Ally Cribb’s experience belies her eighteen years: her voice is heavy a sense of soul won from experience, and her undeniable gift as a storyteller bleeds into her lyricism. Following her debut EP, Unbroken, a project of survival following the unexpected loss of her mother, creativity and escapism has always been her life’s silver lining. Now, the Canadian artist is embarking on a new era. With the release of latest single ‘California’, Cribb shifts her focus from internal emotion and instead chooses to draw on narratives from the world beyond. A natural empath, her song writing leans into the specific and makes it universal, elevating emotions that transcend fiction. It all comes down to her love of music that tells stories, something which she admires in the work of her heroes: Ella Fitzgerald, Taylor Swift and Joni Mitchell. Speaking on the folk-indebted ballad, Cribb says: “I wrote ‘California’ in the middle of the night when I was visiting my grandma’s home. Lying awake, I kept thinking about this young, small town couple and the challenges of growing up.” “In my own mind, California represented this distant promise of these two characters,” she explains. “Ultimately, looking at the same thing through two different lenses separates them, both physically and emotionally.” This story is told through the perspective of the girl left behind, but Cribb intends to one day write a sequel exploring the story through her partner’s eyes: a dual narrative. Since she started writing songs at the age of 12, Ally Cribb would process the turbulence of her life by turning to the piano or the guitar, finding emotional clarity through creative expression. She says: “The creative process has been the one constant in my life. I hope this record can offer some glints of compassion, hope and resilience to anyone who needs them as much as I have.”