{"id":37467,"date":"2026-05-08T18:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/37467\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T18:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:21:13","slug":"van-jams-new-vancouver-music-from-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/37467\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Jams: New Vancouver music from April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get the best of Vancouver in your inbox, every Tuesday and Thursday.\u00a0Sign up for our free newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t catch a bus in Vancouver without tripping over a struggling indie musician trying to figure out how to turn the pain in their soul into 10,000 Spotify streams and a record deal\u2026or even just a level of familiarity that means the Green Auto regulars are excited to see their name on the bill. We all start somewhere.<\/p>\n

So, we\u2019re collecting jams from local artists both small and not-so-small and giving them a spin each month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SinglesHouseguest \u2014 \u201cincinerator\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the central metaphor of \u201cincinerator\u201d being cremation, Houseguest\u2019s latest single isn\u2019t particularly fiery. Instead, it is languid: a little dreamy, a little hazy, fusing sparser verses that let MJ Laing\u2019s voice wistfully crackle with more full-bodied, harmonized choruses. The repeated invocation of \u201csome days\u201d and \u201csome nights\u201d in the chorus collapses time into a sludgey milieu reminiscent of doomscrolling, making the final sting of \u201cSome nights I lay in bed\/And I know that it will be fine\u201d a brief triumph of putting your phone down.<\/p>\n

Robyn Froese \u2014 \u201cFrida Kahlo\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dream (The Bed) is one of Frida Kahlo\u2019s best-known paintings, a self-portrait that sees the artist asleep on a four-poster bed while a skeleton reposes on the canopy above her. In \u201cFrida Kahlo\u201d, musician Robyn Froese ruminates on the striking visual by marrying reflections on the cyclical nature of life and death with a groovy bassline and plenty of scatting. The result feels textured and intimate\u2014perfect for days when rain is sliding down the windows.<\/p>\n

Orra \u2014 \u201cFriends\u201d<\/p>\n

Situationships seem to be the primary form of dating these days, so of course they\u2019re everywhere in music right now too. The latest local track to tackle the impossibility of text flirtation and semi-interested partners is Orra\u2019s \u201cFriends\u201d. The late-night disco song is both peppy and pondering, as a throbbing bassline provides a springy bass for Sarah Orr\u2019s vocals to bounce off of. Give it a spin as you ponder the pourous boundaries of romance.<\/p>\n

Jonah Ocean \u2014 \u201cUp In the Clouds\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUp In the Clouds\u201d is a simple piano ballad about the bond between two brothers during a troubled adolescence. It\u2019s a sweet premise, underlined by the fact that Jonah Ocean\u2019s brother Kane (who has photographed Kaytranada and Pharrell) shot the video himself in a charmingly DIY manner, all iPhones and roaming through Vancouver. The song itself is a classic piece of escapism, with strip-backed vocals and keys recorded in a single take to let the emotion shine through. It\u2019s a little saccharine, but doubtlessly sweet.<\/p>\n

AlbumsThe Abramson Singers \u2014 Anything You Could\u2019ve Been<\/p>\n

After dropping 2017\u2019s The Lost Pod, the Abramson Singers seemingly submerged. Now, almost a decade later, Leah Abramson\u2019s project has resurfaced with a new EP. Anything You Could\u2019ve Been chronicles Abramson\u2019s last decade\u2014moving, motherhood, mentoring the youth\u2014alongside new faces guitarist Jason Starnes and bassist Mark Beaty. The record pairs Abramson\u2019s powerful vocals with shimmery synths and throwback sensibilities for a twee-tinged pop package.<\/p>\n

Jody Glenham \u2014 Still Here<\/p>\n

Jody Glenham\u2019s latest EP is a reminder that, even after nearly two decades, the musician isn\u2019t going anywhere. The self-produced five-pack of songs provides glimpses into a number of cinematic vignettes, portrayed with moody sonic choices like fuzzy guitars and unhurried melodies. \u201cThe Local\u201d celebrates the community of indie venues, while lead single \u201cLove Deficiency Syndrome\u201d considers the post-breakup awkwardness of melodrama when you know that, like Glenham\u2019s artistic career, you\u2019ll \u201cbe fine in the long run\u201d.<\/p>\n

Becca Stefanson \u2014 Going Forward, Looking Back<\/p>\n

Pitt Meadows-based musician Becca Stefanson joins a prestigious list of musicians who have released their first albums as a teenager. The 17-year-old leans into country and folk on her debut EP, bucking attention-chasing brevity in favour of well-developed songs. \u201cHow I Feel\u201d employs finger-picking to tell a ponderous ballad, while sunny \u201cMr. Mailman\u201d muses on what might become a rare sight for future generations under the Canada Post cuts: the joy of a delivery.<\/p>\n

Whipped Cream \u2014 Home Was Always Me<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost surprising that it has taken Vancouver Island producer Whipped Cream so long to drop her debut album. Home Was Always Me is a 14-song collection, released after six mixtapes in the past decade, and proves to be worth the wait. The record is chameleonic, bouncing between club-filling beats and introspective quieter moments\u2014sometimes on the same song. There\u2019s hyper-pop, trap, pounding bass that would sync up perfectly with strobe lights, but mostly the sound of an artist figuring out how to be true to herself. Welcome home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the best of Vancouver in your inbox, every Tuesday and Thursday.\u00a0Sign up for our free newsletter. You…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[415,17,412,413,418,407,414,420,416,423,226,389,419,422,421,417,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-37467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-culture","12":"tag-dining","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-events","15":"tag-fashion","16":"tag-film","17":"tag-food","18":"tag-lifestyle","19":"tag-music","20":"tag-nightlife","21":"tag-restaurants","22":"tag-shopping","23":"tag-tv","24":"tag-vancouver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}