New EP “Even If It Kills Me” from Charlie PS, a rock musician based in Vancouver and winner of multiple awards, came out on October 27. The artist delved deep into her brain to create the five-song EP, giving each song significant meaning. As she put it, “each song is a bit of a snippet from certain periods of my life over the past three years, recognizing things I need to work on” (as in “Raw” and “Down To The Devil”) and “celebrating moments of personal growth” (as in “Revival” and “Even If It Kills Me”).
The EP comes to a triumphant climax with the fifth and final track, “Slow Burn,” in which the Vancouver-based, England-born rock artist doesn’t pull any punches about the state of the modern music industry. The pleasure we feel when that bassline drops is the result of the intrinsic inventiveness in music. It’s not a recipe, and it’s not linear, and it doesn’t rely on measurements to make sense; rather, it’s an exploration of humanity that gets you up and out of your seat. This is the central idea behind “Slow Burn,” which is essentially Charlie PS letting out a cathartic roar as she vents her anger in the form of a rock anthem.
She explained: “‘Slow Burn is my reply back towards a constantly evolving industry with expectations that are unrealistically high, particularly for independent artists. It’s a paradox of our day that we may self-promote and self-produce our music, thereby avoiding the necessity for record labels, but we can also easily be lost in the sea of people doing the same thing.
One of the sparks that led to the creation of “Slow Burn” was the realization that people care less about the quality of my music and more about how often I upload videos on TikTok. Three of the EP’s songs were released as singles by Charlie in 2023. The first was “Revival,” a track dripping with crunchy, blues-rock guitar riffs and fiercely melodic gang vocals. The second was “Even If It Kills Me,” the EP’s title track, which featured a dynamic chorus layered with an ensemble of vocals and live horns, and was influenced by modern rock. Final single “Down to the Devil,” released in September, with the EP proper arriving on October 27.
Charlie PS emerged onto the scene in 2018 with her debut EP, “Little Miss Dysfunctional,” which includes a track that went on to be nominated and win Best Pop Song, be nominated for Best Music Video, and earned the artist herself a nomination for Artist of the Year at the 2019 Kootenay Music Awards. The same year (2019), she also made it into the top 100 of CBC’s Searchlight competition and performed at the regional Surrey Fusion Festival.
Charlie PS released her debut single, “Ghost of You,” in 2021; it features an alternative and southern rock fusion that serves as a musical backdrop for a story told in a western style. The Spotify editorial playlist “Morning Blues,” BBC Radio, and CBC’s “Rock Canada” Playlist all included the song.
Listen to “Even If It Kills Me” on Spotify:
