Canadian alt. wave, art-pop indie artist, Kendal Thompson is back with her latest video, “Not UR Girl”.
“The song was born from a place of gaining back my power,” she shares. “It helped me understand that my happiness relied on belonging to no one other than myself.
Not UR Girl” is Thompson’s latest from her most recent album, Ok Cool. The deeply personal collection of songs picks up where previous single, “Human Feel” — and its exploration of universal love and acceptance of both one’s self and others — leaves off, and serves as a welcome follow-up to her take-notice debut EP, One, and feature in John Orpheus’ song, “BUTTAHFLY.”
While “Not UR Girl”s vision is Thompson’s — with co-writes and production credits by long-time collaborator, Little Noise Records’ Mike Schlosser — she’s equally quick to plant praise on director Jessamine Fok’s shoulders for bringing an imaginative sense of humour and sense of refreshed creative life to the project.
“Jessamine’s ideas had me really reaching outside of my comfort zone,” Thompson says of the spectacularly retro-esque video’s vibe. “I got to explore and show a side of myself only my friends have seen.
In terms of not being an actor, and then acting out all of the characters, it helped me rediscover a different side of myself. Dressing and acting as the male character — ‘Mikey Rock’ — was such a liberating experience.”
Check out “Not UR Girl” below and find out more about Kendal via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi!! My name is Kendal Thompson, I grew up in Alliston Ontario, but have called Toronto home since 2007. I am a singer, songwriter, writer and self-care advocate.
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style.
My music is what would be described as Wavy Pop, which is kind of this chill laid back pop with R&B undertones. I write a lot with my Producer Mike Schlosser if we are in a fresh session we usually start by chatting for a bit about what vibes we are into and artists we are feeling inspired by.
Either myself or Mike will then start to build on an idea if it’s through the music that Mike is creating then what happens is he usually gets playing around and I’ll know something will work if melodies just start flowing out of me.
I tend to start with a melody when I write, the lyrics find themselves after I get the feel for what the song is and what it wants to say.
Do you have any upcoming shows? For someone who has yet to see you live, how would you explain your live performance?
I do! I have teamed up with my friend Laura Milnes (Silk & Coupe) who is a Canadian sommelier and we have designed a synaesthesia experience where she will pair a wine with my musical performance. The show is tentatively taking place on May 21st, it’s best to keep up on my socials for any changes though.
I would describe my performance as honest and real. Performing live has always been a challenge for me and it’s taken a lot for me to push through my stage fright. I don’t feel comfortable using any kind of “moves” or gimmicks anymore. My main goal on stage now is to just be as vulnerable as possible through my music. In order to make myself comfortable enough to do that I don’t want to think about what I should be doing and just be in the moment, feeling it and connecting to the song so the audience can feel the same.
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
I would tell them to listen to Human Feel! That was the song that set the tone for my whole album. When you listen to it, you will just instantly get what I’m about.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/ artists?
Some of my favourite Canadian bands are!
A is for Arrows, Sophia Danai and DJ White Light
Not only are they incredibly talented artists, but I am also proud to call them friends! It’s beautiful making such amazing connections with other amazing artists.