine.

Thompson called 911 to falsely report that Moosetail was choking her. The call, which was presented in court, picks up Moosetail screaming in pain and saying that Thompson stabbed him.

Thompson gave the operator multiple versions of how Moosetail had been stabbed, including blaming him for his own injuries.

Moosetail’s son went to his father’s home as they waited for the ambulance, which was about an hour away.

“He remembers his father saying, ‘I love you my son,’ and that was the last thing he heard him say,” said Zinchuk.

Court heard Thompson’s childhood was “chaotic” and marked by substance use, domestic violence, physical discipline and sexual assault.

She began using cocaine after her mother died in 2005. She has a limited, dated and unrelated criminal record, with her last conviction being a drinking and driving offence in 2009.

Minegoziibe Anishnabe Chief Derek Nepinak provided a victim impact statement that called Moosetail the face of his community and that his death continues to impact the First Nation.

RCMP Cpl. Ryan Powe said Moosetail’s death has shaken members of the local detachment who relied on him to be a trusted face and calming presence during moments of uncertainty.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.