Supermoon and Jay Arner are Vancouver artists to listen to this summer

If you're in Vancouver and looking for hot new summer music, On The Coast music critic Andrea Warner says you won't need to look far.

She says there's a noticeable buzz building around two Vancouver artists, Supermoon and Jay Arner, who both have new albums that tackle big issues through summer-y sounding, dark indie pop.

Their singles are getting plenty of attention from the likes of SPIN and Exclaim, as well as climbing the charts on CBC's Radio 3.

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"[Jay Arner] is a great musician, songwriter and producer. He's in another band called Energy Slime with his partner, Jessica Delisle, but this is his second solo album," Warner told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn.

"The first track, 'Crystal Ball' premieredvia Spin Magazine, which is kind of a big deal for a local indie artist. It's high-energy and quirky, but the lyrics are actually really thoughtful, all about confronting the monotony of daily life and not knowing what's ahead of us."

Warner describes Supermoon, a group consisting of musicians Adrienne LaBelle, Alie Lynch, Katie Gravestock and Selina Crammond as having songs "a bit like that Jeopardy category Potpourri," because they take turns on songwriting and vocal duties

"And yet it totally works," Warner said. "I like their humour, too. They recently described their sound to CBC Radio 3 as 'part hot fudge sundae, part film noir.'"

Arner and Supermoon are going on tour together this summer, a double bill Warner finds exciting.

The two are signed to Vancouver's Mint Records, and Warner says that label is going through a bit of renaissance in its 25th year.

Warner says Mint is having "basically a whole showcase" of their artists, including Supermoon and Jay Arner, at the end of the month in Calgary for the Sled Island Music Festival

Supermoon is playing in Vancouver at the Car Free Day on Main Street on June 19 at Red Cat Records.

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast