This week’s selection of new morsels includes Canadian brothers who have found a shaman, a woman from Saskatchewan who loves physics and a chocolate cake for dessert.

1. Tom Morello and Pussy Riot, Meteorological strike
Single (independent)
Recommended if you like: revolutionary art armies

Tom loves people who stand up for something, so it’s no surprise that he has long admired Pussy Riot’s uncompromising activism in Russia. This co-writing, sung in English and Russian, addresses both the police killings and Putin’s authoritarianism. Note that the video is subject to an age limit on YouTube. Also beware of strobe effects. YouTube does not allow embedding the video, but you can find it here.

2. Mountain Head, let it out
Single (Alternative Rock)
RIYL: Videos Sung By Ugly Puppets

Ah. A mystery. Mountain Head, these are the Hannah brothers who seem to have to be in ZZ Top (long hair, long beards) but who also have golden grids. Still, they don’t look like Texas rockers or a trendy New York outfit. The story is that they wandered the desert, climbed a mountain (probably somewhere in their native Canada), and received some sort of enlightenment from a shaman at the top. And then there are the puppets.

3. Hotel Mira, Eyes on you
Perfectionism (Light organ records)
RIYL: killers, Arkells, arctic monkeys

The Vancouver band formerly known as JPNSGRLS continue to work on their fourth album with a new single that’s a nice slice of springtime alt-pop. If you watch Jann Arden’s show Jann, you’ll have seen singer Charlie Kerr on the show.

4. Farideh, Waveforms
Single (independent)
RIYL: Quantum physics. Not really.

Farideh (pronounced fair-i-day, just like “Faraday cageFormerly of the Saskatchewan feminist activist group Rosie and the Riveters, found himself suffering from motion sickness on the road. This led to an apprenticeship in mediation and soon after, explorations of quantum physics. WaveForms is both a love song and a “melodic expression of the physical phenomenon of quantum entanglement” used as a metaphor for the emotional interactions she has with her husband from a distance. The metaphor works. Believe me.

5. Ali Barter, Chocolate cake
Chocolate cake EP (Inertia Music)
RIYL: Uh, chocolate cake?

It was an accidental discovery when I wasn’t even looking for new music. Ali, who is based in Melbourne, Australia, has been posting material for a few years. This song was supposed to be part of her third album, but COVID meant a change of plans. Call it grunge-pop.