Allie X

Canadian pop chameleon Allie X locks her sonic sight on the future, crafting alluring, avant-leaning earworms that balance mainstream accessibility and futuristic art. Making her debut in the early 2010s with an edgy electro-pop sound heard on the singles “Catch” and “Prime,” she adopts bold personas and striking imagery, toying with genre boundaries in a fashion similar to Charli XCX and Lady Gaga. The singer, songwriter,and producer issued her first full-length, CollXtion II (the sequel to 2015′s CollXtion I EP), in 2017. She has continued to juggle her own solo career, releasing albums like 2018′s Super Sunset and 2020′s Cape God, with songwriting work for other artists, including frequent collaborations with Australian pop singer Troye Sivan. In 2024, Allie X returned with Girl with No Face, which found her continuing to explore themes of art and identity. Born Alexandra Ashley Hughes, she studied classical piano and voice at the Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated from Sheridan College’s Musical Theater Performance program. She began making music in her hometown of Toronto in the mid-2000s, playing with local bands and writing and recording a handful of self-released albums. In July 2013, she moved to Los Angeles with the intention of becoming a full-time songwriter after signing a publishing deal. However, she continued to work on her own material, by herself and with Billboard and Cirkut. In February 2014, she released her debut single, “Catch” (which cleverly compared heartbreak to illness), to praise from sources as varied as Time Magazine and Katy Perry. A month later, the brassy, brittle “Prime” arrived. Those tracks joined a handful of previously unreleased songs on Allie X’s 2015 debut EP, CollXtion I, which was supplemented by visuals and a comic. Later that year, she tried her hand at penning tracks for other artists, working on Troye Sivan’s debut studio album, Blue Neighbourhood. In addition to touring together in 2016, the pair soon became close friends, assisting each other on their own music and songwriting for artists such as the K-pop group BTS. The following year, Allie X issued the singles “Casanova” and “That’s So Us,” which were featured on her debut full-length, CollXtion II (Twin Music). A Banx & Ranx remix of the album track “Lifted” arrived in early 2018. Later that year, she issued Super Sunset, an eight-track set that included the singles “Girl of the Year” and “Little Things.” A companion album, Super Sunset (Analog), arrived in 2019. Stripping back the provocative pop sheen in 2020, Allie X revealed a darker, more vulnerable side on her sophomore effort, Cape God, which was inspired by a documentary about the opioid epidemic in Cape Cod. In addition to a duet with Sivan (“Love Me Wrong”), the set also featured a collaboration with Mitski (“Susie Save Your Love”). A single version of her 2015 track “GLAM!” arrived in 2021 as part of the vinyl reissue of CollXtion I. Also that year, she paired with drag queen Violet Chachki for the song “Mistress Violet.” The electro-kissed track “Black Eye” arrived in October 2023 as the first single off the singer’s third full-length album, Girl with No Face. Released in February 2024, the LP channeled retro glam and synth sonics on pulsing, provocative singles such as “Off With Her Tits.” ~ Heather Phares & Neil Z. Yeung