Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, New Music Friday

Love at First Listen (Round Two) with Fionn

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Fionn Interview Love at First Listen 2025

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

If you are a fan of The Veronicas or The Beaches and have Lola Young and The Last Dinner Party on your playlist, Fionn just might be your next obsession. Since we first introduced you to the Vancouver alt-rock duo (or, as they put it, “your new fave femme-rage girlband”), twin sisters Alanna and Brianne Finn-Morris have kept fans fed with a string of high-energy singles: a song for the girlies who experience sufficient amounts of wrath on the daily (“BLOW”), one for situationships (“Bad at Being Casual”) and another for walking red flags (“Snake Behavior”), and their latest embodying quarter-life crisis core (“Banshee”).

Catching up with Fionn at the first-ever Departure Festival in Toronto, the twin sisters dished on ‘departing’ from their past releases ahead of their upcoming album, writing the battle cry song of their dreams, and crafting their perfect pre-show routine.

Twin sisters performing on a stage with guitars in hand.
Fionn performing at Rivoli in Toronto during Departure Festival 2025. (Photo credit: Angela McLean/Love at First Listen)

As we chat here at Departure Festival, how does it feel to be bringing your new music and fan favourites to first-time and repeat audiences?

Alanna: Any time we get to play in Ontario, it’s so fun, it’s so different, and the audiences have a great buzz to them.

Brianne: Especially during a festival time like this, people are really excited to see different musicians coming in from out of town, so it’s exciting all around.

Our Love at First Listen community met you when we chatted in 2023 following the release of your third album, ‘I Might Start Smoking.’ Fill us in on what you’ve been up to!

Brianne: We’ve been on tour a couple times since then, but most recently we opened for JJ Wilde across Canada, which was a super cool opportunity. We have also been working towards a new album that we think is coming out in the fall.

For your latest singles, how would you say they are a ‘departure’ from your past releases, and how will that sonic evolution keep unveiling itself?

Alanna: I personally went through a bad breakup before writing this record, so I feel like there’s a bit more anger and angst in the next one. We’re rocking it up a bit more.

Brianne: It’s a little bit more ragey, but I also think that there are a lot of similarities to the old records as well so it’s not too far off our path. We’re really proud of it and we’re really excited to put it out.

Your newest single, “Banshee,” is a femme-rock battle cry. What inspired it, and what have been some of your personal F the Patriarchy / battle cry / empowerment songs?

Brianne: I had always wanted to write a song called “Banshee” and then write a melody that sounds like a banshee’s cry. It sort of came to me with my fear of aging that I feel like is really put on women’s shoulders in society, which I kind of came to the conclusion is at the end of the day a fear of death, a fear of lack of control… So, it kind of has themes of all that. And the banshee is like the symbol of death, like that anxiety that’s screaming on your shoulders and that’s making you freeze or just feel really anxious about the future.

Alanna: I’m still trying to come to terms with my own mortality (laughs), but maybe if we sing the song enough, I’ll realize I’m not immortal!

Brianne: I love “Troy” by Sinead O’Connor. … I don’t know if it’s specifically about the patriarchy, but it’s definitely a battle cry sort of song for me.

Alanna: For me, recently I’ve gotten into Amyl and The Sniffers and I can’t think of a specific song that would be my battle cry, but I think [with] that whole new record, anytime I’m feeling angsty about the patriarchy, I’ll throw [it] on and it usually does the trick.

Do you have any pre-show rituals or anything you make sure to keep in your day-of-show routine?

Alanna: I wish we had a cool one. I don’t know.

Brianne: I just try and stay as chill as possible because I think I can get a bit in my head sometimes about all the logistics of everything. … Usually we forget to write our setlist down, so we’re backstage scribbling. Some people show up to the show with a printed out lovely setlist. Ours is usually hand scribbled 10 minutes before.

Alanna: Who has a printer these days? That’s what I’m wondering. [Also,] maybe just coffee, but I feel like … that’s a life thing! If I don’t have a coffee, if I don’t have a good meal before performing, I think that that’s a big thing for me. I hate going on stage hungry.

Do you have a go-to post-show snack?

Alanna: Probably something really bad for me honestly… because usually it’s late when we finish but I do want a snack. So, probably chicken nuggets.

Given that you’re twin sisters writing and recording music and touring together, what’s one thing you’ve learned about each other that you don’t think you would’ve realized pursuing another career path?

Alanna: We spend an obscene amount of time together, so maybe we’ve gotten to know each other better than most twins.

Brianne: I’ve learned that Alanna really hates doing her hair. She complains about it every single time.

Alanna: It’s too annoying. I don’t like having the arm over my head too long. I’m a baby.

If you were putting together your own future festival showcase, with Fionn headlining, who are some fellow artists that you’ve loved at first listen that you’d invite to share the stage?

Alanna: Ooh… I would say Molly Anelle. She’s a Vancouver artist.

Brianne: Madisyn Gifford. She’s also a fellow 604 artist. Vox Rea, too. They’re from Vancouver and also on our label, but they’re sisters as well and they’re amazing. I could keep going on… Tegan and Sara. I love them.

Coming up this summer, you’ve already announced shows in British Columbia and at Riverfest Elora. Where can people find you online to request a show near them, and is there anything you can add about projects in the pipeline?

Brianne: Follow us on Instagram @fionnband. That’s where we put all of our info. We’re just very excited to put out some new music and hopefully we’ll be touring in your city soon because we’d love to see you!

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music

Love at First Listen with JESSIA

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JESSIA Interview Love at First Listen 2024

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

Throughout the pandemic, many people struggled to find new outlets of creative expression. Jessika Harling, who you may know best as Canadian singer-songwriter JESSIA, turned to music—and the rest was history. Releasing her first single “Tell Me” in April 2020 and the viral self-love smash “I’m Not Pretty” (134M+ streams to date!) a few months later, JESSIA quickly built a reputation for catchy pop headbangers with lyrics that read like they’re ripped from every listener’s diary. If she’s not on your playlist yet, there’s plenty more where those hits came from—starting now.

Earlier this summer, JESSIA shared the news that she is now an independent artist. Luckily, she has thousands of day one fans willing and ready to support her and her brand new body of work, ‘Okay With Every Part’—a title that resonates deeper now more than ever. In this edition of Love at First Listen, JESSIA takes us behind the scenes on finding herself again after being dropped from her first major label, planning her first-ever headlining tour, and why you might spot her holding a camcorder at your next concert.

You’ve always been very open and vulnerable through your music and you’re continuing that tradition with ‘Okay With Every Part.’ What has all the support meant to you, and how do you relate that title to your journey as an independent artist over the last year?

The response has been absolutely incredible. Everybody’s showing up. Even going into the comment section on [the original] post, I’m like, stop, I’m going to cry. It took a lot to come out and really say it because it happened a year ago, but I felt like I needed to process it on my own and wasn’t ready to go completely public with it. And I didn’t want any anger or anything like that to come out—I’m very thankful that it wasn’t one of those horror story breakups that you hear about. ‘Okay With Every Part’ is about being able to come out of the storm and talk about it and be like, this happened, [but] I got through it. I’m able to look back and be like, I’m okay with every single part of it. I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t be this happy and I wouldn’t be creating this music had I not gone through that.

Each of the six songs represent a pivotal point in your life. When did you officially start the EP and when did you know it was done?

I mean, I was putting out singles all of last year trying to figure out my sound. It was when “Care About Me” came out that I was like, okay, this is definitely what I want to say and this is my sound. That was the changing point where I was like, we’re going to start working on a project and not just throw singles out to the wind. Now, we’re so locked in on the sound and I’m writing like crazy, and I feel more inspired than I’ve ever felt.

You’ve written about feeling like you lost your identity as an artist after getting dropped. How did you navigate finding yourself again?

I think that I just needed to overcome the shame and the guilt of being dropped. It’s like being dumped but realizing that you can get up and still go and the only thing that’s going to stop you from releasing music is yourself. I refuse to stop releasing music. I refuse to shut down. I did kind of shut down in not really touring as much and not being as public facing, but I think therapy, friends, family, and writing all of this really got me through. I think that this is just in my blood, so it’s like nothing is ever going to stop me.

You also said there was a point that you thought lost your dream—meanwhile, this is only the beginning! You just announced eight shows in the U.S. and Canada this October. Where are you in the planning stages?

I’m actually wanting to go live and have the fans choose the setlist. It’s a weird balance where I want to play my old stuff that everybody knows, but I also am so, so excited about the new stuff that I’ve just released and that I’m continuing to release. So, I’m just finding the perfect balance of that. But if you have any favourites, let me know. I’ll add them to the queue.

How long can we make the show?

Oh, it’ll just be like a three-hour performance.

Bring on JESSIA: The Eras Tour! You’ve played festivals like Austin City Limits and opened for Maroon 5 and Dean Lewis, but this is your first official headlining tour. How are you approaching it differently?

It’s crazy the amount of control that I have because as an opener, you’re in, you’re out, and you kind of do what you’re told. Now, I’ve really gone into the energy, the vibe, and what I want people to leave my show feeling. I’m also thinking about what special moments I can make for other artists to be able to come to my show and be like, oh, this was really cool. I think the show that’s freaking me out the most is probably my LA show because so many artists are there. I want to be like, here, look what we can do.

You’ve used social media throughout your career, developing a strong community that’s lasted through the years. Have you started thinking of ways to build a social strategy around the tour, such as daily vlogs on the road?

I would love that. I’m wanting to buy a little camcorder because I find it really interesting that I’m able to talk to cameras other than my phone a lot more. Like, as soon as I pull out my phone, I feel like an instant influencer. But having a camcorder in my hand, it’s like I’m making a home video. I can be myself and be less pristine. I feel like everything just needs to be perfect, and I try really hard to fight that.

You’ve had a lot of pinch-me moments, from winning Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2022 JUNO Awards to having your song play on a season of summer’s “it” show Love Island. What was the first pinch-me moment you had where you felt you had truly made it, and what’s next on your bucket list?

Good question. Playing Lollapalooza [in Chicago] was absolutely incredible. It was my first show because I blew up in a pandemic, and for that being my first show right out of it, I was like, what is going on? So, that was definitely a pinch-me moment of stepping on stage and also hearing all of my tracks for the first time and just the show actually happening. It was crazy that a show that size was the first time we were working out all the kinks! Next up, I think there’s going to be moments all through this first headlining tour that are going to be pinch-me moments of people showing up for me and not just showing up for the next person.

A lot of these songs, especially “He’s A 10,” will be on repeat for the rest of the summer. What are some of the summer songs you’ve loved at first listen this year?

It’s a ‘brat’ Girl Summer, 100%. That Charli XCX record has been on repeat. Also, Sabrina Carpenter—her whole trajectory and the way that she’s navigated her career is absolutely incredible. August 23 cannot come fast enough!

On the theme of being ‘Okay With Every Part,’ what advice would you have either for a young you or a new artist wanting to follow in your footsteps given everything you’ve learned about the industry to date?

Less is more. I think that when you first step on the scene and you see a whole bunch of people you know, you want to have those relationships. But I would say that your team can just be a small, mighty little team. The more cooks in the kitchen, the more things can get diluted and you lose sight of yourself. Trust your gut, trust what you want to sound like, and only really listen to the people who truly have your best intentions in mind.

Also, with social media, I still have to remind myself of this, but you may post a video and want it to go viral and it doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad song or a bad piece of content. It’s crazy that it is lowkey your job to fight against a computer and its algorithms. Remind yourself that if you think it’s a good song, somebody else is probably going to think it’s a good song too.

Aside from tour planning, do you have anything else in the works for your fans?

The music video for “Happy Without You” is here and I am so stoked for it, and then I’m shooting content as we speak for the next single. It’s crazy how it’s like, drop this, on to the next, here we go. But get ready—we’re back!

Where can fans, day one and new, connect with you online?

@jessiamusic. I respond to my Instagram DMs way more than I respond to my TikTok DMs, but if you want to actually send me a message, it’s me behind everything.

I can vouch for that because you responded to my message and helped me set this up, so thanks!

You see—customer testimonial right here.

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, New Music Friday

Love at First Listen with Royal Wood

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Royal Wood Interview

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a new series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

Canadian singer Royal Wood may not know what tomorrow brings, but he’s perfectly happy living in the moment—especially after two years of not being able to release music or perform for his dedicated fans. Out today, his eighth studio album, ‘What Tomorrow Brings,’ is an open book that touches on themes relatable to every listener, from navigating the chaos of uncertainty to leaning on your loved ones and finding the fortune in misfortune.

If that wasn’t enough to celebrate, Royal Wood just wrapped a brief Canadian tour that concluded with a hometown show at Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall and released a mini documentary, What Tomorrow Brings: Behind The Album, that goes behind the scenes of one of his proudest projects to date. It seems like everything’s worked its way up to this point, yet it’s truly just the beginning.

For this edition of Love at First Listen, I sat down with Royal Wood hours before he stepped on stage at Massey Hall to talk about today’s album release, documenting the stories behind the songs, and what tomorrow really brings.

Between headlining Massey Hall and releasing ‘What Tomorrow Brings,’ how does it feel to have all these major milestones happening at once?

It feels like the right time—and about time. My wife and I had two children during the pandemic and we now live in the country, so our whole lives had this massive paradigm shift. Recently, there’s been a subtle voice in the back of my brain saying something’s missing. As much as I have everything, it’s not everything. To be back playing shows with the band, putting out new music, and scratching that itch, I’ve got all the pieces back!

What inspired you to have cameras document the stories behind the songs with What Tomorrow Brings: Behind The Album?

I wish I’d done that kind of stuff earlier. I’m very fortunate and blessed with the producers, musicians, and studios I’ve worked with over the years and, other than a couple of Polaroids and a few snapshots on a phone, we haven’t captured things because we were too busy doing them. I don’t know how many albums I have in me­—no one ever does—but I love this part of my life. So, even just to show our sons one day and say, “This is what daddy did when you guys were babies,” it felt like it was the right time.

In the documentary, you reveal the album was almost ready to go before the pandemic, but you waited to be able to tour and properly celebrate its release. How did that end goal impact the way you revisited the songs you wrote pre-pandemic?

I was in the UK finishing up the last couple songs as the pandemic was happening. My wife was texting me photos showing no groceries and no toilet paper in our grocery store, so I got on a plane, came home, and then all the chaos started. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have any shows coming up and I didn’t want to put out this record without a chance to perform it and celebrate all the pieces that come with it—even just sitting here with somebody to talk about it. I started listening back in a Leonard Cohen kind of way, examining every lyric, line, and melody. I emerged with an album I think is one of my best. There’s one song I completely dropped because I realized I’d done it so many times before, and then I ended up writing a new song called “Because of You.” So, I really got to wrap this album up in a perfect little bow.

Royal Wood Artist Toronto
Royal Wood photographed October 29, 2022 at Massey Hall in Toronto.

You also specifically call out the Massey Hall show in the documentary. What does this venue mean to you?

I remember my first show here at Massey Hall, my drummer, who was also my English teacher in high school (shout out Mr. Milner), took me to see Lou Reed. I’d been to little theatres and shows before with my dad, but I’d never seen a venue like this. At that moment, I said to myself, “I’m going to headline here.” I did it for the first time in 2018, and then I also recorded a live record, ‘Royal Wood (Live at Massey Hall).’ To be back, knowing that I got to be one of the last artists to perform here before the renovations and say goodbye to the old Massey, feels amazing. 

As the album title suggests, you may not know what tomorrow brings, but can you tease anything you have in the works for 2023?

I’m working on an instrumental record, a collection of B-Sides, and an alternate acoustic version of ‘What Tomorrow Brings.’ I’m also finally going to start chipping away at a Christmas record. So, there’s a lot of recording and then the doors are open to tour again. I have Western Canada, Eastern Canada, and a bunch of stuff in the States coming up, so it will be busy. But for anyone coming to the shows, I hope they come away having seen five musicians playing music together that not only love the music but love each other. We missed the camaraderie and the laughs and hanging backstage and offstage again is just as good as being onstage.

Do you want to shout out any of your Canadian peers whose music you’ve loved at first listen?

My current one to watch is Tim Baker. I’ve known him for years since we broke together and followed each other’s careers, but his new record is so stunning. Also, Mathew V, who just toured with us, is amazing. He so deserved his JUNO nomination and I’ve never had an opener before get standing ovations every night like he does. Him and his band members helped us set up and tear down each night and that shows he’s just a good Canadian kid.

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, New Music Friday

Love at First Listen with Olivia Lunny

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Olivia Lunny Interview

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a new series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

On her new track “Wonderland,” Canadian pop songstress Olivia Lunny sings about chasing a moment and falling in love with your dreams—a philosophy that seems to have brought her to exactly where she’s meant to be today. After capturing the judges’ (and Canada’s) hearts on CTV’s music competition show The Launch in 2019, she’s continued her upward trajectory with a 2021 debut album and electrifying singles that boast expertly crafted lyrics and repeat-worthy beats.

For our latest Love at First Listen feature, I caught up with Olivia to get the inside scoop on “Wonderland” and her upcoming live shows with fellow Canuck Tyler Shaw during her whirlwind single release week, which took her to New York and LA after a headlining showcase at UMUSIC’s Toronto headquarters.

Olivia Lunny Toronto
Olivia Lunny photographed October 6, 2022 at her UMUSIC showcase in Toronto.

Welcome to Love at First Listen! Let’s talk about the song I most recently fell in love at first listen with—your new single, “Wonderland.” How has release week been?

It’s been busy and crazy, but so fun. I was just in New York shooting the “Wonderland” music video, which will be coming very soon. I actually just got the first draft and it was very whimsical and very much a wonderland. We shot in one big, white, blank studio space and created three different environments within it. It’s the most polished video I’ve done and I’m really excited for fans to see the different outfits and hair.

How long had you been sitting on “Wonderland” before it came out?

I wrote this song last winter, and it’s funny how things work. I feel like subconsciously, I write music and then by the time it comes out, somehow it resonates strongly in my life. So many amazing things have happened recently and I feel like I’m in my Wonderland era, so I’m happy that this song and this part of my life are coming together.

What does “wonderland” mean to you?

To me, “wonderland” is a state of being. It’s that feeling of you not being fully in touch with reality. You’re in a flow state because you’re just so happy, so many amazing things are happening, and you can’t even really dream of it. That’s why there are lyrics that say, “If you can imagine, you can really have it.” That’s the overarching theme for what “Wonderland” is.

So many people came to know and love you after you appeared on, and won, The Launch. What was your main takeaway from that experience?

I think it really did essentially launch—no pun intended—my career in the Canadian music scene. Being from Winnipeg, I had slowly started to build something there, but I think The Launch really got me to a point where I knew exactly what kind of music I wanted to make. From there, I connected with so many amazing people and gained great momentum. It really pushed me to a new level of where I wanted to go but wasn’t always sure how I would.

You released your debut album in July 2021. Are “Wonderland” and your summer collab with Bhad Bhabie, “VIBE CHECK,” a taste of your sophomore album or standalone tracks?

I’m in an interesting spot where I’m not necessarily heartbroken or sad, so I’ve been writing music that resembles that—and that’s new for me. Usually, it’s more break up bangers. So, it depends how we want to paint the picture. Right now, these songs are just little individual prints, but I might do a full thing. We’ll see!

You’ll be touring across western Canada with Tyler Shaw next month. What goes through your mind as you’re putting together the perfect live setlist?

My strategy is going on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and all these platforms, seeing what people enjoy and incorporating those into the set, and then obviously throwing “I Got You” (her single from The Launch) in there. I want to tell a story that shows where I’ve been, the kind of music I can make right now, and where I’m going. And I think it’s really important to have one or two songs in the middle that are a bit slower where I grab my guitar and show how this started.

Who are some of the live performers that have inspired you?

Early on, Ed Sheeran was a really big inspiration for me. Beyond our red hair, I love how he takes these ballads and can turn them into massive pop songs. I resonate with that because most of my songs start on the guitar or piano, and then with production it’s really fun to make them poppy. Post Malone puts on an amazing show too. He has a moment where it’s just him and then he picks up the guitar for two songs. His voice is incredible and he’s so likable and down to earth, and people love that.

Besides the tour, what do you have planned musically for the rest of the year?

I just came to Los Angeles, so I’ll probably be writing some tunes and seeing where this all takes me one step at a time. Right now, I’m really excited for the Tyler tour and meeting fans. I’ve never played Vancouver or anywhere in Alberta, so it’ll be really fun to keep connecting with people and seeing new places.

Since this series is called Love at First Listen, I’d love to know if there are any songs you’ve recently loved at first listen.

One is “The Dress” by an artist named Dijon, and then I would say Bob Moses and Kasblanca’s song “Afterglow.” Those two songs have definitely been on heavy rotation because when I like a song, I just play it over and over and over.

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