Alessia Cara has spent much of 2019 on the road traveling around the world as the opening act for the European and North American legs of Shawn Mendes' wildly-successful tour. The 76-show trek allowed her to bring 2018's The Pains of Growing to a global audience, but it also fed her creative appetite, inspiring her to create and release This Summer. The six-track EP — which deals with summer romance, breakups, and meaningful memories — premiered last month on the final day of the aforementioned tour and has been well-received by critics and fans alike. Before she embarks on her own headlining tour later this week, the singer-songwriter released videos for two of the project's songs.
Although it deals with a relationship that has waxed cold, "Rooting For You" is a sunny jam with a catchy hook. But don't let the groove mislead you. Ms. Cara doesn't mince words as she sings, "Did you go and bump your head? / Did you forget where you came from? / I’m tired of sending my well wishes / I’m tired of all your burning bridges." The entertaining clip brings the song to life in a relatable way by highlighting some of life's disappointments. As we see captioned scenes such as, "When he shows up an hour late," "When your hair has other plans" and "When you 'don't need' the recipe," we can't help but chuckle and sing along.
In contrast, the visuals for "October" — which coincidentally dropped today, October 1st — are much more personal. Footage of Alessia hamming it up with her friends and crew both on stage and off allows us to get a glimpse of why "this summer" meant so much to her and why she sings, "I hope we never see October." In a recent Instagram post, she explained the song's significance, saying, "I wrote this song about a very recent period of time in which I felt more aligned than I ever have. It’s about healing and discovering that some feelings are as beautiful as they are inevitably fleeting. So much so that I wanted to encapsulate these ones before they were gone. Now I’ll have them forever and I can go back there any time...This is for the friends I’ve kept and the ones I’ve found. The places we’ve been, the nostalgia we accidentally set ourselves up for, and the months I’ll always think about. I hope this one takes you somewhere. It’s so so special to me."
Peep the videos for "Rooting For You" and "October" below and download This Summer via your favorite digital retailers. Afterwards, be sure to visit Alessia's website for a full list of dates/venues for her headlining U.S. tour, which kicks off on October 4th in Rock Hill, SC, with Ryland James as opening act.
