Hello, 2025! We’re kicking off the 14th year of I Heart Hamilton. Last year, I changed my Playlist approach by rounding up a quarterly mix of tunes, and I quite liked that process! There is never a shortage of local music to dig into, and I do my best to keep up. To start the year, we have some picks that dropped late last year, a few that slipped by me from earlier in the year, plus releases that have been out for the past month or so.
Are you a musician from Hamilton and the surrounding area? Let me know what you’re up to! I’m always looking for new local music to play on my weekly radio show on 93.3 CFMU!
I’m digging the flow of this one and hope you enjoy it too. Here we go – turn up Winter 2025 ❄️
CIN50 – “Freak Stuff That Normal People Do” [Listen]
New project from Gabriel Marcelo & Paulo Leon (the creative team also behind andthenyoudie). Look out for this track on the band’s upcoming EP, MUSIC TO DANCE TO AT 3AM.
Junestone – “BRIDGE!” [Listen]
Taken from the band’s new album, FIRST TRY
No Beauty – “JUNE” [Listen]
From the band’s debut album, No Beauty Will Remain.
The Dirty Nil – “I Hate The Internet” [Listen]
The Dirty Nil – “True Devotion” [Listen]
The band blessed us with a new double single drop – can’t choose just one!
Ellis In Transit – “Feel It” [Listen]
Lost Faculty – “Sweetly” [Listen]
Pedestrian – “Couch Surfer” [Listen]
From the Burlington band’s latest EP, So Happy You’re Here
Andrew Mrozowski – “Long Road To Nowhere” [Listen]
The title track from the musician’s debut album, which dropped last fall. Check out his live session in studio at CFMU.
spookyguava – “OBVIOUS” [Listen]
Sean Bienhaus – “I Don’t Believe” [Listen]
Eric Brandon – “Craving You” [Listen]
Emma Elena Grace – “Traffic” [Listen]
From the musician’s sophomore album, Whole Years, just released in February
Drew Smith – “There You Go” [Listen]
Coszmos Quartette – “Peppermint & Lavender” [Listen]
The band shared their long-awaited latest album, Eternal Dawn, with a physical release at the end of last year, and it dropped to streaming this year.
Chet Findlay – “Bluevale” [Listen]
Roseboat – “i liked it when we were friends” [Listen]
Modern Fear – “The Touch Of You” [Listen]
Isabella Chiarini – “Gotta Be” [Listen]
Smoothie Lou – “Back 2 Basics” feat. LTtheMonk [Listen]
To be featured on Smoothie Lou’s new album, SMOOTHIE, out April 1.
LTtheMonk – “Parker Posey (Party Girl)” feat. Mandela Heights, OPM Hulu, Nelson P. Rogers & Kenté Cloth [Listen]
Tarek Funk & Onglish – “Cherry Tree” [Listen]
The title track from the collaborative Cherry Tree EP from Tarek Funk & Onglish
Stereoruss – “a day i’ve been waiting for for a long long time” [Listen]
[zoethecat] – “it’s not over” [Listen]
