Avril Jensen crafts dreamy indie-pop stories that move effortlessly between languages, emotions, and worlds
At just 22, Avril Jensen is emerging as a captivating voice in Quebec’s indie-pop scene, blending acoustic and electro-pop elements while moving seamlessly between French and English. Raised between Montreal, North Hatley, and Sherbrooke, Jensen began writing songs at six and developed her sound alongside her father, musician and producer Tomás Jensen. Her debut single Attends (feat. EXKY) surpassed one million streams and landed on Spotify’s Best Songs of the Year 2021 in Quebec, while her EP COLORS earned a GAMIQ nomination and her song van gogh won the SOCAN Foundation Young Songwriter Award.
Since then, Jensen has appeared on The Voice Quebec, collaborated with artists including Sarahmée and FouKi, and released her acclaimed debut album Is Any of This Real?. Now celebrating the album’s one-year anniversary with a show at The Drake Underground in Toronto on March 27, 2026, she is also nominated for three GAMIQ awards, including Breakthrough Artist and Indie Pop Album, as she continues to gain recognition from outlets like CBC and Billboard Canada.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Avril Jensen. I’m 22 years old and I’m a singer-songwriter.
Your debut full-length album was primarily in English, followed quickly by the French-language EP Parfois, les jours de vent. How does your songwriting process change when you switch between languages? Does a certain emotion or “character” feel easier to express in French versus English?
There’s definitely a difference ! the musicality of the words are different, it changes the way you sing the words, what melody you wanna put them over, what you write about. I know that there are some subjects I could never write about in French because i wouldn’t think it sounds good, same with English. At least that’s always the perspective I’ve had and the way I’ve approached my songwriting.
You recently worked with FouKi on the track “CRASH.” How did that collaboration come about, and what was it like blending your indie-pop sensitivity with his signature rap flow?
Working with FouKi is always so fun! We actually met because his mom is friends with my dad on Facebook for some reason, hahah. We played at the same festival once and I think he heard my set because the next day he followed me on Instagram, and a couple of months later we crossed paths at l’ADISQ and talked a bit and kept in touch since then. We just send each other beats and sometimes they end up being a song, like with “Get Down,” a song I feature in on one of his most recent albums, and now with “CRASH” on my project. He’s just super chill and fun to work with.
You’ve collaborated closely with your father, Tomás Jensen. How do you balance the personal relationship with the professional one in the studio? Does he push you toward directions you might not have explored on your own?
I think collaborating with my dad was a blessing from the start because he’s the one person I’m not afraid to be honest with. If I don’t like his production on the song, I’ll always tell him and he’s very understanding. There’s no ego involved whatsoever and it’s super easy to work with him. We also make very different music so that collaboration is definitely very interesting too, he learns a new style of production and mixing by working with me and I get to add arrangements I probably wouldn’t have thought of on my own.
Your music video for “i might jump out of the car” was nominated for a GAMIQ award for being self-produced. How important is it for you to have total creative control over the visual “universe” that accompanies your songs?
I’ve always wanted to be a director and I’m already kind of a photographer, so the creative direction is always something I wanna be very involved with. I’ve been in situations where I just know I would’ve liked the result more if I had done it myself, because I couldn’t perfectly translate the vision I had to the director or photographer, and making my own music videos or making my own covers is definitely something I wanna keep doing (and do more). That’s also why it was important for me to shoot all the music videos for my EP with two of my close friends and have total control over the image and the universe we wanted to create.
Winning the SOCAN Foundation Young Songwriter Award is a major milestone. How did that recognition early in your career impact your confidence when you moved from singles into a full-length album like Is Any of This Real?
It’s still such an honor to be recognized for a song I wrote at probably 16 or 17. It is such a crazy thing that I honestly never thought possible. It was kind of the first time I got recognition for my songwriting from people outside of my circle. Feels very surreal still today and definitely affected my confidence going into writing a full length album.
You’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of Is Any of This Real? on March 27, 2026, at the Drake Underground. Why did you choose Toronto for this specific “full-circle” milestone?
My show in Toronto is gonna be my first show in an English speaking city/province!! 90% of my music is in English, so i was very excited for the time I would have enough of an audience to do a show somewhere else than in Quebec. The drake underground is such an iconic venue and I love the band opening up for me. I couldn’t be more grateful.