OTTAWA – Released this Friday, October 4, Mia Kelly’s new opus confirms the place of this young singer-songwriter in the Canadian folk landscape. With his enveloping voice, the artist offers a perfect fall album in 10 tracks. The eight songs in English and two songs in French recall her exogamous family, but above all recount her experiences and those she witnessed. ONFR spoke with Mia Kelly about To Be Clear.
“I feel extremely ready, and at the same time really nervous, feverish. I can’t wait to see the public’s reception,” exclaims Mia Kelly on the other end of the line.
Honesty and communication are recurring themes in the stories told on To Be Clear. These values are “sometimes very difficult, but really important” to honor.
The title of the album is also taken from the song Meaning Well : « Mama said, to be clear is to be kind. » (Mom told me: to be clear is to be kind.)
In the same vein, the title If I were honest tells of a summer love, where the young woman had difficulty being direct. “The song reveals a little bit of my message, which I haven’t exactly conveyed in an honest way,” she explains.
The lyrics of If I Were Frank could easily be associated with the generation of twenty-somethings of which Mia Kelly is a part. The main interested party acquiesces with nuance. “I identify with a difficulty dedicating myself to something (…) even if I think it just wasn’t the right situation for me. It’s important to leave. »
Official music video for the song If I were honest.
We could qualify Meaning well et If I were honest of sister songs. It is the same thing for Lone Dog et Curtain fallstwo extracts revealed at the same time a few weeks ago.
“They both touch on the same subject. I witnessed an abusive situation that took place very close to my personal life. It really affected me,” says Mia Kelly. If Lone Dog evokes a fictional character, the French-speaking song is more direct. It turns the situation around from the point of view of the abuser and his victim.
“I tried to treat the subject in a very delicate way, because it is a very heavy and delicate subject at the same time. I wrote the song and asked the survivor’s permission to share it. »
Two languages, two universes that intertwine
Born to a French-speaking Quebec father and an English-speaking Ontario mother, the artist has always evolved in this exogamous environment very present among families in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
“The two languages are really intertwined in my life, so it’s only natural to write in both languages,” even if the experience and the poetry are very different. What determines the language chosen for a song is circumstantial. “I write in the language in which the situation I am talking about took place. »
For example, a story lived with his French-speaking father would naturally inspire him to write a song in French, since it is the language that represents this relationship. This unconscious sorting system has been present since childhood. She and her sister spoke in French when they talked about school, but in English when they talked about their maternal grandparents, for example.
Cover of the album To Be Clear by Mia Kelly. Courtesy of Six Media Marketing
On the upward slope
At 21, Mia Kelly makes a full-time living from her music. Her career is on the rise, but she’s busy riding the wave to make time to make it happen.
“In recent years, it has been a gradual progression. But I feel like it’s definitely busier these days. I have a jam-packed fall. I kind of said yes to everything this year. I’ve been diving head first into this area for a long time, but now it seems like there’s more fallout coming my way. »
The young woman also received the prizes of Young Performer of the Year et Emerging Artist of the Year to Canadian Folk Music Awards 2024. Awards that she was unable to accept in person, because she was on display at Tallinn Music Week, in Estonia. “I learned it online by listening to the live broadcast. It was around 3 a.m. in Estonia. I was with my manager, we had a great time together, we were super proud. It is truly an honor to be recognized in my community. »
At 21 years old, Mia Kelly is already well recognized in the Canadian music industry. Photo: Randy Kelly
In addition to opening for other artists, including singer-songwriter Bobby Bazini, Mia Kelly is preparing to play her second album on tour. His upcoming shows will mainly take place solo. She plans to present To Be Clear in its entirety, in addition to songs from his previous projects and even some more recent ones, which have never been recorded and will perhaps be found on a third opus.
Two launch events will take place soon in Ontario: at the Rivoli in Toronto on October 16, and at the Fourth Stage of the National Arts Center in Ottawa on October 19. All the tickets have already found takers in the capital, but Mia Kelly will be back in February 2025.
