Edmonton alt-pop singer-songwriter VISSIA has finally released ‘With Pleasure’, her sophomore record, to rave reviews across the board. It’s an album which sounds like an arms-wide embrace of life itself, dripping with enthusiasm and the richness of every possible emotion.
Each track comes with a sense of intuition and playfulness, observing everyday life moments and turning them to gold, true slices of fun-filled alt-pop perfection in an impressive full length release from the Canadian artist.
Whether it’s the neo-soul bliss of ‘The Cliffs’, the disco revival beats of ‘On My Mind’, the funk-soul vocal acrobatics of ‘Never Gonna Be The Same’ or the liberated vibes of ‘My Wom’, this album includes nods to a more nostalgic era of pop music, one in which solid vocals and a killer bassline were all you need. There’s a sense that VISSIA makes clear to whom she owes her roots as she throws a nod backwards to the nostalgic 90s era of pop, where girl groups reigned supreme. But she also resolutely looks forwards with her aesthetic and purpose as a musician. The power of VISSIA is unmistakably feminine, coming from a place of utter empathy and descriptive talent in the way she draws on the power of nature and earth in order to create a totally unique personality which shines through in every single track.
In her own words… “When I started writing With Pleasure, I had a completely different idea for what I thought the project was going to be. I thought I was going to make this, I don’t know, serious album, but when I sat down to write for it, that concept just didn’t feel right. Everybody will tell you your whole life, ‘Be true to yourself,’ but I don’t think it’s something you really understand until you are actually doing it. When I wrote ‘Walk Me Home’ – one of the first songs I wrote for the album – it felt like I had finally unearthed this master key. My only motive from then on was: do what feels good. Not what I thought somebody else would think is good or cool or the most profound, but what feels good to me. I luxuriated in emotion, indulged my curiosity and really had fun with the process. This might all sound like a very obvious approach to take, but we are all coming home to ourselves in our own time. The kind of growth it takes to stand firmly in our own convictions takes the time that it takes, but the timing is always right. Don’t be mistaken, With Pleasure is certainly not all about what one might at first consider to be pleasurable. With Pleasure means that there is joy in experiencing all of our dimensions: the light and the dark, the helpless and the triumphant, the ashes and the rebirth. That’s what authenticity is. That’s how it feels to be alive.”