Andrea England Draws on Heartbreak with Carleton Stone for Nostalgic Song “Halifax” from New EP, Evidence of Love
Every decade or so, award-winning songwriter-singer Andrea England, founder of the popular songwriter circle concert series Four Chords and the Truth, becomes singer-songwriter Andrea England. The Toronto-based musician, whose songs have been recorded by everyone from Meghan Patrick and Don Amero to ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, has released her long-awaited ambient Americana EP, Evidence of Love, produced by JUNO Award winner Hill Kourkoutis (Aysanabee, Digging Roots). Andrea is the primary songwriter, with co-writing credits to Tenille Townes on “Stone” and Liz Rodrigues (Celine, Eminem) and James Bryan (Drake, Nelly Furtado) on “Cover to Cover”.
Award-winning Nova Scotia artist Carleton Stone can be heard in the ambivalent first single “Halifax” about the conflicted emotions that come from living away from home.
“I started my life and artist career in Halifax, and my time there influenced a big part of who I am as a woman and songwriter,” Andrea explains. “It’s a nostalgic song about a lost love forever connected to a place and a time – and to write it, I drew upon my first real heartbreak – one that literally led me to leave a city I loved.”
As a whole, Evidence of Love is love in all its many complicated forms. It’s a lifetime of love.
“I don’t regret any of the hurt I’ve gone through because I’ve loved too much,” says Andrea. “If I was on my deathbed, would I have any regrets? Maybe a few, but I wouldn’t regret loving.”
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m a storyteller, songwriter, singer, Four Chords and the Truth founder/curator/host…I’m also involved in the business side of music…I wear many hats. I’m Toronto-based, but I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, and that Maritime upbringing informs a lot of what I do.
Most of the time I write with and for other artists, but I started out as an artist myself; so every now and then, when the timing and songs collide, I release my own albums. The time was right this year to record Evidence of Love – I’m so glad Hill Kourkoutis (the album’s producer) and I were able to make it work with our schedules; although if we couldn’t have this year, I’d have waited to work with her.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Evidence of Love is exactly that: Evidence of my thoughts about different aspects of love, ie. nostalgia, love of family, loss, lack, and love in the face of mortality. I wrote 5 of the 7 songs alone, and chose to include the other two, which are co-writes, because my cowriters and I explored different aspects of love in them than the other five – betrayal and longing – and they completed the overall arc of the album.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
I’ll be hosting and performing songs from the album at my songwriter series, Four Chords and the Truth, at TD Music Hall on November 16th.
Since the holidays and holiday music is right around the bend, we’re focused on booking shows for 2024. Check out my website for date announcements, including Toronto and Halifax release party dates, and more Four Chords and the Truth shows in 2024!
If given the chance, which Canadian artist would you love to work with in the future?
There are so many amazing Canadian artists, that’s an impossible question to answer….but I’d love to write with Alessia Cara or Jessie Reyez; and, of course, I write a lot of sad love songs, so there’s always the dream of hearing Celine Dion sing one of them…
What’s your goal for 2024?
I’d just love the songs on this album – and songs in my catalogue – to find their audience, to get to the people who might see themselves in these stories and know they’re not alone. Music heals and inspires positive change – if I can do either of those with any of my songs – whether I’m singing them or someone else is – that’s success to me.