Wil - By December

He lives in a Vancouver Island forest and his single name conjures up visions of Bim and Valdy, two popular B.C. folkies from the 1970s. But Wil is no tree-hugging wannabe. Nor is his latest album a collection of crunchy granola ditties. In fact, robust numbers like “Tell You Twice,” “Wedding Dress” and “Big Life,” a hopeful epic co-written with 54-40’s Neil Osborne, bear more of a resemblance to driving, anthemic songs by Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, whose members contribute to this powerful major-label debut.

May 22