Toronto-based musician Shirley Hurt has dropped a new single, ‘Problem Child’, alongside the announcement of her self-titled debut album. Musically, she finds an incredible balance between alt-pop and contemporary folk, with twinkling keys and commanding percussion underpinning meditative guitars, the inimitable flute work of Joseph Shabason and, of course, Shirley Hurt’s distinctive voice. On her reluctance to share her influences, she says: “I really don’t like specifically naming people as influences. Mostly because it seems like what happens is people use influences as placeholders for forming their own opinion about the work.” The album, Shirley Hurt, drops on December 2nd, 2022. -Dan Peeke.