Haley Blais - Wisecrack (2023) [Hi-Res]

Wisecrack is the sophomore album from Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Haley Blais. Conceived as a conceptual record about the formation of new families amidst the dissolution of her parents’ relationship, Wisecrack is textured and wryly poetic, oscillating somewhere between cherished childhood memories and the creation of a new self. The existential, everyday worries we all contain but rarely share are laid bare across eleven songs exquisitely performed with profundity, grace, and humour. Tongue-in-cheek lines like I want my therapist to think I’m cool give the melancholic mood a biting edge. Can I be responsible for things that I did years ago? / I guess it could be good for just a laugh, Blais sings — that’s Wisecrack in a nutshell. Funny and raw at the same time.

Blais developed a community and fanbase as a teenager almost a decade ago with her diaristic YouTube videos and tender ukulele covers. Since then, Blais, who sang classical opera for ten years, traded in the solo ukulele for a guitar and a five-piece band. In 2020, Blais released a debut full-length album of jangly pop anthems, Below the Salt, produced with indie staples Tennis and Louise Burns. The debut amassed millions of streams and avid support from publications like NPR, NYLON, and i-D and led to a North American tour with Peach Pit. Now signed to iconic indie label Arts & Crafts, Blais is set to release Wisecrack in the fall of 2023.