Today I’m so excited to bring everyone the newest single and video from pop star, Chris Garneau, called “Canon.” The track comes from Garneau’s forthcoming sixth full-length album that will be out this fall. If you’re enjoying the new breakup anthem of “Canon,” please consider supporting this artist here.
”Canon” feels like a stark, emotional confrontation with memory. What was the emotional or personal breakthrough that led you to reject the idea of pain as something to preserve or honor in this song?
I was just done feeling the pain — that was the breakthrough. I’d gone through the motions for way too long, in a relationship I shouldn’t have entered in the first place. Once it ended, I realized that the pain had to go — it wasn’t serving me, my life, or my work anymore. It wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t interesting; it was exhausted, useless, and needed to be extinguished. Making this track was a way of confirming that that chapter was truly over.
You’ve said this track isn’t about closure, but about stripping weight from memory. How did working with Dan Marcellus, Tim Lappin, and Kirk Schoenherr help shape that defiant, unsentimental tone musically?
Since starting the singles for this record with Dan Marcellus, we’ve been focused on creating more energetic balance, with a solid rhythmic foundation. Dan’s drumming and production instincts have really supported that direction, and Tim’s bass parts reinforce it. Kirk’s guitar work adds a lot — he gives us layered, melodic, textural ideas that we can edit and shape to match the energy we’re aiming for. Having this full, collaborative band sound is a big part of how we achieved the track’s unsentimental tone.
Your music has often been described as cinematic and intimate—how does “Canon” represent where you are artistically right now, especially as you lead into the release of your new album this fall?
A lot of the work I’ve made in the past came from a place of survival — like I had to make it to get through something. I’m still working with urgency and purpose, but this album feels different. I’m building songs I want to make, not because I have to, but because I choose to. The process has been more fun. I’m leaning more into pop structure and paying close attention to what I want to hear. I want to feel excited and good when I listen to this music — and I want other people to feel that, too.