Francis Baptiste Lays His Heart Bare on New Single “Rent Free in My Mind” + Announces New Tour Dates
With his signature blend of raw honesty, retro charm, and deeply lived storytelling, Francis Baptiste returns with “Rent Free In My Mind”, a vulnerable new single about love, memory, and the grace of second chances. Following the hard-hitting “Aspirin for the Soul”, Baptiste now turns inward — trading the blues of survival for the quiet ache of nostalgia.
“Memories of you / and the thoughtful things you do / live rent free in my mind,” he sings with warmth and weariness. The track, out August 1, blends classic pop-rock textures with the heart of a man who’s grateful just to still be here.
“It’s a little cheesy, a little retro,” Baptiste admits. “But I have to remind myself — I’m a 41-year-old retro guy. Sometimes you gotta let an old dog do his old dog music.”
Baptiste handles vocals and guitar, backed by a trusted circle of collaborators: Rob Thomson (bass), Max Ley (drums), Ricardo Pequenino (vocals, piano), and Kevin McCarthy (backup vocals). Together, they channel something between The Cars and Poison — a “dad rock” energy that’s worn-in, melodic, and sincere.
The story behind the song is as disarming as the lyrics themselves.
“My partner Brittany and I had a rough start,” Baptiste shares. “I was hiding a severe alcohol and cocaine addiction, and she was basically an angel. Eventually, I came clean to her — standing under an awning in Chinatown, ducking from the rain. That moment changed my life.”
That honesty carries into every line of Rent Free In My Mind:
“My hand grazed your leg / the first night we met / I was a gentleman / with all my little lies…”
The song doesn’t glamorize the past — it simply lives in it, holding both the damage and the devotion in the same breath.
The music video, filmed at Vancouver’s iconic Khatsahlano Festival (on Baptiste’s birthday), is a celebration of that very love story — weaving candid home videos with sunlit performance footage of the band. “It’s one of the few lighthearted moments on this otherwise bleak and forthright album,” he says of the video, which also features Brittany.
“Rent Free In My Mind” is the second single from Baptiste’s forthcoming album Lived Experience in East Vancouver, out this October. The album documents addiction, recovery, fatherhood, and survival in one of Canada’s most misunderstood communities. Baptiste works in the Downtown Eastside at the DUDES Club, a men’s health organization — a role that informs every lyric.
“I deal with my own addiction and the addiction of others every day,” he says. “This album is what that reality sounds like.”
Baptiste’s journey has never been linear. A near-fatal accident in 2021 after a DUI — which tragically killed two horses — became the wake-up call he couldn’t ignore.
“The thought of my son growing up without me was very sobering,” he’s said.
Since then, his music has become a vehicle for healing — with past albums like Sneqsilx (Family) and Senklip, the Trickster blending blues, folk, and songs in his endangered Nsyilxcən language.
He’ll take these stories on the road this summer, with upcoming shows across BC and Ontario, including the Vine Arts Festival (Aug 15), Burnaby Roots and Blues Festival (Aug 9), and Wolf Island (Sept 19).
Because some memories hurt. Some heal. And some — like the ones in “Rent Free In My Mind” — do both at once.
“Rent Free In My Mind” is vulnerable and nostalgic — what specific moment or feeling sparked the idea for this song?
Around that time, I had been hearing the phrase used a lot, and people on social media were talking about what lives rent-free in their minds, and it got me thinking about the things that live rent-free in my mind. And ultimately, the only thing I could think of was my family. My partner and my son. Everything else kinda weighs on me. You spend so much of your life just trying to erase everything; there are only a few things that give me comfort. It evolved from there and eventually became a song about my relationship with my partner, Brittany.
That lyric — “I was a gentleman with all my little lies” — cuts deep. How did it feel to write and share that kind of self-awareness?
Dating someone new when you’re an addict is tricky. Because you’re not really in a place where you should be dating. Also, addicts tend to think they’re doing better than they actually are. There’s a lot of self-deception that happens when you’re trying to be a normal functioning person who’s using drugs and alcohol a lot. So if you’re struggling with addiction and you meet someone new, you’re in this weird position of wanting to be honest but not wanting to scare this person away. Also, what is an appropriate first date conversation? “Oh, by the way, I’m a raging alcoholic and cocaine addict,” might feel like oversharing on a first date. So, is it Second Date material? Or do you wait for the third date? Now suddenly, you’ve accidentally got yourself caught up in basically living a lie with this person you like. You’re trying to impress this person. And at the same time, this person makes you want to be the best version of yourself, so you’re aspiring to be that person you’re pretending to be, and probably failing. That line of the song was me reflecting on all of that.
This is one of the few lighthearted moments on an otherwise heavy album. Why did “Rent Free” need to be part of Lived Experience in East Vancouver?
It’s important, I think, to occasionally remind yourself of the good things in life. Sadly, even my good memories and positive experiences are tinged with the failings of addiction. I love my family, but I’ve put them through a lot in recent years. This is meant to be a love song to my partner, but at the same time, it’s acknowledging that I wasn’t a very good partner through most of our relationship. I’m still striving to become a good person, but that comes with penance.
You’ve lived every line you write — from the Downtown Eastside to the DUDES Club. How does your day-to-day work shape the music you make?
It’s a daily struggle. Everything is a labour. You just have to learn to love the work. That’s the thing I’m still learning every day. I meet people who’ve been sober for 30 years and tell me it’s still one day at a time and there will always be hard days. I see people suffering through it at every age, every different stage of their life, every stage of their recovery journey. As far as I can tell, there’s no release. Nothing will ever emancipate you from the struggle of living. So just get used to it. The only liberation I’ve found in forty years is that it helps to put on a good album now and then.
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