Alessia Cara Opens Up About Evolution, Love, and New Themes in Love & Hyperbole
Image Courtesy of °1824/Universal Music Group
On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending a press conference with Grammy Award winner Alessia Cara, courtesy of °1824. For me, it was a “pinch me” moment. Growing up, I, along with many of the journalists in attendance, listened to her music on the radio and downloaded her songs to our iPods. Now, a decade into her career, the 28-year-old singer-songwriter from Mississauga, Ontario, is just days away from releasing her highly anticipated fourth album, Love and Hyperbole. Over the years, Cara has blended pop, R&B, and indie influences, creating music that delves deeply into self-discovery, mental health, and individuality. Her debut album, Know-It-All, garnered widespread acclaim, and she went on to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2018. Known for her authentic and vulnerable style, Cara has continually captured the hearts of listeners with her raw, emotive sound and unique perspective on life and personal experiences.
During the press conference, Cara opened up about her creative process, from how she crafts her music to the thought behind the visuals for her upcoming album. She also shared insights into how her synesthesia, a condition where she perceives colors when she hears sounds, has played a key role in shaping the album’s aesthetic. As she navigates a deeper sense of self-awareness, Cara discussed how her evolving identity has influenced her exploration of new themes in Love and Hyperbole, especially regarding love, personal growth, and the complexities of aging.
The Luna Collective: The visuals related to Love & Hyperbole have included vibrant shades of red. Sometimes they stand out against black, sometimes they’re integrated into the environment. How would you say these visuals relate to the themes of the album?
“I would say that I have always been this way. I’ve always related colors, and shapes, and whole universes to every song, and every project of mine. I don’t know if that’s related to the thing I have called synesthesia, which always sounds fake and weird, but it’s very true and real for me. I do have this thing where I see colors where I hear sounds. That’s always been a catalyst for what I want the different album worlds to look like and it’s inspired a lot of the visuals because I have so many images in my mind. For this album, I guess the obvious answer would be love because we see this imagery of red when it comes to Valentine's Day, and love, and things like that. But, I also think red, especially that specific wine color that’s on the album cover, felt very sophisticated and rich, and it has this warmth to it and some cool undertones. I think the contrast of that, the warmth and the cool tones, were very indicative of what the album means to me, which is all about contrast, and how we need contrast in life. I think that’s what makes life beautiful, the texture and those two things; the negative and positive working in tandem. So, I just felt like it was the right thing to represent the music, and it feels like how the album feels to me. You know, this kind of rich, more sophisticated version of myself that has warm and cool in it as well. “
Bell Music Magazine: Your last album, The Pains of Growing, resonated with many young girls as we learned how to sit with ourselves, comfortable being alone and growing up. From your journey then to now, how have you navigated that narrative still? Has it changed for you?
“It’s strange because, I always say this, I feel like on one side of it I feel like the exact same person. The DNA of that album and who I was at the time is still very much there. I think that version of me could look at me now and recognize exactly who this is. But, on the other side, I feel like I’ve also changed so much. I think some of my earlier albums, like Know-It-All and The Pains of Growing, there was this closed-off element, this heavy, stubbornness, this view of the world that was a little closed off, and I feel like I had this fire in me that was fueled by angst, and other things that I don’t know how to pinpoint. There is a lot of stuff in there that I think is just not there anymore. Now, when I look back, I feel a lot softer than I used to be, in a good way. I feel a lot more expanded in so many ways. That stubbornness is still there, that default melancholy is still there, but I feel like I have a different view of the world and life. I’ve used a lot of those negative traits about myself and I’ve harnessed them and learned how to reshape them into actually helping me in my life now. A lot of that stubbornness, I’ve used it for good. Those feelings of nostalgia and these difficult emotions I was always feeling, I’ve used it to allow me to stay more present and turned them, somehow, into things that I feel more proud of; things that I am able to cope with better.”
Sonic Pill: Are there any new themes or experiences you’ve explored on this album that you haven’t before in your music?
“A few different ones! I think that on the topic of love, there are a lot of new forms of love that I’ve experienced. Experiencing a relationship in love that is very different from anything I’ve ever experienced before. This sense of security and comfort allowed me to feel so much more like myself, which I had never experienced. I’ve also explored different topics in detail that I had never explored before. Not to be negative, but I explore impermanence and getting older, death, and things like that. They’ve always made me really afraid, and I really talk about that in a super open way. Just things that I am scared of and the fact that life passes so quickly, I’ve never talked about that so specifically before, and the sadness that I feel about that. I think it takes getting older to really be conscious of that. I think now, obviously, I’m the youngest I’ll ever be but the oldest I’ve ever been. I do feel that really heavily. Those topics are definitely things that I talk about a lot on this album.”