RISING ALT POP FORCE LIA PAPPAS-KEMPS’ DEBUT EP GLEAM PRODUCED BY GRAMMY-NOMINATED NATHAN FERRARO OUT NOW

“CATCH RELEASE” VIDEO DEBUTS

TO PERFORM EP RELEASE SHOW AT TORONTO’S DANCE CAVE TONIGHT

November 22, 2024—Gleam, the debut EP from rising Toronto singer-songwriter Lia Pappas-Kemps produced by Nathan Ferraro (Beyoncé, Charli xcx, Carly Rae Jepsen), who is nominated for three Grammys for Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” is out today via AWAL—get it HERE. Additionally, the video for “Catch Release” debuts today—watch HERE.

“Gleam has been a project that I’ve been making sort of inadvertently for a few years now,” Pappas-Kemps says. “It’s a culmination of songs that I wrote between the ages of 17 to 19, and it feels so special to me to have that sparkling and tender time commemorated in longer form piece of work. I made it with Nate Ferraro, and we spent a few weeks in studio just fleshing out the arrangement I had made with my band all at once. So whatever happened in those weeks is what you hear now!”

“Lia Pappas-Kemps is one of the best songwriters I’ve met in 10 years,” Ferraro says. “Making music with Lia feels more nostalgic than most of the records that I work on. We don’t use much technological help, most of the vocals are one take all the way through, with minimal editing. She wants everything to feel like it’s in the moment, and because of that, you might say it’s fearless. It’s refreshing and fun. I have a lot of respect for the process.”

To celebrate the EP release, Pappas-Kemps will perform a special headline show tonight at The Dance Cave in Toronto—get tickets HERE.

Gleam features previously shared singles “III-Intentions,” “Just The Thought” and “Switchblade,” Pappas-Kemps’ first new music of 2024, which Complete Music Update praised for her “delicate vocals, tinged with a malaise” that “capture the longing and malleability of teenage love while retaining an upbeat catchy energy.”

Lia Pappas-Kemps is a vocalist and songwriter based in Toronto whose love of music grew alongside a wider set of creative interests, including acting and writing. Most widely known for her role as Jane in the popular Canadian drama series “Anne with an E” from 2017, Pappas-Kemps always knew her true calling was music. The beginnings of her musical education involved honing her resonant vocal style and developing a knowledge of theory through playing piano until she eventually gravitated toward the guitar, an instrument she had far less understanding of, to further explore her capacity as a musician.

Inspired by the raw lyricism and reflective storytelling of alternative mainstays like Alanis Morissette, The Strokes and Big Thief, Pappas-Kemps started sharing her songs and covers of other artists she admired—from Alvvays to Wings to Daft Punk—on social media in her late teens. In 2021 and 2022 the 20-year-old musician made her debut with a series of singles, including the grunge-inflected “Jinx,” which has accumulated millions of streams, and ballads “Sad in Toronto” and “Object at Best.” These songs broadened her fanbase worldwide, connected her with other musicians and helped bring her to the attention of Coalition Music and AWAL.

For more information, please visit her official website or follow her on social media.

For more information on Lia Pappas-Kemps, please contact Carla Sacks or Ethan Jacobs at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

LIA PAPPAS-KEMPS—GLEAM
1. Star
2. Switchblade
3. All Mirrors
4. Catch Release
5. III-Intentions
6. Just the Thought
7. A Thousand Times Over

LIA PAPPAS-KEMPS LIVE
November 22 /// Toronto, ON /// The Dance Cave

LIA PAPPAS-KEMPS SOCIALS
INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | YOUTUBE

LIA PAPPAS-KEMPS STREAMING
SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC / AMAZON