Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', July 15, 2021. While she had generally written the songs on her prior EPs '' Big Boy'' and ''Main Girl'' on her own, when she began writing for ''Phoenix'' she felt limited by writers' block and a lack of certainty about what she wanted to say or how she wanted the album to sound, and began cowriting with Cult Nation head Jason Brando. The album had actually been completed and planned for release in 2020, but was delayed until 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...
, on the grounds that "nobody really had the headspace or even the media space to talk about music", such that the album would likely have been lost and overlooked had it been released in 2020. However, the singles "Passive Aggressive" and "Daddy" were both released in 2020, and "Meaningless" followed in 2021, in advance of the full album's release.
The track "XOXO", an apparent duet between Cardin and a male vocalist, was in fact sung entirely by Cardin; due to a production error, her first take of the song was recorded at too high a pitch, but she and the producers decided to experiment with adjusting the tape in advance of recording a second take, and found that they really liked the soulful effect that the downpitched version imparted to the song. Cardin also later recorded a French-language version of "XOXO" for the
Spotify Singles
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active users ...
series, using the same vocal downpitch technique to replicate the duet. When performing the song in concert, Cardin performs only the female vocals live, with the male vocals prerecorded and "sung" by an animated
dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
on a screen behind her.
With full concert touring still impacted by the pandemic, the album was promoted with a livestreamed concert performance, titled ''The Phoenix Experience'', on April 29.
In November 2021 Cardin released a "deluxe edition" of the album, featuring several additional bonus tracks not on the original release.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...
, and remained there for two weeks.
Critical reception
Heather Taylor-Singh of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' praised the album, writing that "''Phoenix'' feels like an album for the modern young woman. At 26, Cardin effortlessly captures the complicated nature of trying to understand who she is and what she wants...Cardin is good at the buildup, quietly singing about her insecurities and how past lovers have done her wrong, as the instrumentals slowly simmer. But when the beat drops, you can't help but nod your head and dance to oscillating synth beats as the passion in Cardin's voice intensifies, like on "Passive Aggressive." With thoughtfully constructed instrumentals, her voice is powerful."
Awards
The album was longlisted for the
2021 Polaris Music Prize
The 2021 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 27, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the award was presented in a livestreamed virtual event hosted by Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe of CBC Music.
The longlist ...
, and won the
Felix Award
Felix may refer to:
* Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name
Places
* Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen
* Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province AlmerÃa, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, S ...
Le Soleil
Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers:
* ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896
* ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...
'', November 7, 2021. Cardin also won the awards for Anglophone Concert of the Year for ''The Phoenix Experience'', and Most Successful Artist Outside Quebec.
The album won two
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
s at the
Juno Awards of 2022
The Juno Awards of 2022 were held on May 15, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario.
The awards were presented at the Budweiser Stage, an outdoor venue, and was hosted by actor Simu Liu.David Friend"Actor Simu Liu to host first outdoor Juno Awards at Toronto†...
, for
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
Artist of the Year
''Artist of the Year'' is a television competition shown on the Sky Arts channel (formerly known as Artsworld and Sky Arts 1) which aims to find the best portrait and landscape painter every year.
Overview
Through several rounds of regional comp ...
, and the song's video by
Norman Wong
Norman Wong is an American writer and activist. He is best known for his 1995 short story collection ''Cultural Revolution'', which was one of the first book-length works of LGBT literature ever published by an Asian American writer.
Biography
B ...
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...