Indie singer-songwriter Victoria Canal brought her warm, ethereal sound to downtown Phoenix’s Valley Bar on March 28. Lucy Clearwater, fellow singer-songwriter and close friend of Canal’s, opened for Canal at the intimate Thursday night show.
Canal is a Spanish-American singer-songwriter who first began using her musical talents to process her anticipatory grief. Her first headline tour supported her 2022 EP, “Elegy,” and she opened for Hozier on the “Unreal Unearth” tour in Europe.
Canal’s welcoming spirit brought together a crowd of all identities. This fact speaks to the search for acceptance threaded through her life, identity and music.
Having lived in countless countries across the world and being born with a limb difference, Canal and her lyrics are thick with imagery of feeling ‘other.’
But she also implicitly begged the question, “So what? Why is ‘difference’ a negative thing? Doesn’t the difference make each of us unique?”
The concert began unceremoniously when the graceful Lucy Clearwater took the Valley Bar’s stage. She simply walked onto the stage and began to soulfully croon. The perfect picture of a folk singer, Clearwater wore her hair long, and her dress was airy as she sang songs centering around reconciliation, consent, sisterhood, acceptance and love.
Canal and Clearwater wrote what they called “sister songs” for each other, with Canal’s “Chamomile” and Clearwater’s “When You’re Down.” Both songs reflect the acceptance and love between the women and discuss the intimacy of being vulnerable about one’s mental health with loved ones.
At one point, Clearwater faltered on the lyrics to “When You’re Down.” Instantly, Canal appeared at Clearwater’s side and sang along with her until she found her footing again, earning a response of encouragement and admiration from the crowd.
When Canal took the stage, her jewel-toned teal dress shone with the warm fairy lights surrounding her band’s instruments. Her easy smile and casual humor brought a special sense of intimacy to the venue.
Canal began her set with “She Walks In,” a song about her limb difference and the societal stigma she has experienced as a result. Despite the beautiful melody, the lyrics blatantly describe her inner feelings about the attention she has received.
In the latter half of the song, she relates her experiences to womanhood in more general terms, describing the feeling of society crushing one’s self-esteem through repeated hateful commentary and bodily criticism.
Her fourth song, “Yes Man,” was described as her “ode to people-pleasing.”
Canal takes the struggles of existing in modern society, internalizes them, and expels her emotions in the form of detailed and delicate lyricism. She manages to convey her intelligence and artistic prowess while remaining accessible and relatable for her fans, something many other artists tend to struggle with as they navigate success in the music industry.
“We all have our things that make us feel weird and out of place,” said Canal.
She peppered her set with personal stories, ranging from an account of her mother’s youth-inspired adventures in Spain to the trepidation of expressing early LGBTQ+ experiences.
Canal gracefully and easily transitioned between her easy-going storytelling, the humor of awkward early-stage relationships, and the stoic pain of losing a loved one, demonstrating her artistry and confidence as a performer.
Canal’s first headline concert at the Valley Bar was like a group hug—heartwarming. Her discography truly has a song for every situation or struggle one might find oneself in. From murderous metaphors to familial grief, Canal sings of pain in all its forms.
But through all of her songs, she never falters in her message that love is what brings us together and heals us when we are hurt. She possesses an innate ability to clarify and explain her psyche through her music.
