Ten minute tea with Afternoon Tea. Spend ten minutes with Afternoon Tea. In the time it takes to boil one kettle, and let one cup of tea steep, we will have your daily art + music fix covered. Take your afternoon break with our Afternoon Tea curators. Need an extra lump of sugar? One more sip? If you have five minutes more (or ten), we have one more hit.
Today’s tea + soundtrack + visuals curated by City Builders.
Toronto alt-pop artist City Builders returns with “No Sleep,” a chaotic and euphoric anthem dedicated to wild nights, reckless fun, and the liberating art of letting go. Fueled by intrusive ideas and best-friend mischief, the song celebrates the beauty of becoming a “menace” for one night because sometimes, freedom sounds like laughter echoing down city streets at 3AM.
“My best friend and I turn into absolute demons on a night out,” says Grace Turner, the force behind City Builders. “There’s nothing like giving into your intrusive ideas with a best friend, and I needed to write something that sounded as chaotic as our nights out.”
The track came together in a whirlwind week with producers Zach Zanardo and Al P, and co-writer Maia Davies – a dream team Turner had admired for years. The chemistry in the studio was electric; from initial demo to final mix, “No Sleep” came to life almost overnight. “Everyone was so stoked with the record that we got the ball rolling immediately and completed the track in a week,” Turner shares. “I even got my friends in the studio to record ad libs and backup vocals and scheduled a shoot for the cover art the same night.”
Stream + share “No Sleep” now:
Beyond its infectious energy, “No Sleep” carries City Builders‘ signature emotional depth: an invitation to embrace chaos without shame. “My goal as an artist is to enable people to feel their most extreme emotions,” says Turner. “I hope this song helps people let loose and become a menace for a night because it is liberating. I also hope that this song encourages the listener to feel shameless and quiets the noise when the hangxiety of a crazy night out creeps in.”
For Turner, “No Sleep” embodies the thrill of friendship and freedom. “This song makes me want to go bar hopping with my best friend, end up at our ops party, make an Irish exit and bring home some kind of furniture we find on the street.”
Turner‘s viral “Group Scream” event in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park drew hundreds and media coverage from Now Toronto, Toronto Star, and blogTO, sparking a wave of community engagement that continues to grow. With over 17k TikTok followers and counting, City Builders provides a space for fans – affectionately known as The Citizens – to feel seen, scream, and heal together.
Tea: English Breakfast Tea with Vanilla Oat Milk
English breakfast tea is a daily essential for me. My dad is from England so we always had Yorkshire Tea in the house growing up. The Vanilla Oat Milk is a fav, and the combo is so comforting, especially during winter.
Music: Reliquia by Rosalia
This song has been the soundtrack of my life lately. The first time I listened to it was walking home at 3am from work, while witnessing the first snowfall. The melodies are so beautiful, especially the run at 2:24, and the ending is an explosion I can’t stop replaying. Rosalia is one of my favourite artists, and the best live performer I’ve ever seen. Her new album is so inspiring, I feel lucky to have it during the changeover from Fall to Winter.
Visual: There is only one video I watch on a consistent basis, and it’s the Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s Moulin Rouge at PyeongChang 2018. The artistry and athleticism is so inspiring. It also makes me feel immense Canadian pride because I remember rooting for them in real time. This is my comfort video and definitely and essential for Afternoon Tea.
Tea + Me 