Vancouver musician Mike Van Eyes is preparing to release Ain’t That Loving You, Baby on Feb. 11, 2026, a soul-blues rock album that brings decades of quiet influence into sharper focus. The record marks a significant chapter for one of the city’s longest-running underground musical voices, combining brass-led soul, late-night rock grit and widescreen arrangements shaped for both intimate rooms and festival stages.
Crafted at Mushroom Studios and Afterlife Studios, Ain’t That Loving You, Baby was arranged by saxophonist Bill Runge and engineered by Juno Award–winning producer Erik P.H. Nielsen. The production emphasizes space, warmth and punch, creating a sound that feels deliberate and lived-in rather than ornamental. Across the album’s concise track list, Van Eyes leans into classic soul and blues forms while allowing room for jazz phrasing, R&B grooves and garage-rock edge.
The release arrives with select key tracks already highlighted, including “Ain’t That Loving You, Baby,” “Yield Not To Temptation,” and “Once I Loved Her.” Clocking in under five minutes each, the songs reflect the album’s economy and focus, favouring feel and performance over excess. Genre tags span soul, jazz, blues, beat, garage rock and R&B, with reference points that include Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Etta James.
Van Eyes has long moved through Vancouver’s music scene without drawing attention to his résumé. From early appearances on festival and club stages to decades of work lending saxophone, arrangements and musical instincts to other artists, his presence has been a constant rather than a headline. His contributions have helped shape the city’s musical ecosystem, even as his own profile remained understated.
Over a career spanning more than five decades, Van Eyes has worked alongside musicians connected to pivotal movements in punk, blues and soul, including collaborations with Herald Nix and other innovators. Those experiences helped define a regional sound that rarely celebrates its architects. Ain’t That Loving You, Baby represents a moment where that accumulated history is brought to the foreground, offering listeners a clear sense of the artist behind the influence.
The album is also a document of collective musicianship. The Mike Van Eyes Big Band, formed in the late 1980s on festival bills and the Commodore Ballroom floor, anchors the record. The group’s chemistry, honed through years of shared stages, drives the arrangements with confidence and swing. The lineup includes electric guitarist Tim Porter, saxophonist Jerry Cook and drummer Chris Nordquist, all of whom bring national recognition and deep experience in Canadian rock, jazz and R&B.
“This album is just us doing what we’ve always done,” Van Eyes says. “Play it like you mean it, capture the take where everyone feels it lock in, and trust the song to do the rest.”
That approach is evident throughout the record. Horns, piano, vibraphone, guitars and drums are recorded with a live-room sensibility, favouring complete takes over pieced-together performances. The result is a sound that reflects the band’s shared vocabulary, developed on stages such as the Commodore Ballroom and at events like the Vancouver Du Maurier and Fort Langley Jazz Festivals.
“These songs know how to carry themselves,” Van Eyes says. “We just make sure we don’t get in the way of the take that feels true.”
For industry observers, Ain’t That Loving You, Baby stands as both a new release and a summation. It captures an artist whose career has been defined by collaboration, restraint and longevity, offering a record that feels earned rather than retrospective. As the Feb. 11 release date approaches, Van Eyes steps forward not as a newcomer, but as a seasoned voice finally centred in his own story.
