Tune up your serenading game with these Canadian love songs

The love song can trace its history to the days of harps and lutes, and perhaps nothing save the red rose is as emblematic of baring one's heart to a special someone.

For those whoseusual playlist has gotten stale move over, ClineDion CBCmusic columnist Andrea Warner shares some brand new ballads.

• LISTEN | Classic Canadian love songs

From singer-songerwriterelegies to upbeat pop tunes, here are Warner's top picks to pump some life back into your Valentine's mix tapes.

Belle Game, Only One

"The track is kind of dreamy and slow, very atmospheric," Warner told On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko.

Crooning about unrequited love "Why can't you say you love me now / why can't you say you want me now / why can't you say you need me now?" vocalist Andrea Lo repackages a classic theme for the 21st century.

It's"not necessarily romantic, more of an unachievable comfort with our sense of self," the band told CBCNews, calling its creation a"practice in exercising feeling over logic.

"It's an anthem for feeling out of place, a dehydrated trip through a desert and a cruise along the French seaside and a song kept amongstfriends, until now," they said.

The track features in theVancouver-area indie pop band's second album,Fear/Nothing.

Fanny Bloom, Petit Bois

Fanny Bloom, a singer-songwriter hailing from Quebec, turns the traditional lover's hymn on its head. Its energy and bounce, Warner says, "just feels like sunshine in winter."

Bloom, whose real name isFanny Grosjean, told Radio-Canada that despite her fresh take on love songs, she's not keen on digital playlists.

Bloom prefers the old-school method: buying a physical record to cherish.

Rhye,Taste

Toronto-based Rhyeis the "R&B brainchild of Mike Milosh," Warner says. The act was originally a duo comprising Milosh and Danish instrumentalist Robin Hannibal.

Milosh, a classically trained cellist and electronic music producer, now leads Rhyealone.

Tastecan be found on Rhye's newest album,Blood.

Dan Mangan, Fool for Waiting

In a new single from singer-songwriter Dan Mangan, it'sjust "him and his guitar, and it's wistful and hopeful and creaks in all the right places," Warner says.

The Vancouver-based artist founded a start-up last summer to connect up-and-coming musicians with audiences and hosts in small venues across Canada.

• Dan Mangan wants to help you book live music in your living room

It's a way to forge familiar relationships with listeners, Mangantold CBC News, meting out advice that any would-be serenader could follow.

"You're in this intimate space where new magic can kind of occur."

With files fromMatt Meuse, Radio-Canada's Tandemand CBC's On The Coast.