MARS ASPEN MAKES PEACE WITH THE PAST ON NEW SINGLE, “BABY TEETH”, ANNOUNCES NEW EP

MARS ASPEN TO RELEASE BABY TEETH EP VIA TWIN FANG RECORDS ON FEBRUARY 6, 2026

WATCH / SHARE “BABY TEETH” (LIVE PERFORMANCE) HERE
BUY / STREAM “BABY TEETH” HERE

PRE-SAVE BABY TEETH EP HERE

PERFORMING IN OTTAWA FEBRUARY 4

Photo Credit: Oluchi // DOWNLOAD HIGH RES

Courageous enough to be vulnerable, Mars Aspen (they/them) gets real with their lush folk confessionals. This Ottawa-based songwriter digs into the hardest parts of intimate connections, spilling their heart so that you—in turn—can better understand your own.

On their new EP baby teeth, Aspen offers raw, direct snapshots into the ups and downs of past relationships with others—as well as their relationship with their own mental health. These songs “stem from past trauma,” Aspen explains. “I’m coming to terms with where I’ve been before, while honouring where I was at that time.” The clear-eyes songs describe when heartbreak feels like swallowing hot glue, when yearning pours out like juice, and when the remnants of relationships are—as Aspen sings it—’mushrooms and roots in the dirt with the beetles and moss’. With shades of Lizzy McAlpine and Imogen Heap, this EP epitomizes Aspen’s songwriting mantra: “The only way it works is to let it all out.”

Today, they share the EP’s title track, “baby teeth”, in which Aspen buries their baby teeth in the dirt, casting a spell in hopes that these little bits of who they were grow into whatever they need to be next. “baby teeth”, is a song about “how childhood influences the present and how things I have learned as a child have affected thoughts I continue to have,” says Aspen. “Towards the end of the song also resigns to the fact that I have to make peace with the past and continue moving forwards.”

WATCH / SHARE “BABY TEETH” (LIVE PERFORMANCE) HERE
BUY / STREAM “BABY TEETH” HERE

“baby teeth” Single Art // DOWNLOAD HIGH RES

MORE ABOUT MARS ASPEN AND baby teeth EP
Aspen honed their production skills with 2022’s shimmering in orbit! EP (recorded entirely in Aspen’s basement). baby teeth features stunning arrangements dreamed up alongside producer Kieran Isley swaying from haunting, softly-strummed ballads to Kate Bollinger-inspired folk-pop. Aspen makes these songs soar with strata of vocal harmonies, as on the divine folk incantation “i want to be so sweet”.

BUY / STREAM “SPILLED MILK” HERE
WATCH “SPILLED MILK” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) HERE

Having always practiced songwriting as a form of therapy, Aspen’s songs on baby teeth are disarming in their candour. “pest control” explores the complexities of queer relationships and the painstaking process of digging into the reasons why some of them simply (or catastrophically) end (as Aspen sings, ‘I attract what I give / I give all that I am / nothing I won’t submit’). Aspen confronts holding onto righteous anger on “i’d like to stay mad”, a dissection of social toxicity. Aspen approaches songwriting by “dumping emotions onto a page, letting them settle, and rearranging them to sound like a song,” and you can hear them work out these interpersonal conflicts like puzzles. There’s a sense of calm in hearing the trauma settle, in hearing the narrator grow.

baby teeth is ultimately a collection of songs about growth. “They’re about realizing that we need to grow up sometimes,” Aspen laughs, “despite how jarring a sentence that is!” Having flirted with frustration, disavowal, and finally, bittersweet resolve, Aspen is leaving plenty of room for all that is to come.

PRE-SAVE BABY TEETH EP HERE

PERFORMANCE DATES
Feb 4 - Ottawa, ON -  Rainbow Bistro - Tickets

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BABY TEETH EP TRACKLIST
01 spilled milk
02 i’d like to stay mad
03 pest control
04 i want to be so sweet
05 baby teeth

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JULIANNA RIOLINO ANNOUNCES DELUXE LP, SHARES NEW SINGLE

WATCH / SHARE “DON’T PUT ME IN THE MIDDLE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “DON’T PUT ME IN THE MIDDLE” HERE

DELUXE EDITION OF ECHO IN THE DUST OUT FEBRUARY 27, 2026 VIA MOONWHISTLE RECORDS

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES BEGIN FEBRUARY 13 - FULL DATES BELOW

PRE-SAVE ECHO IN THE DUST DELUXE EDITION HERE

“We've seen Canadian rock 'n' roll's future, and its name is Julianna Riolino. ..thoughtfully written songs exploring interpersonal transitions, almost like they're scenes in a larger play that's a memorably compelling emotional roller coaster.” 
– Exclaim!, Best Albums of 2025 
 


"twangy, deliriously catchy blast of power-pop"
– The New York Times



“The country-rock storyteller crafts her most self-possessed work yet with Echo in the Dust, a reflection on confidence, creation, and coming into her own.”
– RANGE

“Over a boisterous mix of guitar, banjo, organ, tambourines and more, Julianna Riolino's voice soars like a sun rising on a hot summer day on this track celebrating growth.”
- CBC Music, Top Songs of 2025, "On A Bluebird's Wing”

"The atmosphere of Riolino’s carefully crafted cosmic country lingers in the mind."
– Pitchfork



"Channels Judee, Dolly and Emmylou on a lustrous, emotional country-rock set."  
– Uncut



Photo Credit : Brooke Tutty // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Julianna Riolino today returns with news of a deluxe edition of her recent album, Echo in the Dust, set for release via Moonwhistle Records on February 27. The new expanded version of the record arrives with three extra tracks including the new single out today titled "Don't Put Me in the Middle". Riolino is set to tour the East Coast of North America next month – dates in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Boston and more – with EU dates planned for summer 2026.



Speaking about the new single, which leans into her idiosyncratic vocals and penchant for weaving timeless melodies through a bed of fervent guitars, Riolino says: “I wrote this song on tour in between long drives, sound-checks, performances and ego deaths. It’s always been a hum in my head, and bringing it to life was cathartic and healing. It is the decompression after the fracture. It’s melancholic resolute and at peace.”
 

WATCH / SHARE “DON’T PUT ME IN THE MIDDLE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “DON’T PUT ME IN THE MIDDLE” HERE

MORE ABOUT ECHO IN THE DUST
The songs on Echo In The Dust consider relationships of all sorts as the foundation for her awakening into a different creative self and person in this world; working through loss, grief, habits, and decisions she once made, seeking clarity in the past before leaving it to move forward. The adage “you don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been” rings especially true on this album.



By Riolino’s own admission, the album is different from her debut, All Blue. She breathes new confidence into her work. The celebrated songwriter is soft as she is tough on these songs; seeing the benefit of laying down armour and splitting her heart open so that we may get a glimpse of our own. 



“What I'm talking about on Echo In The Dust are universally felt: you can have a romantic relationship, friendship, or professional relationship and start to identify as you grow and learn the toxic parts that can exist in all of those,” Riolino explains. “You think, ‘why do I feel bad? Why is this happening again?’ But I'm allowing this to happen because I haven't told myself I deserve better. This record helped me learn to accept and love myself. To put myself first and stand on my own two feet.” 


After non-stop touring for other projects she has since left, and wrapping up live promotion for All Blue, Riolino began recording for this new album in 2024 at Gold Standard Recorders in Toronto. While she played guitar, she also tapped her regular collaborators, Matthew “Roddy” Kuester to play bass and guitar, Peter Landi on drums, Thomas Hammerton on piano and synth, and producer of the album Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel. On top of that, a whole host of other instrumentalists rounded out the sound of the album including Alex Edkins (Weird Nightmare, Metz) on guitar for “Full Moon”, “Like a Rembrandt”, and “The Less I Know”,  and Nashville’s Sean Thompson on guitar for “On A Bluebird’s Wing”. 



The songs on All Blue, Riolino says, had the privilege of being played and workshopped in front of a crowd but the songs that make up Echo In The Dust were written before, during, and after her debut in moments of confusion and clarity. These songs are like journal entries; attempts at deciphering what she wants out of her relationships and creative life in music. She transports us into big feelings layered with guitar twangs, vivid pedal steel and walloping horns, anchored by her tender vocals as though she embodies Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt in one person.



Echo In The Dust builds on the alt-country elements of All Blue. Yet, no algorithm can contain Riolino or what moved her this time around. She cites Roy Orbison, The Roches, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy),” and doom metal bands like Omas influences on the album.
Riolino needed to unravel before she could clarify who she is now and who she’ll be next, and the result is Echo In the Dust, a beautiful sonic result of what it’s like to stay out of one’s own way.



PRE-SAVE ECHO IN THE DUST DELUXE EDITION HERE

JULIANNA RIOLINO TOUR DATES

Feb 13 - London, ON - Palasad Social Bowl 

Feb 14 - Guelph, ON - Sonic Hall 

Feb 16 - Richmond, VA - The Camel 

Feb 17 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd 

Feb 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie 

Feb 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere Zone One 

Feb 21 - Boston, MA - Middle East Upstairs 

Feb 22 - Montreal, QC - L'Esco 

Feb 24 - Ottawa, ON - 27 Club 

Feb 25 - Kingston, ON - Broom Factory 

Feb 26 - St Catharines, ON - Warehouse 

July 17 - Tromsø, Norway
 - Bukta Festival
July 18 - Kristiansand, Norway - Ravnedalen Live

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ECHO IN THE DUST DELUXE TRACKLIST
1. Like A Rembrandt
2. Smile
3. Full Moon
4. Seed
5. Be Good to Your Mother
6. It's A Shakedown
7. Running
8. Let Me Dream
9. On A Bluebird's Wing
10. I Wonder
11. The Less I Know
12. Don't Put Me in the Middle
13. Pain
14. Would That It Were So Simple

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ARIEL POSEN ANNOUNCES LP, SHARES NEW SINGLE FT. CITY AND COLOUR

ARIEL POSEN’S NEW LP, BANNATYNE, OUT MARCH 20, 2026

WATCH / SHARE “EMPTY-HANDED FT. CITY AND COLOUR” HERE
BUY / STREAM “EMPTY-HANDED FT. CITY AND COLOUR” HERE

PRE-SAVE BANNATYNE HERE

EUROPEAN TOUR BEGINS FEBRUARY 12 - TICKETS HERE, FULL DATES BELOW

Photo Credit : Josh Kirschner // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

For Ariel Posen, songwriting and guitar playing have always gone hand-in-hand. He's spent a decade building a bridge between those two worlds, balancing his work as a hotshot instrumentalist — including collaborations with everyone from John Mayer to Tom Jones — with solo albums rooted in melody and autobiographical storytelling. The result is a career that's every bit as diverse as his music. With performances at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, his own Fender Stratocaster signature model, and a powerful voice that matches his fretwork, Posen explores uncharted territory, blurring the lines between genre and generation along the way. 

On his upcoming album, Bannatyne, that exploration leads Posen back to the place where everything began. Named after an avenue in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, it's a record about reexamining one's past in order to fully appreciate the present. Woven into the album's 12 songs are larger-than-life riffs and upbeat tempos (a nod to the 1990s rock music that soundtracked Posen's childhood), along with the syncopated grooves and explorative, unexpected textures that have always steered his work. Equally influenced by the raw energy of his live shows, where Posen has been known to plug in and stretch out showcasing the chops that prompted Rolling Stone to call him "a modern-day guitar hero", and the tight craft of his songwriting, Bannatyne is a full-circle snapshot of an artist in evolution, chasing down new horizons while still honouring his musical roots. 

Today, he shares a new single from the album, “Empty-Handed” featuring City and Colour’s Dallas Green. “This song is about the kind of regret that lingers long after everything else has moved on,” says Posen. “It’s waking up every day feeling the same weight, replaying what you lost, and trying to make sense of it. At the same time it is about owning your part in the fallout, knowing you can’t undo it, and learning to live with the echo of what could’ve been. There can be peace in the sorrow.”

Posen wrote this song and immediately heard Dallas Green’s voice on the choruses after he recorded it in the studio. Luckily for him, he called Dallas and he obliged. It was almost as if the song was written for Dallas to sing on it alongside Posen. 

Ariel and I have been pals for a while now and I've always been impressed with his extraordinary guitar playing, shares Green.. “But the truth is he's got a great sense of melody in his songwriting as well. This song was stuck in my head the second I heard it. It was a pleasure to be a part of such a banger.” 

WATCH / SHARE “EMPTY-HANDED FT. CITY AND COLOUR” HERE
BUY / STREAM “EMPTY-HANDED FT. CITY AND COLOUR” HERE

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MORE ABOUT ARIEL POSEN + BANNATYNE
"This is an album about coming home," says Posen, who played guitar for hometown pals, The Bros. Landreth — earning a JUNO Award along the way — before launching his solo career with the critically-celebrated debut How Long. "It's about looking back and appreciating where you come from, even as you're heading somewhere new." 

WATCH / SHARE “FUTURE PRESENT TENSE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “FUTURE PRESENT TENSE” HERE

"Heading somewhere new" has been Posen's focus for years, ever since How Long introduced his blend of soulful Rock & Roll, R&B, and amplified Americana in 2019. Follow-up releases like Headway and Reasons Why widened that sound considerably, while the Mile End project — a trio of records filled with improvised guitar instrumentals — highlighted a different form of expression. Bannatyne covers new ground, too. There are appearances by fellow Canadians Dallas Green and Kathleen Edwards (who shares vocal duties with Posen on the sparse, slow-burning love song "More Me With You"). There are seize-the-day anthems like "Future Present Tense", punctuated by layered harmonies and bursts of fuzz guitar. There are alternate guitar tunings, smoothly-sung vocals, and lyrics about the homes we all leave behind, delivered by a road warrior who's been carving out his signature sound with every album. It's a powerful mix, and while Posen has never been shy about honouring his influences, the album simply sounds like him.

WATCH / SHARE “VAGABOND” HERE
BUY / STREAM “VAGABOND” HERE

"Every record is the sound of me finding myself, more and more," he says. "I'm not just a songwriter and I'm not just a guitarist. I'm both of those things. I'm taking these worlds that I feel very connected to, and I'm combining them together, leaning in either direction whenever I want. With Bannatyne, the idea was to be a little dirtier, rawer, and unpolished in my performances. I didn't worry about chasing absolute perfection and cleanliness. I just stuck with whatever felt right."

Co-produced by Posen and longtime collaborator Murray Pulver, Bannatyne certainly feels right. This is Posen's unique vision of electrified roots music: song-driven, fretwork-fueled, and unmistakably his own.

PRE-SAVE BANNATYNE HERE

TOUR DATES
Feb 12 - EBELTOFT - KULTURLOFT -Ebeltoft, Denmark
Feb 13 - AMAGER BIO -Copenhagen, Denmark
Feb 14 - MUSIKHUSET POSTEN  -Odense C, Denmark
Feb 15 - NOCHTSPEICHER - Hamburg, Germany
Feb 17 - PRIVATCLUB - Berlin, Germany
Feb 18 - LUX CLUB LINDEN - Hannover, Germany
Feb 19 - ARTHEATER - Köln, Germany
Feb 22 - DE OOSTERPOORT - Da Groningen, Netherlands
Feb 25 - DE HELLING - Utrecht, Netherlands
Feb 26 - MUZIEKGEBOUW EINDHOVEN - Eindhoven, Netherlands
Feb 27 - MUZIEKGIETERIJ - Maastricht, Netherlands
Feb 28 - ROTOWN ROTTERDAM - Rotterdam, Netherlands
Mar 2 - NALEN KLUBB - Stockholm, Sweden

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BANNATYNE TRACKLIST
01 Future Present Tense
02 Surrender
03 No Way Out
04 Dead To Me
05 Empty-Handed ft. City And Colour
06 Your Ghost
07 Vagabond
08 Shed Your Skin
09 More Me With You ft. Kathleen Edwards
10 Accept That
11 Meridian
12 Bannatyne

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