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Art is True North

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elijah woods

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elijah woods

On "what if it was great?", the self-starting singer and producer breaks new creative ground

WORDS BY CALEB FREEMAN | INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK 

ISSUE 12 | TORONTO | HOMEGROWN



In 2022, elijah woods made the decision to pack up and leave Ottawa, the city where he launched his career. The singer and multi-instrumentalist bid farewell to the large basement studio where he had written, produced, recorded, and mixed his 2021 EP look what I did, downsizing to a smaller studio in Toronto. This new space served as the home base for what if it was great?, woods’ second EP, out now.


In 2018, woods skyrocketed into the spotlight after winning the Canadian music reality show The Launch as one-half of the electropop duo Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine. The group’s blend of pop, R&B, and electronic elements caught the attention of record executive Scott Borchetta, who signed them to his label Big Machine and executive produced their debut EP 8:47. Their song “Ain’t Easy,” co-written by Camilla Cabello and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, was certified platinum later that year. 



Since going solo in 2020, woods has balanced meeting fan expectations with establishing a musical identity separate from his collaborative work with Fine. He has slowly inched away from the pulsing R&B-inspired beats and soaring choruses of his earlier production, opting instead for simpler and more atmospheric instrumentation. what if it was great? is moodier than wood’s earlier work, a lyrics-forward collection of confessional songs focused largely on big loves and ill-fated relationships. The production is more restrained than his first EP, and the vocals lack the grittiness that characterized his collaboration with Fine, though the anthemic climaxes are still there. Songs like “make believe” with its surprising use of breakbeat and vocal modulation, and “easier said” also flirt with experimentation, making this EP stand out from prior releases. 


woods has described the creative process for this EP as “a journey inward.” With his relocation to a smaller studio in a new city and his experimentation with new sounds on the EP, the characterization makes sense. But that doesn’t mean the EP is an exercise in unrestrained creativity. As woods has stepped away from the mainstream spotlight he once shared with Fine, he has found a devoted following online, with millions of viewers regularly tuning into his videos on TikTok. what if it was great? is a streaming-friendly release crafted with these listeners in mind, a step away from woods’ previous output, while still maintaining the pop sensibilities of his career so far. 



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