New Music: summersets

Neil Peart is one of the most celebrated and influential drummers of all time. In the new documentary Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, his life and legacy are honoured by his Rush bandmates, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. Along with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, they join Tom Power in the Q studio to discuss the film and share stories about their late friend, bandmate and musical legend.

As a solo artist in the 2010s, Kalle Mattson either won or was nominated for every major music prize in Canada. During the pandemic, he formed the band summersets with his childhood friend Andrew Sowka to explore Everly Brothers harmonies and to alleviate the weight of being a solo artist. Now, summersets has released a new album, Pine Trees in a Perfect Row, written “to be a (complicated) love letter to Northern Ontario and small town Canadian identity.” Kalle joins Q guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the album and to set up a new song called Canada.

Earlier this week, the hit horror-comedy series Widow's Bay made Emmys history with a record-breaking 14 wins, including best series. Katie Dippold, the show’s creator and showrunner, comes from a comedy background, having written the Ghostbusters remake and The Heat, as well as for Parks and Recreation. A few months ago, she joined Tom Power to talk about Widow's Bay, how she’s always been a fan of horror and how her comedy roots helped her write a scary show. 

Canadian singer-songwriter Ruth B first found fame writing songs in her childhood bedroom in Edmonton. Since breaking onto the charts in 2013, she’s gone on to amass nearly 10 billion streams. Now, five years after her last project, she’s returned with a new album, Peace To Make. Largely written in the aftermath of a breakup, the album finds Ruth looking back at her past while discovering new parts of herself in the process. She joins Tom Power to talk about Peace To Make, the vulnerability behind the record, and why she considers it her most honest work yet.

When Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe winner Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story) was offered the lead role in the new family drama Closing Night, she was terrified. Directed by her American Horror Story co-star Cody Fern, the film follows an internationally renowned movie star who’s navigating a life-changing event while also trying to reconnect with her estranged family on the opening night of her Broadway play. Sarah sits down with Tom Power to talk about the film, why acting is her way to the truth, why winning the Emmy was one of the loneliest nights of her life, and her love of Oscar acceptance speeches.

For more than a decade, the British band Jungle have been making music that gets people moving. What started with childhood friends Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland has grown into a band with a global audience, a Brit Award and a new third member, Lydia Kitto. With Jungle's new record Sunshine out now, Josh, Tom and Lydia join Q guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about friendship, how the band has grown and why they’ve always preferred to let the music do the talking.

Acclaimed Toronto pianist Stewart Goodyear has been described as one of the finest pianists of his generation. This week, he opens the Calgary Symphony Orchestra’s Classics season with Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. Ahead of the performance, Stewart sits down with Tom Power at the piano in the Q studio to talk about what first sparked his love of the instrument, why he considers Beethoven his therapist, and why classical music was, in his words, the “wildest music” he had ever heard.

On CJ Wiley’s debut EP, Just Can’t Quit, the non-binary singer-songwriter chronicles the life cycle of a relationship, from crush to falling in love to commitment to breakup. They sit down with guest host Ali Hassan to talk about the record’s concept and what inspired them to examine, as they put it, “the masochistic ritual of love.”

Gary Oldman returns as Jackson Lamb for Season 6 of the hit spy thriller Slow Horses. The Oscar-winning actor joins Tom Power to talk about the secret to playing a crude, flatulent and brilliant MI5 agent — and why he’s relishing the chance to settle into a long-term role. He also shares the research behind some of his most iconic characters, from Commissioner Gordon in Batman Begins and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise.

Canadian folk musician and singer-songwriter Le Ren (a.k.a. Lauren Spear) has toured the world with Jeff Tweedy and Andy Shauf, and earned co-signs from artists like Orville Peck. On her new album, Don’t Be Funny Without Me, she unpacks the chaos of her 20s and comes out on the other side with a new perspective on life and her career. Le Ren joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the new album, finding humour in pain, and navigating the public-facing realities of being a performer.