Biography
Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat generated early excitement across independent music circles upon issuing her debut full-length, 2007’s Oh, My Darling. The record showcased a full-bodied, emotionally resonant voice ideally matched to folk-rooted material that examined love and existence through interwoven tones of melancholy and awe, while her melodic lines gained depth from a supporting ensemble blending strings and keyboards with conventional drums and guitar. Short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, the album also initiated an extensive run of live dates and paved the way for subsequent releases throughout the following decade. During this period she earned the admiration of fellow artists, among them My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, who helmed her fourth and fifth albums, 2016’s Good Advice and 2020’s Are You in Love? In 2022 she returned with The Garden, a project that recast selections from her first five records for a reduced ensemble augmented by string quartet.
Born Barbara Josephine Bulat in Toronto in 1985, she grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke—later incorporated into the city proper in 1998—under the guidance of a mother who instructed piano and guitar. She eventually relocated to London, Ontario, where she tracked and independently issued the EP Basia Bulat in 2005. The next year, producer Howard Bilerman, widely recognized for his contributions to Arcade Fire, brought Bulat and her band into the studio to cut her first long-player. Rough Trade, the respected British imprint, licensed the resulting Oh, My Darling and introduced it to European listeners in April 2007, prior to any domestic or American agreement.
Critics in the United Kingdom responded warmly, and Bulat’s initial performances across England and the Continent drew comparable praise from reviewers and audiences. Mid-2007 saw her sign with the Canadian independent Hardwood Records, which issued the album domestically later that year. The project performed solidly at home, earning another Polaris Music Prize nomination—ultimately awarded to Caribou—and prompting Bulat to sustain an active touring schedule. She remained on the road for several years, logging numerous international engagements while assembling songs for her follow-up, Heart of My Own, which surfaced in early 2010.
Recognition within Canada deepened as she received invitations to two emblematic national occasions: an appearance on Hockey Night in Canada in December 2011 and a performance of the national anthem at an Ottawa Senators baseball game in mid-2012. October 2013 brought her third album, Tall Tall Shadow, the first issued on Secret City Records; it reached number 25 on the Canadian Billboard album chart. After composing a set of songs shaped by the conclusion of a relationship, she traveled to Kentucky to record Good Advice with Jim James, whose production graced the February 2016 release that climbed to number 23 on the Canadian chart.
Four years elapsed before her fifth album arrived. Initial sessions with James at Joshua Tree reflected the optimism of a new romance, yet were suspended for nine months when Bulat returned to Montreal following her father’s death to process the emotional turbulence of that interval. The finished Are You in Love? was completed in 2019 and released by Secret City in March 2020.
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the news of her first pregnancy prompted Bulat to reexamine several of her earlier compositions. Drawing additional impetus from artists such as Kitty Wells and Willie Nelson, who revisited the same material across different life stages, she chose sixteen tracks to rerecord with her band’s guitarist and bassist together with string-quartet arrangements supplied by Owen Pallett, Paul Frith, and Zou Zou Robidoux. Co-produced by Bulat and Mark Lawson—known for prior work with Arcade Fire and Beirut—The Garden appeared on Secret City in February 2022.
Born Barbara Josephine Bulat in Toronto in 1985, she grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke—later incorporated into the city proper in 1998—under the guidance of a mother who instructed piano and guitar. She eventually relocated to London, Ontario, where she tracked and independently issued the EP Basia Bulat in 2005. The next year, producer Howard Bilerman, widely recognized for his contributions to Arcade Fire, brought Bulat and her band into the studio to cut her first long-player. Rough Trade, the respected British imprint, licensed the resulting Oh, My Darling and introduced it to European listeners in April 2007, prior to any domestic or American agreement.
Critics in the United Kingdom responded warmly, and Bulat’s initial performances across England and the Continent drew comparable praise from reviewers and audiences. Mid-2007 saw her sign with the Canadian independent Hardwood Records, which issued the album domestically later that year. The project performed solidly at home, earning another Polaris Music Prize nomination—ultimately awarded to Caribou—and prompting Bulat to sustain an active touring schedule. She remained on the road for several years, logging numerous international engagements while assembling songs for her follow-up, Heart of My Own, which surfaced in early 2010.
Recognition within Canada deepened as she received invitations to two emblematic national occasions: an appearance on Hockey Night in Canada in December 2011 and a performance of the national anthem at an Ottawa Senators baseball game in mid-2012. October 2013 brought her third album, Tall Tall Shadow, the first issued on Secret City Records; it reached number 25 on the Canadian Billboard album chart. After composing a set of songs shaped by the conclusion of a relationship, she traveled to Kentucky to record Good Advice with Jim James, whose production graced the February 2016 release that climbed to number 23 on the Canadian chart.
Four years elapsed before her fifth album arrived. Initial sessions with James at Joshua Tree reflected the optimism of a new romance, yet were suspended for nine months when Bulat returned to Montreal following her father’s death to process the emotional turbulence of that interval. The finished Are You in Love? was completed in 2019 and released by Secret City in March 2020.
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the news of her first pregnancy prompted Bulat to reexamine several of her earlier compositions. Drawing additional impetus from artists such as Kitty Wells and Willie Nelson, who revisited the same material across different life stages, she chose sixteen tracks to rerecord with her band’s guitarist and bassist together with string-quartet arrangements supplied by Owen Pallett, Paul Frith, and Zou Zou Robidoux. Co-produced by Bulat and Mark Lawson—known for prior work with Arcade Fire and Beirut—The Garden appeared on Secret City in February 2022.
Albums
Basia's Palace
2025
The Garden
2022
Are You in Love?
2020
Good Advice
2016
Tall Tall Shadow
2013
Heart Of My Own
2010
Oh, My Darling
2007
Singles
