Canadian electronic folk-pop artist Adrienne Nye will soon release her new EP, These Winter Skies, which she has teased audiences with through a handful of singles. “Stardust” was her most-recent drop, a song that the Montreal-born, Vancouver-based said holds deep meaning for her.
“The song is an anthem of change, and it really became an outlet for my frustration as a woman who still feels like I have to fight to have a voice in this industry, especially as I get older,” Nye explained.
She teamed up with Cody Taylor of Fiend Recordings to produce “Stardust.” Taylor also helped the artist produce other tracks on These Winter Skies, such as “The River” and “I Need The Light,” which have both already been released as singles. Nye launched her own boutique indie record label in December 2022 – Yaletown Records – and it’s behind the artist’s upcoming EP.
The song’s video shows Nye as an adult and as a kid, roaming through the woods in search of nothing and everything. The singer’s 8-year-old niece, Mabel Armstrong, plays the child version of Nye.
“We crafted the story of a woman reconnecting with her inner child,” Nye said. “The part of her that never feels good enough, that is young and vulnerable and just wants to be seen and appreciated for who she is.”
The video was shot on location at scenic Caulfield Park in West Vancouver in September 2022. Director Veronika Kurz and cinematographer Marcus Fung, co-founder of Workshop Film Company, operated behind the scenes to make it happen. Nye worked with both creatives on short films in 2014, reuniting with old friends as part of her latest creative endeavor. They shot two music videos (Stardust and The River) in two days thanks to financial aid from the Artist Development grant through FACTOR Canada.
Nye has a long history in the performing arts. As a child, she was cast in the only bilingual production of Les Misérables in Montreal and appeared in more than 125 performances. As a child, she had extensive ballet training at the National Ballet School, toured overseas with the F.A.C.E Treble Choir, performed the lead in Czech Children’s Opera “Brundibár” with members of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and more.
Inspired by artists like Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, and Tori Amos, Nye took up composing and songwriting in her early teens. In 2017, she formed the band, Fallow State, with a former acting school classmate in Vancouver, Olson Lloyd. Together, they released two EPs under the Fallow State moniker before amicably parting ways because of the pandemic.
In 2021, Nye gave the world her first new single as a solo artist in more than a decade; “Lonely Days” delved into the difficult realities that border crossings force on families and relationships.
Nye likes to utilize her own lived experiences in her work. In “Stardust,” she evokes the immense weight that the sky holds, physically and metaphorically.
“I often try to pull myself out of the minutia and remind myself that I am but a speck of dust in this universe, and no matter how frustrating life can get, we get to choose our attitude and mindset,” Nye explained. “I look to the stars for comfort, because they remind me that there is a much bigger universe out there, and I am just doing my small part to create a life that is meaningful for me. I always try to remember that, especially when things feel hard sometimes.”
