Hailu showcases a variety of sounds on her debut EP
It's no surprise that Haleluya Hailu's debut EP eternally, yours sounds remarkably accomplished. The Vancouver-based Ethiopian-Canadian artist had a No. 1 indie release on college radio before she had even graduated from Burnaby North Secondary School.
That release, titled Greetings and Salutations, was a DIY project completely constructed by talented teens navigating the challenges the pandemic put upon creative projects. This time around, the singer is signed to Canadian indie powerhouse 604 Records, which has put the push behind songs such as the leadoff single Manic Pixie Pacifist.
With its quirky video and slow building arrangement, the tune boasts a languid groove and pointed lyrics turning the whole “manic pixie dream girl” stock character on its head. The catchy track follows on the slightly lo-fi vibing Pinball and leadoff single and album opener Useless. The one thing all these tracks have in common is that they don't sound the same. Hailu spoke recently about the journey writing the material for the album, which dropped this week.
Q: Songs such as Useless with its refrain of Oh my God/ I think I've done it again/ I've found myself another useless friend suggest that you are writing from a very personal perspective rather than inhabiting a character.
A: Mid-pandemic, age 17, I made the choice to go to Selkirk College in Nelson to get my degree in musical performance. Landing there, I realized I was on my own with no friends. A couple of bad-to-interesting relationships, fair-to-better midterms and exams and I found my group and started on the road to adulting. But I certainly had to move through some useless friends to get there. Q: So with the songs on eternally, yours, are you finding your sound as you found yourself?
A: I think that is the biggest thing I learned, because music school opens up your ears so much providing so many opportunities to listen to things you might never have heard before. It did suck that there were no all-ages venues, so for the first few years I sat at home while my roommates went out. But that was more time to write. Also, as great and active as the arts scene in the Kootenays is, the pandemic really shut it down hard for a while.
Q: And out of those experiences, you landed on what you have dubbed “sleaze pop?”
A: As a gen Z-er, I have a deep devotion to bands and artists from the early 2000s to 2010s because that was what I grew up in. I was a huge emo kid, totally obsessed with Lady Gaga, and I feel that haunts me and my songs at every turn to this very day. So far, I've escaped those ridiculously long Fall Out Boy song titles, but I'm sure they are coming. Q: Manic Pixie Pacifist is a song title that it almost seems unfair not to have held onto for an album name as well, doesn't it?
A: Honestly, I had the title to that track before any of the actual song was written and told my de facto co-writer/producer/ engineer Quinn Pickering that wasn't going to change. I had the hook and the verse for it, but nothing else and we worked it out. Of course, explaining to someone else that this is a song about someone who really hurt me and was a complete a-hole isn't always easy. But collaborating is very cool.
Q: You've got an album, a record label, and I assume you'll be taking it on the road ASAP?
A: For sure, first stop Vancouver, maybe Kelowna and then the world. Really, I've been playing a lot live and the new EP sounds really great. I've got the Fake Friends — bassist Nika Manuel, guitarist Ian Piri and drummer Kavin Bazogh — going out on the road with me playing the Royal in Nelson this weekend and Vancouver on March 31 with Post Modern Connection and Eva Lucia.