Kylie Fox raises a glass to a musical idol in her new single and video Brandi Baby — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The pantheon of great songs that namecheck fellow artists is both wide and distinguished. Now we can add another banger to the list: New Brunswick alt-rocker Fox’s track, which does indeed refer to none other than Brandi Carlile.
“I used to straighten my hair to Brandi Carlile every day in high school, and she became a big influence for me becoming a musician,” Fox gushes. “Brandi has seen me through a few big stages. I planted a lot of trees to her music” — a committed environmentalist, Fox spent several summer vacations doing just that in British Columbia — “and wrote a lot of university papers. I’ve seen her live twice. I’m in the Bramily. She’s probably my dream collaboration.”
Yet the song isn’t “about” Carlile per se. Rather, it’s a memoir of the personal path Fox had to walk to get where she is today, with her fandom as a leitmotif:
“When I was 15, went to the dance alone
My friends weren’t friends, my sister drove me home
I used to lean my tramp stamp up against the bar
Now I’m a teacup in your arms
You love me so gingerly, tenderly baby
Count my freckles, water my plants
Put on some Brandi baby, do you want to dance?”
The “you” in question just happens to be her drummer and fiancé, Ryan Barrie. “The first song Ryan and I danced to was Brandi’s song The Story,” Fox reveals, “and now we are planning to use it as our first dance at our wedding next year.”
Barrie rises to the tribute on Brandi Baby, but his muscular contribution is just part of an instrumental axis that supports Fox’s velvety, warm vocals with some slick playing by guitarist Sean Hutchins, bassist Camilo Villamizar and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Kelly Waterhouse. The song begins on a rhythm that strikes the ear and then gradually moves into something far more conducive to spinning around a dance floor with someone you’re enraptured by, especially if the DJ doesn’t have any Carlile.
Given the subject matter, the song’s accompanying music video was shot at a somewhat curious location: a wrestling match in Fox’s home of Fredericton. “My director Jillian Acreman and cinematographer Jesse Anthony asked if we could attend early and get some coverage of me singing the song before chaos ensued,” Fox recalls. “Walking onto the scene in a sequin fringe jacket ready to dance and sing in front of a camera while a bunch of wrestlers rehearsed was a very intimidating thing to do. They were all super nice and welcoming and happy to be a part of it, and it was so funny to see them beat each other up and throw cake at each other after getting to know a few of them.”
Fox’s upcoming second album Sequoia was overseen by six-time ECMA-winning producer Daniel Ledwell (Jenn Grant, Fortunate Ones, Good Lovelies). The record is deeply rooted in the folk-Canadiana elements that have characterized Fox’s career thus far, while also exploring folk-rock and jazz-pop fusion; the overall effect is being described as “ ’70s Sesame Street meets Sharon Van Etten.”
“The 11 songs that make up Sequoia are reflections on gratitude in relation to the women in my life, my environment, my relationships and myself,” Fox says. The title stems from a news story she read about firefighters working throughout the night to save a Sequoia tree from a forest fire: “It resonated with me how severely nature and time have been taken for granted.” Accordingly, the songs on the album acknowledge those moments in life when we don’t realize what we have, while simultaneously uplifting love and life as blessings to treasure.
So far, Fox has plenty to treasure. Since the release of her debut EP Balcony in 2017, she’s shared the stage with the likes of Bahamas, Strumbellas and Joel Plaskett. She’s showcased at the East Coast Music Awards, Folk Alliance International and the Canadian Song Conference. In 2020, she participated in the Banff Centre for the Arts International Songwriting Residency, and she’s also been featured on lineups for festivals like the Cavendish Beach Music Festival (2022) and Area506 (2021). She was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2020 PrixNB Awards and Innovator of the Year at the 2023 PrixNB Awards.
Watch the video for Brandi Baby above, hear more from Kylie Fox below, and keep up with her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
