Haleluya Hailu is a singer-songwriter (also student, radio host, activist and filmmaker) based in Vancouver. Her latest release is the single, ‘Buttercup’, which serves as the perfect introduction to her musical endeavours.
What Hailu describes as a “sad song about something I’d rather move on from but want to capitalize from,” ‘Buttercup’ tells of a relationship gone wrong, but not from the conventional bleeding-heart perspective. Instead Haleluya Hailu takes both responsibility for what went wrong and control of the situation with a sense of headstrong self-belief, turning what could be gloomy and brooding into an empowering feminist breakup song.
The track is rooted in the DIY bedroom pop aesthetic, built on the bare bones of strummed acoustic guitar. But it also draws on pop of the more polished sort, with layered vocals and an easy rhythm that belies the song’s emotional core. But the real standout are Hailu’s vocals, which smolder with soulful power and, combined with her other interests, beliefs and talents mark her as one to watch in the coming years.
