Some artists spend years building to their debut moment. Alicia Kayley arrived ready.
The Ottawa-based Pop/R&B and Blues/Soul singer-songwriter, already being called the “Indigenous Adele” by the Ottawa Citizen, has released not one but two debut singles simultaneously: New Beginnings and Don’t Break My Heart, both out now via New Sun Music, the Nashville-based label founded by Grammy-nominated artist Crystal Shawanda (Odawa First Nation).
The double release is an intentional artistic statement. New Beginnings is the more introspective of the two, a personal reckoning with self-worth, love, and the decision to move forward rather than start over. “I hated the idea of starting over,” Kayley has shared. “So I chose new beginnings instead, not erasing the past but carrying forward everything it taught me.” Don’t Break My Heart, by contrast, is all tender openness, the hopeful, still-trusting part of the heart that hasn’t closed itself off yet. Together, the two tracks map the full emotional range of what it means to love with your eyes open.
Kayley is a graduate of Carleton University’s Bachelor of Music program, where she specialized in classical voice and popular style songwriting, a combination that shows. Her voice is warm, controlled, and deeply expressive, and it’s carried her to some of Canada’s most notable stages: the Harbourfront Luminato Festival, Canada Day’s 150th Anniversary main stage on Parliament Hill, Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, and the Site Selection Ceremony for the Residential Schools National Monument, among others.
Her partnership with New Sun Music reflects something bigger than a label deal. Both Kayley and Shawanda share a commitment to bringing Indigenous voices into mainstream music, not as a niche, but as a presence. Kayley has spoken openly about wanting to give Anishinabe people a visible, joyful place in Pop and R&B, and these two singles are the opening statement of that mission.
Both tracks are the first taste of her debut album, set to drop this summer. In the meantime, she’s hitting the stage, Hard Rock Ottawa’s Council Oak Stage on May 23rd and May 30th, followed by a marquee slot at Ottawa Bluesfest on July 10th.
Stream New Beginnings and Don’t Break My Heart now wherever you listen to music.
