GETTING VULNERABLE WITH XANA
Written by: Bhumika
In our interview, Xana, a Vancouver-based rising pop artist, reflects on the making of her unapologetically bratty and empowering sophomore album, “The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t.” Xana is excited to kickstart the album tour across the U.S. and Canada starting this summer and be “feral” with her fans.
Songwriting since middle school, Xana always knew she wanted to be a rockstar like Avril Lavigne, which is no surprise considering Leos love the spotlight. In 2020, Xana released her first song “Goddess” and was thrilled that listeners liked what they were hearing. Simultaneously, she was working on her debut album “Tantrums,” which features “Kitchen Light” – a fan favorite with the official music video garnering over 2M views on YouTube.
Xana made “Tantrums” unsure if anybody would ever listen to it, so she took a shot at creating a body of work oozing with drama, emotion, and character. It was no surprise that “Tantrums” found a fervent audience and catapulted Xana into becoming a full-time rockstar.
Over time, Xana learned there are so many sides to the story and decided to explore all those points of view in her sophomore album. While fans have heard the vulnerable, heartbroken perspective in songs like “19,” Xana wanted to explore other sides, including where she is the monster in other people’s stories. This prompted the creation of “Monster” – a candid and confessional track that is an upbeat dancing song while weeping, encouraging listeners to be graceful with their imperfections.
Xana feels really proud of this upcoming tour and owes it to her fans for making it possible! She is also grateful that her shows are a safe space for all, including herself, where everybody is taking care of each other while being protective of her. Xana cannot wait to have a magical time with fans screaming and yelling the songs.
Next Wave: What was the first song you wrote for the sophomore album, which you know was going to be on the album?
Xana: I knew I wanted to write this second album even before Tantrums, but that was only possible once I finished Tantrums. My second baby could only bloom once I said everything I needed to with my first. “Feral” was officially the first song I wrote for the album, but I only finished the song two years later until the other songs were almost done.
Next Wave: What was different about your creative process for “The Sex was Good Until it Wasn’t” from “Tantrums?”
Xana: It was different simply in terms of time because with “Tantrums” I would only come into the city once and twice a month to record, so it felt like we were working on it in chunks. But being full-time now allowed my producers and I to cohesively create this album with all my energy. I have always wanted to lean into the rock genre and drew inspiration from music I listened to when I was younger. Specifically, the eighties, nineties, and early 2000s which have this pop grunge sound. In fact, we sonically experimented with this album where we created samples from banging on bins, dropping chains, yelling into random tubes, and opening metal things. This gave us an industrial creepy scary sample that was sprinkled into tracks like “Body,” “Feral,” “15,” and “Lavender Daughter.”
Next Wave: Was it intentional to have another song, “15” that tells listeners a story from an age as you did with “19” in Tantrums?
Xana: I am telling these different stories from pivotal ages, which are dripping in agony. I always knew I wanted to write “15” and I have a lot of stories to tell so this could become a little tradition – let’s see. I do like this little tradition that I have started though!
Next Wave: We got a villain character with your single “Homewrecking Era” from the album, so what prompted you to explore that perspective?
Xana: Sometimes it is really fun to explore the villain’s point of view. I love watching films that reveal the villain’s backstory that originally you could not understand how they could be this way. But the backstory makes the audience empathic towards the villain, so I started to explore that with “I did this all for you” and “Bad Bandit” where you maybe do not hate the villain as much as you did. In contrast, “Homewrecking Era” is about unapologetically owning that villain character.
Next Wave: What were the reasons behind the selections of you opening and closing tracks for The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t?
Xana: “Lip Service” was the only song I ever considered opening the album with because it was a new introduction to this chapter while “January” felt like the perfect closure. I love the big grandiose ending, which is thematic and cathartic after an album that goes through so many emotions. So, I wanted to have a slow burn entry and a grandiose ending.
Next Wave: Which song did you have the most fun with?
Xana: “4ever” is a cheesy little love song that I wrote for my roommates, and I did not even tell them I was writing it. I started that song two months into living with my roommates. We all fell in love instantly – it felt like being with your best friends every day. One of my roommates from Europe was slated to leave after six months, so before she left – I decided to share the track with them. Before playing the song, I proposed we could record the gang vocals together if they liked it. What followed was a cuddle-puddle on the living room floor. Luckily, they liked the song, and we recorded the gang vocals in the living room of our house which is now broken down. It was just a beautiful way to celebrate our six months together and put a bow on a golden era, making “4ever” a sweet sentimental song.
Next Wave: Which song surprised and challenged you the most?
Xana: “Feral” was a challenge because I did not like it till the end because I struggled with it feeling big enough. I rewrote the song a couple of times and could not get on board. But the last couple of recordings, “Feral” felt complete once production felt fuller. It is funny that “Feral” was the first and last one I worked on. I wrote “15” in one sitting and the lyrics just poured out of me, which was surprising because listeners have a visceral emotional reaction to it. I never cried when I recorded it either. This speaks to the work I have done over a decade because it was nice to write it because I have been wanting to write this song for years.
Next Wave: What made you choose the title of the album?
Xana: When I wrote “the sex was good!” – I could not stop thinking about that line because it is almost too good to just be a song title. So, it made sense right away because it encapsulated the various themes of the album: trauma, really good sex, relationships that were sexual and not sexual, relationships with my friends and family. It is just such a good umbrella statement and there was never any other option!
Next Wave: Is there something you learned from touring Tantrums that you are excited to try this time?
Xana: I had a chord last time on tour, putting me on a leash but this time – I am a free bitch with a wireless mic. The band is going to lose me a few times, which I am excited about. I want to be close to my people and say hello.
Next Wave: Which song are you most excited to play live?
Xana: I mean all of them, but I am excited for “the sex was good!” since it is such a staple song for the album. Even “Lavender Daughter” and share that moment with everybody because we will be crying, especially me.
Next Wave: What do you hope listeners take away from The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t?
Xana: Something I do with my music is dig into emotions whether it is happy, sad, heartbreak, or trauma. I feel everything deeply and push it into my music, so the receiver can have a space in the room to feel those emotions and connect with themselves. With this album specifically, we are feeling ourselves with “Better Kind of Best Friend” and having fun being the villain but at the end of the day – almost every song on this album stems from something terrible that happened to me as a kid. I really want listeners to find a safe space to connect with their emotions and know it is going to be okay – you are not going to live like that forever, you will have an amazing life, you will have beautiful relationships with people. I want listeners to feel the whole spectrum of emotions.
