Check out all the new music of the week with Your First Listen! Hosted by SONiC Music Director Brandy Taylor, get the scoop from your favourite artists on their latest work and discover new songs from upcoming artists. Your First Listen airs Sundays at 8pm and Tuesdays at 11pm.

1. Weezer – “Can’t Knock The Hustle” 

After teasing the Black Album for what felt like forever, Weezer FINALLY announced its release! Kind of. The new album will arrive sometime in 2019. The band describes the album’s first single, “Can’t Knock The Hustle” (same name as Jay-Z’s 1996 hit), as a “mix between Beastie Boys, Beck and Weezer”. The music video features Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz as an Uber driver.

2. Said The Whale – “UnAmerican” 

Said The Whale have returned with a rock song! It’s a chunkier sound for the Canadian band. The song tells the story of protagonist Kevin who goes through life letting the music he’s listening to influence everything he’s doing. Said The Whale’s Tyler Bancroft says, “Through it all, he just wants to be a good person. Around the time I was writing the song, I kept hearing the label ‘UnAmerican’ being given to people who were upset and bewildered by Donald Trump’s antics. And so I started to equate ‘UnAmerican’ with ‘good and decent’ because bewilderment seems like the most normal response to someone as unhinged as Donald Trump.” The song is off the band’s upcoming album.

3. Allan Rayman – “Rose”

Music’s most mysterious man is back. Following Allan Rayman’s breakout hit “13”, he took some time off but has now returned with “Rose”. The song follows along with someone’s obsession with the character Rose. It’s the first single off Rayman’s upcoming album Harry Hard-On, which will be released on November 16.

Every week, it’s Your First Listen to the the newest alternative music. Hosted by SONiC Music Director, Brandy Taylor, Your First Listen airs twice a week, Sundays at 8pm and Tuesday at 11pm. 

Filed under: Allan Rayman, Said the Whale, Weezer, YFL, your first listen