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Kayla Diamond: What You're Made Of

The Toronto pop artist follows up her breakthrough hit Carnival Hearts with another tasty confection that embeds a positive message in an infectious melody.

Kayla Diamond: What You're Made Of

By Kerry Doole

Kayla Diamond: "What You're Made Of" (Slaight Music/Cadence Music): Last year this Toronto pop singer/songwriter broke through with the infectious earworm, "Carnival Hearts." A radio and YouTube hit (450K views), it marked her as an artist of immense potential.


That is reaffirmed on this charming cut, the second single taken from her debut EP Beautiful Chaos. It begins quietly, with piano and finger-snaps, then swells with massed backing vocals that lend it an anthemic air.

Diamond is becoming known for positive and uplifting messages in her lyrics, and this is no exception. "Life's too short not to fill it with love," she implores here, and who can disagree with those sentiments?

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Beautiful Chaos is a collaboration with Toronto-based songwriter/producer Craig McConnell. Diamond explains that the album "is inspired by the chaos in my life. It represents that ability to find beauty in what others perceive as sadness. It also represents my life until now - there have been many ups and many downs to get to where I am today, and that to me is beautiful and chaotic."

The singer's life changed when she won Slaight Music’s 2015 “It’s Your Shot” competition with her song "Crazy." That win gave her the confidence to quit law school to pursue a musical career, and she's now showing us what she's made of.

Diamond's versatility as a vocalist is showcased on some very successful collaborations with EDM artists. A cover of Mike Posner’s “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”, with Kiso Armic, has received well over 4 million streams on Sound Cloud, and a track with Anevo, “Feel Something”, has hit 3 million+ streams on Spotify. 

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Kesha
Brendan Walter

Kesha

Chart Beat

Kesha Brings 'Holiday Road' to The Billboard Canadian Hot 100

The newly independent pop singer's cover of Lindsay Buckingham's 1983 song from National Lampoon's Vacation was first released as a Spotify exclusive for the holidays. Michael Bublé's Christmas, meanwhile, remains at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart.

Kesha has brought an under-appreciated holiday gem back to the charts. Her version of "Holiday Road" debuts on this week's Billboard Canadian Hot 100 (dated Dec. 28, 2024) at No. 83.

"Holiday Road" was originally released in 1983 by Fleetwood Mac legend Lindsey Buckingham and serves as the propulsive opening theme to the Chevy Chase-starting classic comedy road trip film National Lampoon's Vacation.

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