Victoria Canal: ‘Exhausting, but also so full of wonder’
Victoria Canal at the Ivor Novello Awards in 2024. Picture: Lucy North
To say the last few years have been a whirlwind for singer-songwriter Victoria Canal would be a gross understatement.
From joining Coldplay on stage during their Glastonbury headline set, to winning the Ivor Novello rising star award and touring with Hozier, she has experienced moments most artists can only dream of. But it has not come without its challenges.
“My overall journey? It’s been everything,” Canal, 26, says, looking back on her experience.
“It’s been incredibly exciting and inspiring. It’s been incredibly overwhelming and fatiguing, and super exhausting, and definitely a lot of burnout moments. But also so full of wonder.”
The Spanish-American singer identifies as a “third culture kid” as she grew up in cities across the world, including Shanghai, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Dubai, and the US.
She began taking classical piano lessons as a child, developing her ability over the years. But she had to overcome more obstacles than most as she was born without her right forearm and hand, because of a condition called amniotic band syndrome.
Establishing herself as an artist did not come easily either, as she had no connection with the industry. Her closest musical link was that her grandmother played piano for the church.
Despite the hurdles, she persevered and released several singles, which went on to form EPs.
Then a chance online encounter with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin helped propel her career. She first caught his attention after he saw a mocked up Rolling Stone cover she had made about performing with the band, as an April Fool. Martin later introduced her to Parlophone Records, who signed her.
“I was living in Madrid and growing up outside the US, so to end up at brunch with Chris Martin and all these other people, it’s like ‘How did I get here’,” she says.
“I probably do have more moments like that than is average. I’m really grateful for it but it doesn’t come without struggle, for sure.”
Canal has collaborated with Coldplay on a number of occasions, providing background vocals on their album Moon Music and accompanying them for their hit ‘Paradise’ when they headlined Glastonbury for the fifth time last summer.
She says having Martin as a mentor over the years has been “pretty life-changing”.
“I’ve always felt very cared for by him as an artist, and ever since he learned about my project he’s been looking out for me.”
His dedication to the artform has also had a lasting impression on Canal.
“It’s really inspiring to see someone so many years into their career be just as excited to make music as they were at the beginning,” she says.
“I think that’s one of the things I hope for in my life, is to stay excited until I’m wrinkled and all dried up.”
After years of writing and recording across London and Los Angeles, Canal has finally released her debut album, Slowly, It Dawns.
The 12-track offering is divided into two parts, side A being “manic and overreaching and poppy and loud and brash”, while side B is the “introverted, more experienced, maybe more wounded, more self-aware self” take.
“Part of the meaning behind the title, Slowly, It Dawns, is how you realise things that you just didn’t know before,” Canal explains.
“I think one of the main things that’s shown up for me is the disparity between reaching for something for so long and the actual feeling you feel when you reach it, and all the reckoning that comes with that.
“It’s like ‘Oh, I still feel the same way about myself even with this award in my hand or even next to this famous artist’.
“Those inherent inner human struggles don’t go away with those things. And I feel like everyone knows that in theory, but only learns it in practice. And so that’s been part of my journey.”
Anxiety, comparison with others, financial stresses, aging family — these are a few of the emotions and experiences that filtered in to her writing, which she hopes opens the lid on areas people do not always discuss openly.
Opening for Irish singer-songwriter Hozier on his Unreal Unearth Tour in the UK and Europe also inspired her to have “less inhibitions” and to just play around in the studio.
The catalogues of artists like Beck and Björk were among her touchstones, while the bolero music of her Cuban grandparents wove its way into her single ‘California Sober’.
“The thing about my album is that it’s kind of chaotic and it goes from one end of the spectrum to another, sonically, emotionally, and I think the main thing that I hope for people listening to it is just to allow it all,” she says.
“Just allow everything that you feel and don’t try to shut down parts of yourself because they’re messy or because they’re not consistent.
“I think consistency is something that I have really struggled with emotionally, and I think a lot of young people, or maybe just people, do.
“And so the album just shamelessly lets all those emotions have free rein and not shutting down any part of yourself out of fear of if it’s allowed or not. It’s all allowed.”
Navigating the music industry can be an uphill battle for most, but doing so as a young female and disabled artist is another thing entirely.
“It definitely tests you and tests your confidence and your will of strength, or strength of will? I’m pre-coffee right now,” she says with a chuckle from Seattle in the US, after having to leave Los Angeles because of the deadly wildfires.
“It is not for the faint of heart this industry, and things take a long time, and things come in waves.”
The whirl of emotion amid the release of her album was heightened by her new city burning before her eyes.
Canal moved to Los Angeles last year after spending time there recording her album.
In January, several wildfires broke out across the Californian city which resulted in numerous deaths and the destruction of many communities.
“Of course its super devastating”, she says. “I love the city and I think the people are what make the city and the people are already rebuilding and they’re already stepping up to the plate and being there for each other.
“I think the spirit of the people in LA is stronger than anything that can happen to the city.”
Victoria Canal’s album Slowly, It Dawns is out now.
