Cassia Hardy of Wares recently went solo for "Empress," one of Exclaim!'s favourite songs of 2025 so far, and now the Edmonton singer-songwriter has detailed her debut solo album. In Relation is out May 23 via Mint Records, and the single "Two Houses" is streaming now.
In Relation will be released alongside a zine featuring lyrics, photos, and essays from collaborators. It was recorded by Matt McKeen at Shed Sound between 2023 and 2024.
Hardy said in a statement, "For me, the album is partially an examination of my adulthood thus far in amiskwacîy. By extension, it's an album about processing loss. I've been displaced from a job and from two different living situations because of greedy landlords. I've lost friends to suicide and to overdoses. I lost a branch of my future as a working artist to a poorly managed global pandemic, management that ratcheted the gears of imperial capitalism into overdrive and ground up entire lives and ways of life in the process. In the wake of this loss, I've tried to name the evils that lie at the root, and name the loves that sustain me every day."
Get a taste of that by listening to the new single "Two Houses" below. It's a tribute to an house venue that was a safe space for queer artists before being knocked down and gentrified.
Hardy will release In Relation with a hometown show at the Aviary with Brock Geiger. She will also play Calgary's Sled Island.
Cassia Hardy 2025 Tour Dates:
05/24 Edmonton, AB - The Aviary *
06/18–22 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
* with Brock Geiger
