Today, Toronto-based band Motorists dropped their album Never Sing Alone, via We Are Time.
Across the album, the band delivers a wonderful blend of power pop and rock, filled with shimmering guitars, warm melodies, and an undeniable sense of nostalgia.
The record carries a retro classic rock vibe, recalling the golden age of radio-friendly guitar pop while still feeling fresh and energetic.
Never Sing Alone leans into catchy hooks and jangly instrumentation, giving each track an easygoing charm that makes it both familiar and refreshing.
The Toronto outfit continues to showcase their knack for crafting melodic rock songs that feel timeless, balancing upbeat rhythms with reflective moments throughout the album.
With its nostalgic tone and polished songwriting, Never Sing Alone stands as another solid entry from Motorists, offering listeners a comforting yet lively collection of power pop tunes.
About the album by Craig:
“The title Never Sing Alone is a cheeky nod to our new situation – even though the songs were written and partially recorded all over the place, they only became real when we all got into the same room and sang them together.
Vocal harmonies are really the binding agent for all the songs on this record.”
In contrast to their previous record Touched by the Stuff, which was shaped through heavy rehearsal and touring, Never Sing Alone emerged during a period of upheaval and distance. Following that album’s recording, Craig relocated to New York, Matt became a father, Nick began booking Toronto’s historic Silver Dollar Room (now Dina’s Tavern), and the band welcomed new member Moa-Linn Rosenlöf after meeting her on tour in Sweden. What began as a long-distance songwriting experiment ultimately crystallized in April 2025, when the band reconvened in Toronto to bring the songs fully to life.
Across its eleven tracks, Never Sing Alone balances wit and melancholy. Opener single “Cristobal” reflects on anxieties about utopian tech fantasies that abandon the everyday world rather than improve it. A live favourite since 2024, its driving, riff-heavy guitar work and emphatic vocal delivery anchor the record’s sense of urgency.
“Frogman” transforms a surreal fishing memory on Vancouver Island into a meditation on sudden loss and the empty-handed feeling when something once held slips away. Meanwhile, “The Damage,” penned by Matt, leans into narrative lyricism to explore the humiliations people endure in pursuit of love and meaning, skewering the spectacle of reality television and the capitalist grind with biting humour and surprising vulnerability.
Elsewhere, “Stander” channels early-2000s Belle & Sebastian, shifting perspectives between bystanders and actors in moments of moral crisis. On “Anomaniacs,” the band interrogates online posturing and performative politics through elastic, weaving melodies inspired by modern indie pop minimalism. “Man in the Circular Window” captures New York city life with kitchen-sink naivete and explosive Keith Moon-style drum flourishes, while “Next Blue Kings” marks a first foray into writing about parenthood amid a culture that feels increasingly uncertain about the future.
Late entry “PCSD” delivers rapid-fire hooks and a wry institutional breakup narrative, while closing track “Reprise” ends the album on a note of resilience. As Craig describes it, the song carries a “religious” feeling — touching on death, rebirth, forgiveness, and hope — complete with a thick, soaring guitar solo that nods to Big Star and Teenage Fanclub.
With Never Sing Alone, Motorists refine their jangly, harmony-rich power pop into something communal. Though written across cities and continents, the record affirms a simple truth: the songs only truly exist when sung together.
Never Sing Alone gets: 📷📷📷📷📷📷📷/10.
Motorists – Never Sing Alone [Streaming]
