Rachael Kilgour shares new single, “Heart On Fire”

Jenna Melanson·July 21, 2023

Rachael Kilgour Shares Second Single, “Heart On Fire” From Upcoming Album

Following the release of her lead single, “Dad Worked Hard,” acclaimed Canadian-American singer-songwriter, Rachael Kilgour, returns today with “Heart on Fire,” the second offering from her forthcoming album, My Father Loved Me. Intimate and vulnerable to the core, the gorgeously heart-shattering song reflects on the grief and loss of a loved one’s physical form after they pass away.

“There are so many layers to our grief, particularly when it comes to the loss of a parent. A couple years after my father’s death, I felt like someone new,” Kilgour shares. “I had grown in his absence, working through so many pieces of the letting go while making room for the parts of him I wanted to carry with me. The one thing that continued to haunt me was the loss of my dad’s physical form. This body I had known and loved – his rough hands, his tightly wound biceps, the smell of his hair, the way his collar bones laid in his chest – had been rolled into a cremation oven that burst his flesh into flames. The thought of it can still keep me up at night. And yet, all bodies must return to earth one way or another. Would we want it any other way? Surely, anything worth loving is temporary. Every being, every home we call our own is only ours for a time and then becomes something entirely new. And the love remains.”

One of the first tracks that Kilgour and producer, Rose Cousins, began building in the studio, “Heart on Fire” continues to reveal the heartfelt stories that Kilgour crafted in honour of her late father for the new album. Soft and reflective, her stunning vocals shine through on the song, alongside warm acoustics and expansive, building string arrangement.

“Like every song on the record, we started with my solo acoustic performance and then wove together a soundscape layer by tender layer. Joshua Van Tassel (synth/percussion) and Dean Drouillard (electric guitar) reinforced the heartbeat of the song with deep, resonant bass tones and delicate swells,” Kilgour adds. “With loose plans for some post production work, I drove home from Toronto with the track unfinished. A couple months later Rose surprised me with a gorgeous string arrangement she had secretly crafted and a first listen to the mix which made me weep. It still does.”