New song is ‘really rooted in that small town run-in kinda feel where all these emotions are being brought back up,’ says Cassie Dasilva

Orillia singer-songwriter Cassie Dasilva has released her first song since 2024.

Dasilva said her new song, Never Saw Me Naked, draws on the sounds and influences that first inspired her to play guitar. She said she sees the release as a return to her musical roots and is proud to share her recent songwriting with listeners.

“It’s definitely full-circle,” she said. “It’s based around the experience of going to the Canada Day fireworks with my friends. Really any experience of being in a small town and bumping into someone from your past, who you’ve been romantic with, and having to pretend like nothing ever happened because they’re talking to you like nothing ever happened.

“It’s really rooted in that small town run-in kinda feel where all these emotions are being brought back up,” she told OrilliaMatters.

Dasilva wrote the song a year ago. She said it was a “very nostalgic” experience for her, seeing familiar places and revisiting places she hadn’t been in years; she said she tried to lean into that in the music.

Dasilva said this is the second of many songs she wrote with the Toronto producer-songwriter duo thankyouthankyou.

“A lot of the stuff we recorded that day is the stuff that ended up on the final recording. You don’t typically do that, you’ll do a demo and then re-record stuff but we couldn’t get that feeling again,” she said.

“It just felt so raw and nostalgic. There are some imperfections in the recording that you just couldn’t duplicate, and we couldn’t get that feeling again. So it came about kinda crazy easily, which I think all the best stuff does,” she explained.

“It just kind of flows through you and you’re a bit of a vessel for it. It was a really great experience, working on this. I just knew this was the first thing that I wanted people to hear of my new stuff,” Dasilva said.

After a two-year gap between releases, Dasilva said working with thankyouthankyou helped her clarify her musical vision.

“It’s definitely time,” she said. “I had kind of lost hope that I was either not communicating, or my vision wasn’t very clear for what I wanted, and then working with them it all just clicked and I was like, OK this is how it’s supposed to be. We ended up writing a ton of songs together and this was the second of those. There was just this great energy in the room.”

Dasilva said that although she once imagined leaving Orillia, she has grown to appreciate her hometown.

“It’s such a funny thing. It’s like the things that I always told myself that I couldn’t wait to escape are the things I’ve grown to love, if that makes sense. I don’t know if that’s maturity or perspective or both,” she admitted. 

“I love the community, I mean it’s such a great place and the lakes are so beautiful. I love running on the trails. There’s such a good arts scene here. Really, if I had to live anywhere other than in a big city — which I am a city girl — but it’s just nice to be close to family and friends when you are home. Especially if you travel a bunch,” she said.

Dasilva said that after living with the song for a year, she is eager for listeners to hear the direction her music has taken. She said this song is a return to a style she explored early in her musical career, but that she never really released.

“I’m just really really excited for everyone to hear this new, kind of old, sound,” she said. “It’s kind of a fun re-introduction, I think. It feels really authentic.”

Dasilva said she is currently working on more songs that will come out in the new year.

“I’m just so excited for a new chapter of music and hopefully it finds the people it needs to find and resonates with people. That’s all I ever wanted, is to feel a little less alone in my feelings by other people being like ‘I’ve had that happen,’ or ‘I feel that too.’ It makes you feel a little less crazy,” she explained.

Dasilva’s music can be found through her website or her Spotify.