NewsletterJanuary 15, 2026

✨Hali's new pop star Baby Nova drops her debut + this weeks events

Hey Halifax!

Halifax-native Baby Nova drops her debut album tomorrow, the Mooseheads and Thunderbirds are in action at home this week, Mad Madge opens at Neptune, and our Song of the Week comes from Halifax rocker Loviet.

We’ve also added a Winter Warmers Season Pass for next year to our weekly contest prizing. Read on to learn how to win!

Let’s dig in!

Halifax’s Baby Nova has been exploding on Spotify. Her debut album ‘Shhugar’ drops tomorrow.

Halifax-born singer-songwriter Kayleigh O’Connor, better known as Baby Nova, releases her debut album Shhugar this Friday after a year of huge success in 2025.

Baby Nova has been the fastest-growing Atlantic Canadian artist on Spotify that we track (yes, we track that): 43% follower growth since the release of Death Wish in December and streaming velocity (1m+ in it’s first month) that beats every other Atlantic Canadian track in existence on the streaming service aside from Cape Breton’s Goldie Boutilier, who is currently riding her own rocketship to pop-stardom.

O’Connor started making music at 12, landed her first licensing deal at 16, and spent the next decade-plus grinding through industry ups, downs, and a bunch of disappointing contracts. Before Shhugar, she almost hung it up completely. In an iHeartRadio interview she calls it a “quarter-life crisis”, but walking away just wasn’t in her DNA.

Shhugar is 12 tracks that are equal parts personal diary and sexual awakening, with Catholic guilt, purity, and redemption all tangled up in a sound that we’d describe as Lana Del Rey meets Sabrina Carpenter.

The album is co-produced with Lowell (who co-wrote Beyoncé’s Grammy-nominated “Texas Hold ‘Em”) and Gus van Go (Metric, Arkells, The Beaches). Exclaim!, CBC, Billboard Canada, and Spotify have all named it among the most anticipated albums of 2026.

Pre-save the album and dig into the 9 tracks she’s already released. This is the type of artist Halifax can be proud of representing us on a global stage.

Quick Hits

🎸 Customer Service are celebrating the release of their latest EP alongside Mile End, The Boojums, Bill Ricky and The Couch. Get tickets.

🎭 Mad Madge opens at Neptune Jan 23 — Katie McCulloch stars in this "badass feminist play" with an all-local cast (which rarely happens at Neptune). She calls it "hilarious, sexy, cool, heartfelt and wild." Runs through Feb 8.

🥍 The Halifax Thunderbirds play at home tonight vs. Colorado Mammoth @ Scotiabank Centre, 7:30pm.

🏒 Mooseheads vs. Charlottetown Saturday @ Scotiabank Centre, 7pm.

📅 Dine Around 2026 runs February 1-28 — start planning your prix fixe dinners and keep your eyes peeled for a very cool contest we’ll be running.

We’re giving away a pair of tickets every week to the always sold-out Rankin’s Winter Warmers at The Marquee.

We’ve also added an additional draw for a free season pass to next years season - all you have to do is upload the best moments you capture on video this year and you’re in to win the season pass.

❝

I wrote this song about the frenzy of falling in love and my own experiences and insecurities that being soft is inherently more attractive as a woman.

Loviet

Halifax rocker Loviet won Music Nova Scotia's 2024 Rock Recording of the Year, self-produced her latest record ("after years of being told NOT to do that"), and has played Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, and LOUD WOMEN Fest right here in Halifax.