You may remember Alessia Cara for her curly lob, her flannel, her rich, angsty voice and hit songs “Scars to Your Beautiful” and “Here.” Now, 10 years into her career, she’s coming out with her fourth album “Love & Hyperbole” on February 14.

Thanks to °1824, Universal Music Group’s culture marketing and creative strategy team, KCOU had the opportunity to join an online press conference to listen and ask questions to Alessia Cara. So yeah, I got to talk to her, AND she said she liked my hair. That shook me to my core obviously, since her naturally curly hair is iconic. I’m probably gonna do that hair care routine for the rest of my natural born life now that I have her approval.   

Her new album is supposed to take on a more soulful rock sound, deviating from songwriter pop that we associate her with. She actually has John Mayer on “(Isn’t it) Obvious”, which definitely sets the tone for the groovy, laid back sound “Love & Hyperbole” will have. 

Based on her answers from the press conference, she made this album largely for her own personal goals and dreams, wanting to divulge from the angst of her music in the past. Also, almost all of the album was recorded live, which is super cool. This more mature side of her shines through with the Albums singles, “(Isn’t it) Obvious,” “Slow Motion” and “Dead Man,” so I’m looking forward to see how the rest of the album will sound.

I got to ask Cara about the remixes of her songs and which ones were her favorite, since she has multiple remixed versions of her previous albums and tracks in her discography. Also, I feel like I hear “Scars to Your Beautiful” and “Here” reverberate in the online world every so often, taking on a different sound each time, which keeps her and her hits relevant. 

Here’s what she said in response: 

“It’s always really cool to hear my music like that, it brings a whole new life. It’s so interesting, you don’t realize how much the production of a song, the bed underneath a song, changes the feeling of it so much and just changes it altogether. I’ve always loved listening to the “Here” remixes… I always enjoy it and love it. I invite it too —that’s why I release a capellas of songs and the stems of songs, because I encourage people to do different things with the songs. It just provides a whole different meaning and gives it new life every time.” 

So yeah! Keep the remixes coming everyone. Look out for “Love & Hyperbole” on February 14, 2025, and thanks to °1824 for this wonderful opportunity to meet this Canadian diva that we all know and love.