The Up-and-Coming Voice of POP
Lydia Ainsworth to Debut Her Album Right From Real at POP Montreal
Lydia Ainsworth’s talking voice is just as captivating and soothing as the tracks featured on her debut album Right From Real.
The lighthearted and easygoing artist revealed that the title of her album, taken from the lyrics of one of her songs, has a very profound message.
“The name Right From Real comes from the notion that the impossible is possible and is all around you if you only looked hard enough,” Ainsworth explained.
On the album, Ainsworth blends different sounds seamlessly—a skill related to her past, as she used to collaborate with composers and used her voice as an instrument to create film scores.
“I was being asked to use my voice in those projects, so that’s how I started to record myself, though it is through that process [of composing film scores] that I discovered my love for songwriting,” she said.
Ainsworth has been singing for as long as she can remember, long before she decided to make a career out of it.
“I would imitate Disney soundtracks [when I was growing up] and my friends would always be asking me to sing for them. They would be like, ‘do the Wizard of Oz again!” she added jokingly.
Ainsworth parted from her Disney past by writing tracks for her album, cooped up in her Toronto basement for a month and a half.
“Just being in this winter zone, having nothing to do but write, I was really focused,” Ainsworth said.
She then left Toronto and travelled to Brooklyn, New York, to perform her songs in front of live audiences to “get a feel for how they sounded in a live setting,” she said.
Ainsworth’s mission as an artist is to transport her audience from being passive listeners to being fully submersed in her music.
“I am always searching for a different spectrum of feelings and looking to tap into an alternative experience that will allow you to use all of your perceptions,” she explained.
A composer, producer and singer, this polyvalent artist meshes filmic orchestration with electronic music, dubbed over by her haunting melodious voice. A sensory overload is achieved through Ainsworth’s unique ability to blend different emotions in her songs.
“I love juxtaposing feelings. I am constantly searching for a different spectrum of feelings and looking to tap into an alternative experience that will allow [a listener] to use all of their perceptions,” she said.
Ainsworth ended up scoring a record deal with Arbutus Records, a Montreal-based multimedia-recording company, in a rather unlikely way; after perfecting all her songs, she sent them to a friend, who shared them with his network.
“[The tracks] got to Arbutus and they were just like, ‘We would like to release this,’ and I was like, ‘That’s great because I love your record label,’” Ainsworth said.
The newly signed artist also said that the difficulties she faced on her journey to a record deal were valuable learning curves.
“I’m really grateful for all of [the challenges] because it made me a better composer and a better producer and just more knowledgeable,” she said.
Her advice for budding artists is not to “look at challenges as obstacles, [but rather] look at them as opportunities to learn.”
The first part of Right From Real was released in digital format on June 10, while the full album, including its second part, will be available for purchase at her live show on Sept. 19th at POP Montreal, as well as in record stores by Sept. 30.
But even though she’s just released her first album, Ainsworth has no intention of taking a break.
“My main focus in the next few months will be working on some new songs,” she said.
Lydia Ainsworth (album release) + TOPS + Moon King // La Sala Rossa (4848 St. Laurent Blvd.) // Sept. 19 // 9 p.m. // $5
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