Tori Lord Steps Into Her Main Character Era With “Never Be"

Enter the world of Tori Lord, who refuses to play by the rules. With her debut single “Never Be, she’s not here to write breakup songs for people who want to cry cute. She’s here to talk about the part of heartbreak you don’t post online: the shame, the clarity, the internal drag you give yourself when it finally shatters.

Tori’s resume alone demands attention, national theater stages, choral roots, and even singing with Celine Dion on the Let’s Talk About Love tour. Now she’s stepping into her solo era with heavy hitters in her corner: producer Marty Martino (Down With Webster), songwriter Theo Tams, and mentor Rob Wells (the mind behind Justin Bieber’s “Baby”). That’s not a coincidence. That’s a co-sign.

Her debut single “Never Be” plants her flag exactly where she belongs: in the lane of pop artists who don’t pretend their heartbreaks were poetic; they call them what they were.

The track moves through that gut-punch moment when you realize you weren’t blindsided. The signs were there. The tone changed. The excuses got softer. The energy dipped long before the person did. “Never Be” isn’t bitter or petty. It’s not angry. It’s the lights flipping on after months in the dark. An epiphany disguised as a pop song.

Production-wise, it’s sleek and cinematic, piano-driven, harmony-heavy, and open enough for Tori’s vocals to stretch and ache. There’s a choral elegance in her tone, a storyteller’s honesty in the lyrics, and a modern edge that puts her right beside today’s most emotionally literate pop voices.

What makes Tori stand out is the precision in her authenticity. She’s spent years mastering brand-building, and instead of hiding that knowledge, she weaponizes it. She knows how to connect without forcing it, how to be vulnerable without manufacturing relatability, how to show the messy parts most artists bury. She documents everything, the wins, the chaos, the insecurities, and people are locking in fast. Her upcoming EP expands that world: self-love, growth, accountability, choosing yourself even when it hurts.

“Never Be” is about realizing you weren’t really blindsided; you just didn’t want to hear the truth. What was the emotional turning point that made you ready to write from that level of honesty?

After the reality set in that I wasn't going to hear from this person, I turned inward and was really mad at myself for opening my heart to the wrong person. It was from there that I sat down with my notebook and started writing out all my feelings around it. I landed on the one lyric "the only person I'm mad at is me / I felt so strong / but I got it all wrong". With this one line, I felt compelled to create something beautiful from this shitty situation. 

You come from theater, choir, and even performing with Celine Dion. How are those worlds shaping the way you approach pop now, especially with a debut this vulnerable?

I'd say from my choir days, I've always loved harmony. I remember growing up, any time my friends and I would sing, I'd always "take the high part" or play with the harmonies. You can definitely hear that woven into my music, both with Never Be and the upcoming songs. We stack lush harmonies and even use my voice as vocal pads, too, so there's a lot going on. I think my producer once said there were 18 stacked harmonies in one of my upcoming songs. Kudos to Marty for making sure each one of those sounds tight. 

You’re documenting your entire becoming-an-artist journey online. What’s been the hardest part to show publicly, and what reaction surprised you the most?

I'd say the most challenging is showing the days when nothing happens. In my world, there are moments when I am waiting for others to get back to me. I don't necessarily feel that creative, so I go into research mode for what comes next, or what content I can shoot next, etc., and all of that is quite boring. I don't share a lot of this because who wants to see someone scrolling down rabbit holes of content production ideas on a couch for two hours? I think that's the hardest - wanting to share but not thinking it's engaging enough. 

The reaction to my songs has been really surprising - I've let go of being precious about sharing my songs, which I think has been a really great thing because I am now able to tease little bits earlier and earlier on and bring the audience into the process with me. I think that's been super cool. 

The song explores being mad at yourself for believing in something that wasn’t real. How did you navigate the line between self-blame and self-forgiveness while writing “Never Be”?

Writing the song was very cathartic. It was therapeutic to write about my honest experience, and it allowed me to lighten up on myself. I released my thoughts about the situation and the people involved (the people being him and me). This was also very early on in the process of me writing songs, so while I had written many previous to this, they had all been about things that had happened way in the past. This was the first song that I was navigating in real time. The feelings were so fresh, so raw. I would say that really helped to create a beautiful piece of art. 

Your team includes Marty Martino, Theo Tams, and Rob Wells,  some of Canada’s strongest creative minds. What’s one piece of advice or insight from them that reshaped how you see yourself as an artist?

My team is the absolute best. I feel so blessed to build this world with them. The best piece of advice is that this industry is a marathon, and if you come up against roadblocks, simply take them as intel to inform the rest of your journey and always keep going. I understand this could sound stock, but it has really helped me when I am experiencing low moments.