It’s hard to believe Lia Pappas-Kemps is only 21 years old. Between her introspective and poetic songwriting and her penchant for melodic experimentation, she could be an industry veteran.

Born and raised in Toronto, Pappas-Kemps launched her career in 2021 and 2022 with the singles, “Jinx,” “Sad in Toronto” and “Object at Best”. Her debut EP Gleam graced audiences in late 2024. CBC’s Q with Tom Power praised the record, writing it “perfectly captures teen angst.”

Earlier this month, she dominated on stage as part of Exclaim! Magazine’s Class of 2026 showcase. With her new single “Towers” releasing on Jan. 22 and a debut album, Winged, out Mar. 13, Now Toronto sat down with Pappas-Kemps to learn more about her songwriting process, musical style and her deep love for Toronto.

Now Toronto: Your upcoming album Winged is incredible. It’s always so cool to see young musicians experimenting and trying new things.

LP: Thank you! 

Now Toronto: So to start, how would you describe your sound?

LP: Oh, good question. I feel like this album specifically is such an amalgamation of my cousin and I and what we love to listen to. This is such a classic answer, but we’re in the throes of being obsessed with the most recent Big Thief album. 

We were really trying to capture the sound of a room in the way that they did on their album. I don’t know if we fully accomplished it in the same way, but I think it was important to us to play live with the band as much as possible. We also really loved little “ear candy” stuff. There’s some bleeps and bloops [on the record]. And I write a lot of songs on acoustic guitar, so guitar-based songs.

Now Toronto: Before we get into talking about your new single and upcoming album, you just played Exclaim!’s Class of 2026 concert series. How did you react when they reached out to you and what was the experience like? 

LP: It was so awesome and really exciting. I love Exclaim! I just love Toronto and it was really exciting to be a part of it. I’ve been to those shows for years and it feels nice to know that I’m part of a community and a scene that I adore. So, that was lovely, and the show is so fun. 

I just love playing with the band. Any excuse to do that, I’m like, “let’s go!”

Now Toronto: As a Toronto musician who still lives in the city, how has Toronto itself influenced the sound on your new record? 

LP: Overall, I’m just so inspired by the music coming out of Toronto, and I think the community is so ripe and vibrant and people care about going to shows. I can go to a show and see a bunch of my friends and listen to music that I truly adore, which in and of itself, is like magic. I feel so lucky.

Now Toronto: Your new single, “Towers,” came out Friday morning. Congratulations! 

LP: Thank you!

Now Toronto: Tell us about the process of imagining and writing the song, and why you went with it as your lead single for the album?

LP: It was going to be a single from the beginning just because it’s the most straightforward song on the album — not that singles need to be straightforward, but it felt like a clear choice. It’s the only song on the album that I wrote with my cousin. Everything else was a private introspective. I think that comes out in the song. Even though it is serious, it’s a bit more elusive and less like, “I’m writing a song about my life.” 

It’s a breakup song. It’s about realizing that you’ve been compromising yourself to be with someone.

Now Toronto: How did you record this album? Was a lot of it recorded live as a band or with each instrument tracked on its own?

LP: We did a few songs live. The last song on the album, we recorded entirely live with live vocals. We also recorded three others live, but I re-track vocals just because I feel very particular about my voice and I wanted to be super intentional about that. For a couple songs, we pretty much kept the demo that we recorded in our apartment in Montreal. I’m glad we went that route. It’s also just more fun to play music together when you’re recording. 

Now Toronto: In your music, you experiment quite heavily with different chord progressions, like minor chords, and you do cool tricks with your voice, like flipping your vocals upwards at the end of each line. Where do you find inspiration for your style of music and how you choose to express yourself?

LP: I love writing songs. I know that sounds funny, but I love the act of doing that so much, and it’s really exciting to me. I’m looking to surprise myself when I write and I like writing songs that are a bit confusing to me. I’m not entirely well versed in music theory, so if people are hearing intricacies in my music, I wouldn’t be able to necessarily explain that. I just enjoy playing things that are exciting to my ear–

Now Toronto: It’s like you write based on vibes almost?

LP: Totally. I want to feel like I’m uncovering a song as I’m writing it, like I’m confusing myself, I guess. 

Now Toronto: In a similar vein, the way you write your songs and lyrics is quite unstructured and poetic. What made you want to write in this style?

LP: I don’t even know if I have an answer, it’s just how I am drawn to it. The form stuff is really fun to play with and I wish pop music did it more. Formula obviously works, but I think people are more open to weirder form.

Now Toronto: You write about love and relationships in a manner that makes you seem like an old soul. What feelings do you tap into when you write about these topics?

LP: I think songwriting can be really elusive in terms of where people pull from. My songs up until a while ago tended to be just about my friendships and relationships to my family, they weren’t necessarily romantic. I don’t know if it ever really feels like “this is an experience I had, and I’m writing it down.” It’s more of an amalgamation of everything that has happened to me and is happening to me. 

Now Toronto: Last question! This is just for fun. Of all the indie singer-songwriter girlies, who do you relate to the most?

LP: I’ve been listening to Madison Cunningham a lot. She has a new album and I love it so much. She has such a way with melodies and words that I’m so drawn to. 

Now Toronto: Thank you so much Lia! 

LP: That was so lovely. Thank you.