Spotlight: Serena Ryder shakes off the blues and scores the biggest hit of her career

For nearly a decade, Serena Ryder has been the kind of singer who racks up Juno awards and Q appearances as consolation for falling short of true stardom. “Stompa,” the first single off her new album, Harmony,has changed all that. Over fuzzed-out guitar and with a classic-soul voice that sounds like Adele finally getting over being dumped, Ryder declares it time for people to get off their butts. The song, which she co-wrote and recorded in a day, went platinum in the U.S. and hit the top 20 there and in Canada. It’s a statement of renewed musical purpose: after climbing her way out of a crippling, four-year bout of depression, Ryder built a studio in the garage of her west-end Toronto home and started writing songs that were big, fun and immediate. “Stompa” is the sound of an artist who’s sick of waiting for something to happen, and is determined to make it happen herself.

MUSIC
Serena Ryder
June 14
David Pecaut Square