Hooded Fang has long been a favourite here at Tuesday Tracks, not because one of its members — Nick Hune-Brown — used to be an editor here at This Magazine (I’ve never met him), but because their music is just some of the most enjoyable ear candy one can find this side of virtually anywhere.

Because of that, and because I’d like to spend the next couple of weeks highlighting some my favourite acts performing at this year’s Canadian Music Week here in Toronto, I present “Laughing” off their new album, appropriately titled Album.

“Highway Steam” is often pointed to as the stand out track on an album full of standout tracks, but I’ve always been more drawn to “Laughing.” It’s just so…pleasant.

Normally, “pleasant” is kind of a weak word to use when referring to someone or something. It’s not one that comes across as particularly enthusiastic, but that’s not the case here. The song is just so sweet and lovely and well, pleasant, that you just can’t help but grin. It’s not a song to rip you out of your seat and send you to a dance floor, or to put on repeat as you cry into your pillow. It’s the song that, with its everything’s-gonna-be-alright vibe, just makes you smile with quiet serenity.

“Laughing” begins with a bright, cheery xylophone and is then quickly followed by this horn section that is both wonderfully hopeful and slightly melancholic. The contrast of the two sets the mood for a duet of vocals from Daniel Lee and Lorna Wright who sing to each about just being there for one and other—so, so, pleasant!

I first encountered Hooded Fang two years ago at Canadian Music Week. I knew nothing of them, but their name, taken from Mordecai Richler’s book Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang, had intrigued me. After listening to a handful of MP3’s their music intrigued me even more. It’s this astonishingly vibrant sound full of childlike enthusiasm that is impossible not to fall in love with. So listen to “Laughing” and catch them at Canadian Music Week on March 11, or on their upcoming Canadian tour supporting Rural Alberta Advantage.