Singer-songwriter Victoria Canal has debuted two new singles, “Shape” and “She Walks In” via Elektra. Her first new music since the release of 2022’s Elegy EP, “Shape” premiered last night on Future Sounds with Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1. “Shape” and “She Walks In” mark the first time Canal has written about her body and body dysmorphia, and arrive ahead of her forthcoming new EP, set for release later this summer.
Of the two songs, Victoria shares: “I wrote ‘Shape’ and ‘She Walks In’ as sister songs. They’re both about experiencing body dysmorphia and comparison: ‘Shape’ is the lighter, playful side of wanting to accept my body, while ‘She Walks In’ is the dark underbelly that reveals the disabled experience. It’s the first time I’m writing about my body, so it feels vulnerable but important to me.”
Listen to “Shape” and “She Walks In”
Last month Canal won the Rising Star award at the prestigious Ivor Novellos, which celebrates the craft of songwriters, composers and creators. Past Rising Star winners and nominees include Mysie, Griff, Willow Kayne, Rachel Chinouriri, Naomi Kimpenu and Holly Humberstone, with Victoria Canal following in their steps as a breakout artist primed for greatness.
The judges complimented Canal’s “powerful songwriting and compelling sound”, while Victoria dedicated her award to past teachers and mentors. She further added, pertaining to her limb difference, “I really could have used seeing someone like me on stage growing up and I never did so it’s truly an honor to think that someone else who feels different out there knows that it’s possible.”
Following her own headline UK/EU tour last year, this summer Victoria will support Hozier on his forthcoming UK and Europe shows this June and July, including a huge outdoor gig at London’s Alexandra Palace Park.
Last year Canal released her EP Elegy, which delicately dealt with themes of grief and death, and featured the single “swan song,” which Chris Martin of Coldplay hailed as ‘one of the best songs ever written’. She performed “swan song” on the recent series of Later… with Jools Holland, appearing alongside the likes of Self Esteem and The 1975.
About Victoria Canal:
24 year-old singer, songwriter, producer and activist Victoria Canal makes soul-stirring, emotive pop music. Born in Munich, Spanish-American Canal says her international upbringing fostered her love for a nomadic life in music. A proud “third culture kid,” she lived everywhere from Shanghai, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, and Dubai to Atlanta, New York, and Forth Worth, and is proud of her identity as a queer, disabled, mixed-heritage woman, which fuels much of her activism.
Canal last year made her television acting debut in acclaimed Apple TV+ anthology series Little America, starring in the season’s moving episode The Indoor Arm as a Spanish-speaking Salvadorian refugee in the 80s who comes to America to live with her sister. She also wrote “Bring It On,” the theme song for Apple TV+ series Best Foot Forward, based on the book by Paralympic skier Josh Sundquist.
See Victoria Canal live
supporting Hozier
Sunday 25 June – Queens Park – Glasgow, UK
Sunday 2 July – The Piece Hall – Halifax, UK
Monday 3 July – O2 City Hall – Newcastle, UK
Wednesday 5 July – Castlefield Bowl – Manchester, UK
Thursday 6 July – Cardiff Castle – Cardiff, UK
Saturday 8 July – O2 Academy – Bournemouth, UK
Sunday 9 July – O2 Academy- Birmingham, UK
Tuesday 11 July – Tempodrome – Berlin, DE
Wednesday 12 July – Carlswerk Victoria – Cologne, DE
Friday 14 July – Halle 622 – Zurich, CH
Sunday 16 July – Anfiteatro del Vittoriale – Gardone Riviera, IT
Tuesday 18 July – Olympia – Paris, FR
Wednesday 19 July – AFAS – Amsterdam, NL
Friday 21 July – Alexandra Palace Park (Outdoor) – London, UK
Sunday 23 July – Englefield House – Berkshire, UK
VICTORIA CANAL
“Shape” and “She Walks In”
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