Daniela Andrade

Shifting over time from gentle acoustic pop to a woozier, R&B-flavored sound, the intimate songs of Daniela Andrade cater to the quiet hours. Along with sharing some of her increasingly stylized covers on social media beginning in the late 2000s, she issued the original acoustic EP Things We've Said in 2012, adding electric instruments and electronics for 2016′s Shore EP. Andrade further cultivated a dreamy, internal sound on releases such as the 2019 mini-album Tamale, 2020′s Nothing Much Has Changed, I Don’t Feel the Same EP, and singles like 2024′s “Biking.” In the meantime, she tested collaborative waters with artists including A l l i e, Bodysync, and rapper SwaVay. A Canadian-born singer/songwriter based in Montreal, Andrade began uploading videos of herself performing covers of such wide-ranging artists as the Beatles, Beyoncé, Nirvana, and Edith Piaf in 2008. Gaining followers with selections including Coldplay’s “The Scientist” and Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” in 2009, she soon increased the frequency of her posts, and eventually released an EP of original songs, Things We've Said, in 2012. The collection Covers, Vol. 1 followed in 2013, as did The Christmas EP. Andrade’s low-key version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” went viral in 2014, as did her acoustic cover of Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose.” The year 2016 brought the more atmospheric, plugged-in Shore EP and her first international tour. In the meantime, her songs received placement in commercials and on television shows such as Supergirl and Suits. Concentrating more and more on songwriting and touring, Andrade released the song “Lose My Mind” in 2017, and 2018′s “Genesis” added otherworldly pitch shifting to her vocal performance. Continuing to release her music on Crooked Lid Records, “Sometimes I Don’t” followed in 2019, as did the eight-song Tamale. Another EP, Nothing Much Has Changed, I Don’t Feel the Same, arrived in September 2020. In 2020, Andrade also recorded a collaboration with Toronto rapper Sean Leon titled “Bad Times Are Good Times.” A handful of additional collaborations followed, including 2021′s “DNA” with Toronto indie soul artist A l l i e, 2023′s “Jordan” with R U OFF and SwaVay, and, in June 2024, the club-oriented “Bailar (I Want to Dance)” with Bodysync (Ryan Hemsworth and Giraffage). Andrade was back with the solo singles “Biking” and “Good News” in the second half of the year. ~ Marcy Donelson