Global recognition is the ultimate goal for Victoria Canal, according to the team behind the Ivor-winning singer-songwriter as she prepares for her debut album campaign.
The 26-year-old releases Slowly, It Dawns via Parlophone on January 17.
Collaborators on the new record include Låpsley, Jonny Lattimer, Kevin Farzad and Eg White.
“The title speaks to the sun rising, and I feel it’s emblematic of how you feel when you are growing up,” said Canal. “In your adolescence, everything is a bit hazy and wobbly and you don’t really know what’s going on. Then as you get older, clarity sets in.
"The album goes from being very young and naive, loud and overconfident, to quite introspective, wise and surrendered. It gets more complex and possibly more wounded or brooding.”
Describing the LP as a “dynamic masterpiece”, Canal's manager Andrew Leib of Deep Feel Talent Co laid out both the short-term and long-term targets.
“We’re aiming for a US late-night TV debut, a Grammy nod and a good bump in consumption,” said Leib. “Beyond the album, we’re committed to deepening her connection with causes she’s passionate about and using her platform to make a positive social impact.
"Our goal is to gain recognition not just in the US and UK, but globally – we are striving for nominations at major international awards. With each release, we want to continue pushing the envelope and evolving Victoria’s artistry in exciting, unexpected ways.”
Everyone is aware of how difficult it is for new artists to break through at the moment, but in Victoria we have a really special talent
Jen Ivory
Born in Germany to an American mother and Spanish father, Canal won the Ivors' Rising Star Award in 2023 and picked up her second Ivor Novello Award the following year, claiming Best Song Musically And Lyrically for her track Black Swan.
Mark Gale of Sony Music Publishing-backed Second Songs praised her achievements as "quite incredible for someone at this stage of her career", while the company's Caroline Elleray added that it was a great privilege to work with a songwriter as “wildly talented” as Canal.
Elsewhere, Parlophone MD Jen Ivory hailed Canal, who released her first EP Into The Pull in 2016, as an "incredible artist".
“We feel very privileged to be working with her,” said Ivory. “Everyone is aware of how difficult it is for new artists to break through at the moment, but in Victoria we have a really special talent who is a world-class songwriter and musician with an amazing voice. We have every confidence she will enjoy a fruitful career."
Ivory said the label was seeking to offer Canal the “freedom to continue to develop and create music that is authentic to her”.
“The album really is an incredible project, so this year is all about connecting her with more people and establishing her as one of the UK’s most prominent singer-songwriters,” she added.
The singer was introduced to Parlophone by Coldplay frontman and Parlophone label mate Chris Martin, who has served as a mentor and told The New Yorker: "She has the gift of song" in a 2023 profile of Canal. In June this year meanwhile, she was invited to join the band on the Pyramid Stage for their Glastonbury headline set.
“I couldn’t process it at the time,” reflected Canal. “I was just focused on getting it right for Chris. The stakes were high, he’d invested in me by asking me to do it, so I just thought that I would focus on what I needed to do and on making him happy.
"It was only when I came back on for the encore, with Michael J Fox and all those guys, that I really got to look out and see how many people were there. But it was almost impossible to understand, as though your brain hits 1,000 people and then can’t process any more.”
I’ve had so many viral moments, and not one has changed my life forever
Victoria Canal
But despite already having numerous viral moments during her career, Canal suggested it was increasingly rare for them to have a lasting impact.
“I feel like everybody in the industry, especially if you have managers, publishers and a label, is waiting for the one golden moment that will send you to the moon,” she observed. “And in a few cases that happens – look at Chappell Roan, for example.
“What I’m seeing, especially as the market becomes even more saturated and the algorithm becomes harder to understand, is that I’ve had so many viral moments, and not one has changed my life forever,” she says. “They’ve all been a stepping stone towards the career that I want for myself. A lot of artists like me feel this pressure to find that one moment that will change their life. But it’s actually about consistently trying for those moments that just move it a little bit further forward.”
She concluded: “When I put something online that feels super authentic, I am both promoting what I do and connecting with the people that I want following me. I’m reaching the people that want to find someone like me, we’re finding each other online. And that feels really beautiful and like a unique tool.”
Subscribers can read the full interview with Canal and her team here.
