Enigmatic and ethereal, fall for Forever.

The first thing you need to know about Forever is that she’s not a person, she’s an idea. The Montreal singer goes by her one word moniker and nothing else, everybody loves a touch of mystery right? You’ll be hard pushed to find anything more revealing online, other than a handful of musical and artistic collaborations, Forever keeps herself to herself, unleashing sparse electro-tracks onto the world every now and then.

After being signed to London label Olympia, her self-titled first EP has arrived. Think FKA twigs without the jolting. Forever is just as sweet in the unreachable, whispered falsettos and all the edge of twigs is there too, but there’s something smoother in her music for the more introverted listener. An element of swaying groove is a seductive outburst that acts as an antidote to the hushed control of Forever’s vocals. Subtly but confidently all about sex and female assertion, we’re going to have Forever carrying us through our morning commute, drifting through the last hours of sunlight in the afternoon and soundtracking the nights. An audible dreamscape if we ever heard one. We pinned down the enigma to try and prize some secrets out of her.

Hey Forever! Tell us about living in Montreal, how has the place influenced what you do? What’s it like being a musician there? 

The first time I had my heart broken I ran away to Montreal. I’ll always fantasize about this city – it’s a sensual place full of love and lust, which completely turns me on to create. There’s an undercurrent here with an ability to sustain a constant stream of artists. It’s a very desirable place, and home to all my favourite living artists. Montreal gives me everything I need. 

“Forever’s not a person but an idea” what are you trying to project with your project?  

Forever is a way for me to embody a reiteration of themes. I started developing the persona and the EP pretty simultaneously and it felt like a revelation of a deep desire to be assertive as a woman. This is an artistic and personal pursuit to transcend the fear, shame, and guilt ingrained in my body, mind and soul. Heavy! Triggering! More importantly, liberating.

How do you put those ideas through your performance?  

A performance holds space for me to explore my voice, my sex, and my wantonness. I love to dance in the spotlight, I feel so enchanted and spellbound. All the elements of a performance unconditionally enhance my potential to be expressive and vulnerable. My body is very small, but when I perform I can conjure a spirit that extends beyond space and time. This is why I live – to perform.

When did “Forever” begin?

I love this memory! A few years ago I had given up on music, and feeling totally aimless. I would spend everyday in the library, which in retrospect is awesome. One day I get this call from my friend Michael who had just gotten back into town.  He asks me to open for him at a show, and I almost lost my breath because the idea of singing again just embraced me. I’m surrounded by books, trying to whisper and my heart is just expanding as I say “Yes”. I came up with the name on the spot.

Your Instagram is a gorgeous selection of dreamy 35mm portraits of you, how important is it to you that your aesthetic reflects your music?

Important to me are honesty, integrity, imagination, and courage. My aesthetic is an extension of those values.

Tell us about your EP that’s about to drop… how long did it take to create from writing to mastering? 

Hmm..two-ish years of feeling around in the dark. Everything about the EP is an act of surrendering. When I started writing these songs I was altogether in a different life. Death and rebirth, love and loss- regaining my identity was vividly transformative and how I finished the record. I will spare no details because the story I tell is in those songs, and I’d like it to remain open to interpretation.

I know the last day of summer is technically in September, but the end of August kind of rounds out the season, and I got the final master tracks on the last day of august. I was on a bus to Toronto, listening to the music, and it was very symbolic to be in motion while letting go. 

How do you go about writing, what inspires you to write?

I write everyday and right now I’m inspired by my friend Thom. When I’m working on a song I like to start with a few textures that I can sing over, and I love to get into a trance. Getting lost in the flow of making something new is very inspiring.

We’ve seen you collaborate on music and artwork on your Facebook page, can you tell us more? What makes you want to work with other people?

The intimacy! Collabs are defining because working with someone else provokes me to be present. Shout out Café Lanai, Mind Bath, Jessica Simps, Girl’s Club, Project Pablo, Vesuvio Solo.

Lastly, what’s the plan? Do you have any long term dream goals you’re hoping to achieve?

I have many dreams, and no plans.

Forever’s debut EP is out now on Olympia Records.