This EP grew out of 'Untitled Song About Driving' which I wrote after finding myself mesmerized by a program on TV that was simply showing dash cam footage of someone driving through the Canadian province of Quebec. It made me think of all the long drives I have taken on Canadian highways, and the hypnosis that occurs after several hundred kilometres of trees and rocks broken by the occasional white cross on the side of the road, or declaration of love spray painted on an overpass.
To capture those meditative qualities the song structure is very repetitive, which is quite a departure for me and my progressive rock background. I wrote the song live in front of my audience on Twitch, and it soon became a crowd favourite. Since it was such an anomaly for me, I decided that in order to release it, I would write two songs to bookend it on an EP. First came 'Red Twist' which is about that feeling of spotting the twisted red neon 'Vacancy' sign on a roadside motel, and pulling over to crash after a long day of driving. Then I went back to write 'Packing the Car'. There's a very specific early morning feeling, before the rest of the world wakes up, that I wanted to capture here. The fuzziness in your brain before you've had your coffee, the haze and mist in the sky before the sun fully rises. Also, no matter how well prepared you are, there's always that little voice of doubt wondering if you did all the things you were supposed to do, and packed all the things you were supposed to bring. And maybe the weather won't cooperate.
No final destination is reached in this EP. The point of the road trip is that you got in the car and went. Where you end up is up to the listener. All three songs were written and recorded live on Twitch.
This year I participated in the RPM Challenge by recording songs for 3 EPs that I plan to release later on in the year. I put one song from each EP on this little teaser to submit to the challenge.
A collection of songs about personal growth, self-acceptance, and the obstacles that get in the way of an individual's quest for immortality.
Each of the songs on Bloom & Grow focuses in some way on the very human drive to do better, accomplish great things, and leave something of ourselves behind. As this is no easy endeavour, themes of depression, regret, uncertainty, and self-doubt are found throughout.
It is a very mercurial album which tells the stories of a number of solitary individuals, mostly outsiders, from times present, past, and future. They deal with issues as mundane as housework, as personal as mental health, as sublime as appreciating art, and as final as facing death. There is an emphasis on the importance of mastering one's craft as well as the importance of accepting oneself.
A short collection of humorous numbers about dinner parties, swimming, dating, getting grumpier and patronizing the arts. Most of the songs involve situations in which things don't go exactly as planned.
All five songs were written between December 2019 and July 2020 using songwriting prompts.
New Shoes, Kyla Tilley's first full-length album, released in the summer of 2019, is a collection of songs written over the course of a decade, telling the stories of women from different walks of life, interspersed with numbers about relatable day-to-day situations.
While many songs on the album are accompanied by a back-up band, a number are presented in the stripped down guitar and voice fashion that live audiences have come to expect. CD includes Kyla's original version of the song Little, which was recorded by Canadian Idol finalist Jenny Gear.
Composed as cat-walk music for a Swervy Garland summer fashion show. Largely instrumental flute and guitar with bottle, bell, concrete floor and shisha pipe percussion. Kyla does not sing on this album, the model Kaitlin Ludlow performs the only vocal piece.
Kyla's first EP. Recorded in 5 days, simple guitar and vocals. Very like a live Kyla Tilley show.