Indigenous singer-songwriter Celeigh Cardinal traces grief and redemption in new album
Ahead of her Come Toward the Fire festival performance, the JUNO award-winner shares how writing her latest album, Boundless Possibilities, helped her heal from loss and trauma
Celeigh Cardinal performs at the Come Toward the Fire Festival at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on September 14
JUNO AWARD-WINNING Indigenous singer-songwriter Celeigh Cardinal is bringing her passionate presence to Come Toward the Fire Festival on September 14, as she debuts her new album, Boundless Possibilities.
The singer, originally from Northern Alberta, blends ethereal country and pop motifs with fiery lyricism, taking the listener on a soulful journey through loss and finding internal resilience.
“It's kind of hard to pinpoint exactly what’s happening in this album,” Cardinal says in a phone interview with Stir. “Thematically, it’s a journey in grief, independence, strength, and the beginning process of healing. Sonically, the title track itself is a soundscape that makes you think of the boundless possibilities of the universe, and the rest of the album is linked together with my voice and my words, but there’s a lot of different genres that are sort of woven into this album.
“I got a grant from the Canada Council of the Arts, and I was going to release an album in 2020,” she continues. “But then 2020 happened and I faced some devastating personal loss. My son’s father was murdered and I lost a friend by suicide. And then, of course, we had a global pandemic. So this rollercoaster of life is happening, and I really had a hard time just keeping up with and processing what was going on with me.”
Writing Boundless Possibilities gave Cardinal a powerful outlet to alchemize her loss and reaffirm her journey through healing into hope and joy. The album paints a complex portrait of her inner world, from stripped-down folk ballads on grief to poppy anthems of self-empowerment. On her soulful piano ballad “Wandering River”, she sings of surrendering attachment and embracing change.
Cardinal’s musical career is a powerful testament to her strength and resourcefulness, with her debut album, Everything and Nothing at All (2017), earning Indigenous Artist of the Year at the 2018 Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA), and a CBC Indigenous Music Award for Best Pop Album. Her second album, Stories from a Downtown Apartment (2019), won a JUNO Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year in 2020, and two WCMA Awards for Songwriter of the Year and Indigenous Artist of the Year. She says that it is her self-belief and persistence that has carried her through her musical journey.
“When I first started out playing music when I was 19, I was in a band and I was trying to make it. And then when I was 22, I got pregnant with my son,” Cardinal shares. “After that, we began this life of…not necessarily living in survival mode, but I was a single mother. I was working fulltime, I was raising my son.
“I was making time to play music whenever I possibly could, because it was this thing that I've always felt called to do, and I knew that I had to continue doing it,” she continues. “Even when I was 19, I believed that one day I was going to win a Juno, because even though I suffered from low self-esteem, this gift of music is something that has always given me confidence and purpose.”
Cardinal says that’s helped her get to a place where she can comfortably live off of playing music—which is all she says she’s ever wanted to do. “I don't need a lot of things, but I would love a pool one day,” she laughs. “It's been worth it to do the grind, because I now understand the business of booking and managing myself, and all of the things that I need to do to be successful.”
Moving forward, Cardinal wants to continue to share her experiences in a way that can affirm others. “I’ve learned to better articulate my experiences as an Indigenous single mother who’s trying to make it in the music industry, especially as an artist who isn’t typically marketable,” she says. “I'm in my forties, so my age isn't the most marketable, my body type is not the most marketable. There's things that I had shame about growing up that I am now able to face. I'm excited to take these things that have been holding me back over the years and write music about it so that I can share that experience. I’m excited to get out of only writing about my boyfriends, you know?”
Indigenous festivals and events such as Come Toward the Fire have created an important space for her to connect with her community and bolster her career, the artist adds.
“I'm really excited about playing Come Toward the Fire because of the other artists that are going to be there,” says Cardinal, who'll be performing at the festival with a five-piece band. “I didn’t grow up with a community—my father was raised in foster care, so my community is the Indigenous musical community of Canada. So when I come to events like these with people that I know from across Canada, that community aspect is the best part of Indigenous festivals and showcases.” 
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