After the release of Dangerous Home in 2019, award-winning Prince Edward Island musician Alicia Toner raised the bar for crafting songs of a personal nature. Covering an assortment of abuses, self-afflicted and otherwise, and the challenges of struggling to maintain a solid footing on her mental health while several factors independently and collectively worked to erode that foundation, the album laid bare some difficult to address themes in a cold and honest light.
Now, with a sophomore album coming at the end of June, Alicia Toner has released a new single, titled “Joke’s on Me,” a song about denial and the precursor to what may potentially be Toner’s most personal work yet.
“This song is about the last chance to escape a bad situation. We often wait for someone to intervene when in reality, we’re asking ourselves for help,” explains Toner.
Toner says that “Joke’s on Me” was inspired by a relationship that she felt trapped but at every crossroads still could not bring herself to walk away from it. Sometimes the grass isn’t exactly greener on the other side of the fence and it takes a good stern talk with yourself before you can be convinced that the yard you’re looking for is actually somewhere down the highway. This joke is that this is the pep talk you always need to hear from yourself while you’re still in denial.
“‘Joke’s On Me’ is about the part of you that knows you need to get out and the other part that tells you everything is fine. If anybody is listening and is in a relatable experience, one of the biggest things I learned is that you can’t get out by yourself without help,” says Toner.
“This song is less about the relationship with another person and more about the relationship with one’s self. When you reach a breaking point and you’re waiting for someone to save you, you need to have some long, hard chats with you to either help yourself or stay complacent.”
Produced by Stuart Cameron (Crash Test Dummies, Matthew Good, Amanda Marshall) and Peter Fusco, “Joke’s on Me” underwent its own moment of growth, escaping a rustic vibe in favour of something more contemporary.
“When I first wrote this song it was a folk/train song. Stuart and Peter came back to me with the general feel that is the single you’ve heard. It took me a minute to let go of my Johnny Cash version and fully lean into this indie pop/rock, infinitely better version,” says Toner. “It’s now one of my favs on the album.”
The whole album stands to be a great baring of the soul. Titled Joan, which is, in fact, Toner’s middle name, we’re about to see a very personal side of the artist come out in song.
“Joan was my way of self-titling an album. It is my middle name but one used by many members of my family and inner circle since I was born,” says Toner. “Calling this album Joan felt appropriate as the songs on it are pieces of myself that not everyone gets to see. Until now.”
Joan is set to be released later this week, on June 25, 2021.
Tour Dates:
03.07.21 – Charlottetown, PE @ The Guild