Jennie Harluk, the Calgary-born and raised musical protégé, began her musical career at the age of six honing her skills and fine-tuning her ears on the piano and acoustic guitar. Performing her own written songs regularly since the age of ten, the eighteen-year-old has performed at various impressive events and venues, including the Calgary Stampede and Alberta’s Country Thunder Festival, garnering her team’s attention as the most exciting emerging talent in years.
With her emotional vulnerability on display in blinding lights, Jennie Harluk guides the listeners into her rollercoaster-like turmoil, allowing us to connect with her on a deep and grounded level in her latest single “The Fool.” The heartbreaking storytelling, crafted in such a masterful manner, reels the audience into a vivid depiction of devotion and deceit. Unable to wash away the everlasting stain of tainted love, Jennie Harluk struggles to give up hope and becomes “The Fool,” with an awakening instigated by a force-fed serving of self-awareness.
Her soft yet powerful voice, carefully layered at the most opportune moments, caresses your ears and speaks directly to your soul. Conveyed by the strumming of her acoustic guitar, tiered with spacey electric guitar riffs and timely potent percussion, the instrumentation permits the vocals to perfectly display the turbulence in which Jennie Harluk found herself during the creation of this masterpiece. The correlation of all aspects in this hit allows the listener to fully escape and emerge themselves into her world, giving it an abundance of playback ability, no matter what mood you may find yourself in.
We can’t help but perk up and exude excitement at the natural talent and potential of the young singer-songwriter. Recognizing that she has just entered the mainstream scene while still working on her debut EP, yet already possesses such a well-rounded skill set, we look forward to experiencing all the wonders her career will bring.
Congratulations on your new release! Can you give us some insight into the inspiration behind the story of "The Fool?"
Thank you! I'm excited about this single. "The Fool" came together right when it was supposed to. Nearing the end of a healing process from a breakup, I think this song was my mind and heart pushing out the last bits of anger, confusion, sadness, and loneliness so that I could move on. This song captivates the messy, regretful, lonely, stupid emotions that a person feels after a breakup. They have people telling them cliches like "it's their loss," "what goes around comes around, "the joke's on them," etc. - and while all that may or may not be true, you still got left, hurt, broken up with after staying with someone who didn't treat you right or know how to love you properly. And that's tough!
Your new single has such a solid and emotional pull. What kind of toll did it take on you when working on something so personal during the creation process?
Like I mentioned before, I think this song came for me when I needed it. I think I got fired up and excited because I know that these kinds of emotional songs only come to me when I'm ready and over the hump of hurt … so I knew that by this song being created, I was close to moving on ultimately. I wrote this track with Jackson Willows and Joseph of Mercury in December of 2020, they are so awesome to work with, and it was a fun session - lighthearted but understood. It was a great experience.
How has it been working with the well-renowned A&R veteran Fraser Hill?
Fraser has been a great addition to our team and has offered lots of insight into the music. He's introduced me to so many great writers and producers, and all around is a great guy who loves music like the rest of us! It's been a great year working together, and I'm excited to see what comes next!
With such grounded and relatable subject matter, what do you hope your audience takes away from your message when they hear "The Fool?"
I hope my audience takes what they need to take from this song. For one person, maybe it's simply a song they like and gets stuck in their head; for another, it might be the message or the sign they've been waiting for that lets them know they're not alone and their feelings are valid. Music is beautiful because it's so interpretive and means so many different things to different people. So ultimately, whatever emotion this song makes you feel, I hope you dig into it and get whatever you need out of it.
What's next for you?
I will consistently release new singles into the New Year and am so excited to continue writing and sharing music with listeners! My next single will be coming very soon, so stay tuned to my social media for news on that. I love sharing my life and interests on my social platforms (@jennieharluk) and feel it's the best way to connect and show viewers all parts of my life. I'm so excited for "The Fool" to be released and the official music video following shortly after on YouTube. Thanks so much for the great questions!
