Heïka, the rising star of the indie-pop genre, has sent a ray of sunshine into the Canadian province of Quebec's music landscape. The mesmerising soprano Andrée-Anne Bélisle and the evocative pianist Jo-Annie Bourdeau are at the centre of this project. Their unexpected encounter at the University of Montréal as jazz enthusiasts developed into a symphony of shared musical aspirations once they got to know one...

Adam Brice's "Never Is Too Late" landed on my desk – or, rather, materialized in my digital ether – and I've been wrestling with its echoes ever since. It's a curious beast, this album. Part rock anthem, part campfire confessional, with a splash of country twang that somehow doesn't feel out of place, which has themes running circles like wild horses, settling down around...