Victoria Canal

Victoria Canal crafts intimate, earnest pop songs, pairing her appealing melodies with vocals that blend sweetness and soulfulness. Formal training in music paved the way for her gradual ascent in recognition via a string of initial EPs, among them the self-released Into the Pull from 2016, which marked her teenage debut, and Elegy in 2022, her first release on a major label. After a positive response to the WELL WELL EP in 2023, she unveiled her first full-length album, Chamomile, the following year.

Though born in Munich, Germany, Canal passed portions of her youth across Shanghai, Tokyo, Dubai, Barcelona, Madrid, and Amsterdam. Her roots remain American and Cuban, yet she identifies as Spanish-American after devoting most of her early years to Spain. Amniotic band syndrome left her without a right forearm at birth, yet this did not hinder her pursuit of classical piano and voice lessons beginning at age six. Drawing inspiration from artists such as John Mayer, she took up songwriting at 11, entered local and school music contests, and arranged her own performances by her early teens. A demo recorded in Dubai at age 13 earned her a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music’s summer program. At 14, following her family’s relocation to Barcelona, she joined a jazz conservatory there and returned to Boston for another Berklee summer session. By 16, she and her mother had moved to Atlanta to work with her vocal coach, Georgia Guerra, enabling her to schedule initial U.S. gigs and lay down her debut EP, Into the Pull, issued in early 2016.

While residing in New York, Canal received an invitation in 2018 to write and record with Michael Franti in Nashville. That session led to an invitation to join Franti’s 2019 world tour. During the interim she issued singles slated for her 2020 EP Victoria on Lucky Clara Entertainment, among them the track “Drama,” which featured in a prominent sneaker campaign aimed at athletes with disabilities. After opening for Emily King, Leslie Odom, Jr., Tall Heights, and additional acts, her third EP, the more personal Elegy, arrived as her Parlophone debut in September 2022.

Remaining on Parlophone, the August 2023 release WELL WELL EP included joint efforts with Madison Cunningham and S. Carey. That same year Canal received the Ivor Novello Rising Star Award and supported Hozier on U.K. and European dates. Early in 2024 she issued the single “Chamomile” ahead of a headlining U.S. tour; the song served as the title track for her full-length debut, which appeared that August.