The least significant but actually most significant war between Canada and the US is not over tariffs or barbaric immigration policies (you can help out affected families here, fuck the new Gestapo a.k.a. ICE), but in fact over the differences between using Celsius and Fahrenheit to measure temperature. Toronto R&B singer LOONY begins her new song "Warm Weather" with the line "38 [degrees] outside," which isn't an inviting forecast to American audiences but instantly evokes muggy heat for Canadians. You gotta claim where you come from.
The single, produced by Ty Dolla $ign and Jeremih collaborator Akeel Henry, rides a modernized 90s hip-hop soul bounce adorned with Yamaha DX7 keyboards (the official instrument of summer) as LOONY bobs and weaves through the sparkling soundscape. It'd already be successful in conjuring a vibe, but the video might be the capstone on the whole thing, a simple collection of hangout seshes and Scarborough-specific reference points. Summer in the GTA isn't very exciting, but it's certainly one-of-a-kind. Weed is about to become legal in Canada, too. Happy almost-solstice.
"'Warm Weather'" is my ode to the summertime," LOONY tells Noisey. "It's a nostalgic time of year to me, that always seems fraught with so much expectation, yet so much freedom, and growing up it would ultimately just lead to boredom and getting into trouble. The song itself is really upbeat and breezy, but I wrote the lyrics to kind of imply that an increase in temperature does not always mean an increase in mood or state of mind." Listen to "Warm Weather" below.
