TORONTO — Alessia Cara simply wanted to experience a bit of normalcy.
It didn't seem like much to ask for as the pop singer-songwriter approached her mid-20s, feeling that her personal growth had stalled a bit.
While she had several hit songs, a best new artist Grammy and multiple Juno awards on her shelf, outside music she didn't feel quite as successful. Fame's runaway train left her little time to mark the milestones of adulthood, and she saw it affecting her creativity.
“I was in a place where I was feeling extremely stuck," the now 28-year-old said of circumstances leading up to her fourth studio album.
"I feel like you can't write about a life that you're not actually experiencing."
So Cara says she started to pursue the experiences of a normal life that life in the music industry had kept at bay. As she puts it, she began to “nourish certain things I wasn’t nourishing.”
Having recently moved out of her parents' house in Brampton, Ont., and into her own place nearby in Toronto, she explored romantic relationships, fostered sisterhoods, and acquired a miniature goldendoodle to join her on walks through the park.
“I think ultimately, I just had to understand what I want out of life," she said in a recent video call from her record label's offices in Toronto.
This is one reason it took three years to turn out "Love & Hyperbole," released earlier this month. She said it's the longest she's spent finishing an album, but the one she's most proud of.
Thematically, the record captures Cara in transition — both emotionally and sonically — as she emerges from the "weird little funk" that left her wondering about her place in the modern music scene.
“I think I felt almost a little bit resentful of the industry and music in general – how it's become so disposable,” she said.
“There was a part of me that was like: I don't want to contribute to an industry that feels this way.”
So many things have changed since the singer, born Alessia Caracciolo, began posting covers on her YouTube channel at age 13, and landed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings at 18.
Cara released her debut single "Here" in 2015, when streaming platforms were in their infancy. The followup, "Scars to Your Beautiful," climbed to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 at a time before songs rode the charts on TikTok popularity.
For several years, Cara was seemingly everywhere. She sang “How Far I’ll Go” for Disney’s “Moana” soundtrack and lent vocals to electronic producer Zedd’s 2017 megahit “Stay.” Asked to reflect on that period, she describes trying to find her voice amid a flurry of outside opinions on who she should be.
“When you're young, you're just figuring that out and trying things. And some of the things that I was trying happened to be some of the biggest things, unintentionally,” she said.
“People will put you in that pigeonhole forever and that's not really who I identify with anymore.”
“Love & Hyperbole” finds Cara learning to set aside her melancholic habits, shed some naivete and more fully embrace joy. The album plays out in a loose chronological order, which gives it a gloomier start and a more optimistic finish.
“Go Outside!” sets the tone with Cara describing herself as isolated, beaten down and creatively stalled. “Taking chances, but I’m only throwin’ rimshots,” she sings.
As the record progresses, she gently moves into the sunlight. “Subside” sees her confronting setbacks, while "(Isn't It) Obvious" features an unmistakable, but uncredited, appearance by John Mayer on guitar.
The album's home stretch lightens up a bit. The playful “Nighttime Thing” has Cara at her most relaxed, while “Free” and “Slow Motion” showcase the singer dabbling in her familiar pop stylings but with a sharper, more refined edge.
Album closer “Clearly” is a wiser Cara looking to forgiveness as she reflects on rebuilding a fractured relationship as something new.
“Love & Hyperbole” was recorded mostly with live musicians and features producers Jack Rochon, who's worked with Daniel Caesar and H.E.R., and Mike Elizondo, a collaborator of Nelly Furtado, Eminem and Fiona Apple.
In its stylings, Cara's album is rebellious in a subtle way. Every song is a solid piece of work, but there are no credited appearances by other artists to drive buzz and none of the hallmarks of a contemporary chart smash.
Cara seems content with the notion. She lost interest in playing the chart game long ago and chooses to put her energy elsewhere.
"You either chase it forever and then get let down every time it doesn't happen, or you can just throw darts at the wall and do things you love," she said.
“When I'm talking to my grandkids about my life — what I wish I would have done versus what I have done — I could always sleep at night better knowing that I put out music that I wanted to put out."
“If that meant losing a few eyes and ears, then I'm willing to live with that," she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2025.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
