Victorella starts with the title. For her new single “Crush(ed)”, the Montreal artist didn’t labour over lyrics first or chase a melody until the words fell into place. The wordplay came to mind and she built a story around it. “The song actually started with the title!” she says. “The wordplay came to my mind and I wrote a story line around it. That’s usually how I start writing songs.”
The track pulls from indie sleaze and midwest emo while channelling bands like Metric and Franz Ferdinand, a wide sonic palette that could easily scatter in less focused hands. “Well, that’s just a bunch of bands I’ve been listening to while producing the song!” Victorella explains. “I think whatever’s keeping it from feeling scattered is just me. There’s an audience of people like me who enjoy both of those genres because there’s a common thread to them.”
That thread runs straight through the early 2000s, an era Victorella remembers with the kind of nostalgia that shapes creative choices years later. “To me, there’s a certain nostalgic sound to the music of the 2000’s. I remember being a kid in the late 2000’s and thinking that emo/alternative teenagers were so cool. I wanted to reflect that era in Crush(ed) but also blend it with my modern inspirations.” Her production playlist for the track included Metric’s “Gold Guns Girls” from 2009 alongside julie’s “april’s-bloom” from 2021, a span that shows exactly how she’s bridging decades.
The choice to write “Crush(ed)” in English wasn’t about pop appeal or reaching a wider audience. It came down to the wordplay itself. “English was necessary for this one because of the title,” she says. “I couldn’t translate this concept in French, and just thought it was a fun one! The choice of language really depends on my initial title idea, which will be either in English or French.”
Victorella’s bilingual approach has become central to how she works, even as it creates friction with Quebec’s music industry. She’s talked before about writing in French for deeper concepts and English for poppier songs, but “Crush(ed)” deals with heavy emotional territory and landed in English anyway. The song explores emotional tension, vulnerability, and the marks left by attachment, hardly lightweight material. But the title dictated the language, and Victorella followed.
Her experience as a semi-finalist at the Festival International de la chanson de Granby last year gave her more than exposure. “The Festival was a great opportunity for meeting emerging artists from here who became great friends of mine, like Messe, Mitaine or the French artist Gervaise,” she recalls. “It was also a good experience to learn how to professionalize myself. Since I’m an independent artist, it can sometimes be hard to explore the different areas of the industry without any guidance and the Festival did give me some good insights.”
That independence extends to production. Victorella is self-producing her debut album, set for May 2026, and the process feels natural to her. “I started writing songs and producing at the same time, so for me it was kind of natural,” she says. “I do really like having complete control over the final product. I like when the idea of the song I have in my head comes to life.”
The bilingual thing in Quebec still presents challenges, especially when applying for grants where she has to pick one language. “I sort of accepted it the way it was and decided to do my own thing,” she says. “I love to explore both languages and don’t want to limit myself just for money purposes. There are francophones and anglophones coming to our shows, and I love to create a space where both of them can exist and hang out together without any political pressure.”
That philosophy shows up in her lyrics too. Victorella has said before that there’s no better feeling than singing a lyric about someone right to their face without them knowing, and “Crush(ed)” has at least one moment that hits that way. “Well…There’s a clear line in Crush(ed) where I say ‘I’ve never been a casual girl / It’s all or nothing / You win or you love’ and it is directed to one of the situationships I’ve been in,” she admits. “But it’s always playful and I just love to use songwriting to sing stuff I wouldn’t say out loud.”
Having Louna Cartier Denis in the band now has shifted the dynamic on stage in ways that go beyond the matching dresses and sisterhood vibe. “There’s something about the presence of another woman that does make the stage feel more comfortable,” Victorella says. “I don’t feel like I have to play the role of the woman of the band anymore. I can just be myself. There’s not much importance given to my gender, because we’re two girls and the attention is now more on the art.” Cartier Denis brings more than presence. “Also, apart from being an amazing keyboardist, Louna Cartier Denis is a great vocalist and her voice definitely adds a texture that was missing before. AND I always love to see more women on stage.”
The visual side of Victorella’s project runs parallel to the music, not behind it. Her friend Cloé Chartrand makes dresses from scratch and designs merch, creating a cohesive aesthetic that reinforces what the songs already do. “Visuals are just as important as the music itself, because it creates another narrative,” Victorella explains. “The visual guides what people imagine when they’re listening to the music and it’s also a way to be recognized easily. You have to find a way to visually embody the same energy that is found in the music.”
After the album drops in May, Victorella has an album launch set for June 6 at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal. “After that, we’re planning a small tour to spread the album in a few Quebec cities and also in New Brunswick, the only bilingual province in Canada!” she says.
The tour routing makes sense. New Brunswick is the only place where both languages can coexist without the political weight that comes with it elsewhere. For an artist who refuses to pick sides, it’s the logical next step.
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