Jenny Palacios Embraces Nostalgic Pop-Rock Vulnerability on Self-Deprecating New Single, “IYKYK”
Toronto pop-rock singer-songwriter Jenny Palacios returns with “IYKYK,” an honest, nostalgic, and playfully self-deprecating anthem for anyone who’s grown up without ever truly “growing into” themselves. Packed with 2000s rock-ballad guitar tones, wry humour, and the soft ache of arrested development, “IYKYK” is an ode to the awkward kids who turned into equally awkward adults – the ones who never quite figured out the script everyone else seems to know by heart.
“I’ve always wanted to write a song called ‘IYKYK’ — I just really like the phrase, but funny enough, this song didn’t start with that in mind,” says Palacios. “I had written a lot of lines about constantly feeling so awkward and out of place – just stuff that you’re kind of meant to figure out before you’re a grown adult. I’m always in places where everyone else knows exactly what to say or do next. I started asking myself, ‘Is this a unique experience?’ I knew I couldn’t be the only one with this kind of arrested development, so ‘IYKYK’ felt fitting. It’s like a plea to the weird kids who are now weird adults.”
Built around a symphony of guitars, the track dives unapologetically into 2000s-inspired pop-rock textures. Produced by Kyle Marchant (Nightwell) with additional writing from Palacios’ long-time collaborators, the trio let themselves fully indulge in nostalgia – following instincts, layering riffs, and embracing the loser-anthem charm.
“There are so many guitars on this song,” Palacios laughs. “The tones Kyle dialed really strike that 2000s rock-ballad, loser-anthem kind of world. We spent hours just writing riffs based on this one lead I had in the demo, and let ourselves get carried away with it. All three of us grew up in that era and were getting more and more stoked with the nostalgia of each riff that we just kept layering. We ended up with this almost arena-sounding but still playfully self-deprecating kind of track.”
At the emotional core of “IYKYK” sits a confession of identity, femininity, and the strange, slow process of becoming oneself.
“I’ve always been pretty insecure about my femininity as in how I carry myself as a woman,” Palacios shares. “There are years of undetected damage from media consumption to address, but even in my everyday life, there are so many women who I look up to that just embody this specific certainty and confidence that I thought I’d have once I got older. I’m still waiting on it.”