B-Side Guys

Real estate has replaced romance as pop music’s favorite metaphor for heartbreak. Vancouver-based artist Jon Bryant’s latest single “High Season” transforms housing market despair into a haunting meditation on generational displacement, where even China shops feel like forbidden territory for those priced out of stability.

The track builds its narrative through careful layering of psychological and economic anxieties. Bryant’s gentle vocals float above understated production, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that makes his sharp observations about systemic inequality land with greater impact. “If I don’t get there it’s fine / Crush my dreams into another line” he sings, perfectly capturing the forced resignation of watching life’s traditional milestones slip further out of reach.

“It feels like life is constantly in high season right now,” Bryant explains, referring to the perpetual state of unaffordability facing his generation. This tourism industry term takes on new meaning in his hands, suggesting a world where peak pricing never ebbs, where even a “500 square foot apartment” remains an elusive dream for many.

The production mirrors this sense of sustained tension, maintaining a delicate balance between atmospheric elements and grounded percussion. Rather than exploding into rage, the track simmers with controlled frustration, particularly in lines like “This city’s smoking me out / It happens every time.” This restraint makes the bridge’s confession of vulnerability (“Need someone to hold / Need somebody now”) even more affecting.

Bryant’s experience as a multi-instrumentalist shines through in the arrangement choices. Each sonic element feels precisely placed to support the narrative without overwhelming it, creating space for both personal confession and social commentary. The repeated phrase “high season” transforms from observation to indictment as the song progresses, gaining weight with each iteration.

The track’s most powerful moment comes in its image of gasoline puddles and match strikes, suggesting the temptation to burn down systems that seem designed for perpetual exclusion. Yet even this destructive fantasy feels resigned, another dream to be crushed into another line.

As the fifth single from his upcoming album Therapy Notes, “High Season” suggests Bryant has found a way to transform collective anxiety into art without diminishing its urgency. The result is both a personal statement and a generational document, capturing the exhaustion of watching “next year” perpetually recede into the distance.