Kat Harlton
Lead Photo: Ryan Brough
Toronto Pop and R&B artist NOA recently released her new single Motions. Produced by Jonathan Aperil (Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Jon Bellion, Kelly Clarkson) and mixed by JUNO Nominated Jayson Defour (July Talk, Donovan Woods, Scott Helman), the song aims to connect with anyone going through the breakup process, and was actually written on Valentine’s Day last year. “I was back in LA, and it was a cloudy, rainy, grey day and I had just finished going through a breakup. I got into the studio and the song just kind of wrote itself. It’s about the ups and downs of a relationship, all the good and bad and just reminiscing, and kind of missing the good. Reminding yourself that it’s easy to forget all the bad things when it’s in the past. Picture yourself at 1:30AM, sitting on your kitchen counter, eating a bowl of cereal because you can’t sleep and are thinking about an ex.”
NOA’s music blends vibrant, catchy melodies with resonant emotional themes, from relationships to female empowerment and self-realization. All the while, NOA’s artistic voice maintains a fun, lighthearted velvety tone that helps lift her fans above the noise and negativity of everyday life. “For me, inspiration can kind of spark anytime, and the process is always different, it depends who I’m working with, the mood I’m in. It always stems from the way I’m feeling and what’s going on in my life, I always write from personal experiences and I just like to share deep, meaningful stories and I just hope people can connect to that.”
In 2019, NOA released her two debut singles, Hypocritical and Caught Up which landed her on numerous editorial playlists including New Music Friday NL, Fresh Finds, Chill Hits (over 5 million followers), and Weekend Hangouts (1 million followers) to name a few. Her latest single Caught Up hit the iTunes Top 200 Pop Charts in the Netherlands landing at number 98 and was featured on Spotify’s editorial playlist Denmark’s viral 50. In the short span of only half a year NOA has garnered over 850,000 streams on Spotify and is averaging more than 100,000 monthly listeners; building an incredible loyal following in the United States, Canada, and Europe, something she doesn’t take for granted. “Growing up there was always music playing in the house, from Carly Simon to Britney Spears, to Celine Dion, to Elton John, always the greats playing. I think we’re in a really cool time now where you have people like Billie Eilish who are breaking the boundaries of pop music and are combining pop elements with deep, meaningful lyrics, which is why I’m so exited to be releasing Motions. I feel it’s the perfect time to keep at that, and release a song that’s in that vein. I’ve always loved creating a juxtaposition in my music, maybe happy melodies with sadder lyrics, a crying while dancing moment. Daniel Caesar is also such a great example, and an influence of mine, bringing that soul and R&B to pop, he’s just an amazing Toronto artist and I’d love to follow in his footsteps.”
NOA who was on Season 2 of CTV’s The Launch had the opportunity to work with Ryan Tedder (One Republic) and Scott Borchetta (Big Machine Records), an experience that confirmed for her, that she was meant for this. “Being on The Launch was super cool, I never thought I’d get to do anything like it, to be super honest. It was really awesome to have the chance to work with Ryan Tedder and Scott Borchetta, and hearing their thoughts on my audition and Ryan calling me a ‘rainbow wrapped in a bag of Skittles’ which was cool. I think overall the biggest takeaway from the show for me, was a confirmation that I’m on the right track. The whole day of interviews, to hair and makeup, to filming a commercial, to rehearsal felt like the day was packed, and I just loved every moment of it. This is what I want to be doing, I want to do this every single day for the rest of my life.”