Victoria Canal has that air of an artist who knows how to spin magic out of her music. Capable of delivering with a clarity that can stop time, she's in possession of a raw, unvarnished truth that forces you to pause whatever you're doing and really, properly listen - which, as it happens, is exactly what her debut album '
Slowly, It Dawns' demands.
The Spanish-American artist has been steadily building towards this moment since her first EP dropped in 2016, but nothing quite prepares you for the artistic leap she makes here. Opening track '
June Baby' - one of the very best songs of 2024, if you were keeping score - announces itself with twinkling chimes that feel like sunrise breaking through your bedroom window – a marked departure from the contemplative territories of her previous EPs' elegy' and 'WELL WELL'. It's the sound of an artist spreading her wings, letting light flood into previously shadowed corners.
The album's first act maintains this sense of brightness, with Canal exploring new territories that feel both surprising and completely natural. '
California Sober' struts with a newfound confidence, while '
Cake' pulses with a shadow-hugging, textured yet hedonistic energy that grabs Billie Eilish's whispered brilliance and takes it somewhere utterly fascinating and new. The production throughout these moments gives everything a warm, analogue feel that wraps around you like a familiar embrace.
