St.Arnaud Leans Into Earnest Romance and Wry Charm on New Single “Love You (For Real)”
Edmonton, AB’s St.Arnaud, the music of Ian St.Arnaud, shares “Love You (For Real),” a buoyant, indie pop track that balances romantic sincerity with a knowing smirk. Built around a warm, locked in groove and conversational lyricism, the song captures the fleeting clarity of connection; those moments when everything clicks, feels true, and doesn’t need to be overthought.
Recorded in a blur of momentum, “Love You (For Real)” came together once the rhythm section found its pocket. With Connor Mead (drums), Jesse Shire (bass), and Tory Rosso (guitar) laying down a relaxed but driving foundation, the lyrics slid naturally into place.Â
“This one was a blur to record,” Ian explains. “Once the guys found that soul groove, the lyrics were really easy to inlay with the right kind of smirk I was going for.”
One of the track’s defining lines arrived unexpectedly during a moment of playful frustration. Producer Graham Lessard, stuck at a lyrical impasse, threw his arms up and declared, “This is a new time, a YOU TIME!” The phrase stuck immediately, both as a punchline and a thesis.Â
“That got a good laugh and stuck as the line,” Ian recalls. “It’s so great when you can start with a little kernel of an idea and everybody in the room just gets it and rolls with it.”
Romantic, wistful, and quietly earnest, “Love You (For Real)” thrives on its imperfections. Rather than polish away its humanity, the song embraces it by letting feel-good groove and personality lead the way. It’s indie pop that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even while meaning every word.
The forthcoming self-titled St.Arnaud (Cordova Bay Records, 2026) marks the project’s third record and the first to fully represent the sound and chemistry of a band. Released initially as three deluxe singles and later as a full album, the project treats each release like a musical movement, grouping songs by production mode rather than genre. Drawing from the raucous charm of ’70s folk and power-pop touchstones like Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, the record blends pop hooks, sardonic lyricism, and collaborative energy into St.Arnaud’s most expansive work to date.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Sure thing – my name is (Ian) St.Arnaud, I’m a singer/songwriter from Edmonton, and I play in a very fun band (St.Arnaud) with some dear friends from both Edmonton and Calgary. We are releasing our third, and self-titled, album this April 10th on Cordova Bay Records.
You have released your new single, “Love You (For Real).” What can you tell us about the writing and recording process?
Most of what you end up hearing, groove/instrument/music-wise, is formed on-the-fly in the studio by some combo of the 5-piece band and our longtime producer/engineer, Graham Lessard. I’d say my role is usually to bring the kernel of the idea, the majority of the lyrics, and the lead vocal. This song is no exception – I knew I wanted a bit of a soul groove, I wanted to slam the insincere ‘I love you, man!!’ that we get from bar friends, and I knew I wanted a bit of a smirk. It came together quite quickly, thanks to the talents of Tory Rosso (guitar), Jesse Shire (bass), Connor Mead (drums), and Jonathan Chavez (trumpet).
Love You (For Real)” balances romantic sincerity with a bit of a wink. Is it ever a challenge to write a love song that feels “real” without it becoming too precious or overly sentimental?
For sure! I find it very hard to write a ‘real love song’, if that’s what I set out to do. However, if I start by writing a joke song about something completely unrelated, somehow it becomes a love song quite organically. That’s what happened here. The story is basically that we shared a bill with an artist one time (maybe Calgary or Vancouver?), and the entirety of their onstage AND backstage persona was so comically over-performative about ‘love’. ‘i loved your set, i love you, i love your dog, I love this lamp, I love that trash can’. It just drove me completely nuts, like, ‘can’t we just talk like normal people? I hardly know you!’. I wrote that down and riffed with the idea on my own later for a laugh, and I totally distracted myself away from the fact that I ended up talking about real love, and I ended up describing my actual feelings, essentially by accident.
You’re releasing the album initially as three deluxe singles grouped by production mode. What made you decide to organize the music by “how it was made” rather than by genre or theme?
I wanted everyone to have more time to digest it, including myself. You work for so long on these songs only for them to be blasted out with a hundred thousand others on release day; it’s so easy to lose them. I was aiming at ‘musical movements’, with nice little bits of contrast, try to combine the hidden gems with a more a radio-friendly track; but to be honest, it was more about asking the listener to just chew on 3 songs at a time instead of 12.Â
With this being your third record, why did now feel like the right time for a self-titled release? Does this feel like the definitive “St.Arnaud” sound?
I think it does feel that way, yes, that this is a definitive album for us. I hope to make many more albums, and I hope to keep music in my life forever, but this does really feel like I’ve been pushing for a long time to feel how some of these songs feel.Â
With the full album coming via Cordova Bay Records, what can fans expect from the different “movements” or production modes of the remaining tracks?
Some of the best is yet to come! Our final ‘Deluxe Single’ of three songs, before the full album, is set to be released on Feb 20. With it, some very talented friends and family have come together to make two seriously cool videos which I am very excited to share. In this batch, I do my best to channel fellow Albertan – Lethbridge’s finest, Skinny Dyck – as well as a longtime Stateside inspiration, Damien Jurado. The full album release, April 10th, will bring one more batch of entirely new songs.Â