‘A love letter to the city’: Milton’s rising 20-year-old music star on growing up, falling for Toronto and taking the GO train solo

Like “a fuzzy blanket,” “a warm cup of tea,” “leaves changing colour” — that’s how social media commenters describe Billianne’s sonorous voice.

During the pandemic in 2021, the 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Milton, Ont., went viral with an acoustic cover of Tina Turner’s classic hit “The Best” that reached more than two million plays on TikTok.

Last week, Billianne released her debut EP, “The Things We Talk About.” Influenced by singer-songwriters like Taylor Swift and Lizzy McAlpine, the five-track “pretty folky” project functions as an intimate, relatable memoir about venturing into adulthood.

Lead single “No Wonder,” an enchanting piano-led ballad, is a letter to her parents, inspired by Billianne’s experiences of travelling by herself from Milton to downtown Toronto for studio sessions. It swells into a powerful climax with layers of harmony and strong percussion as Billianne proclaims that she’s “ready to go.”

“I started writing about the feeling of leaving home for the first time,” said Billianne. “I wanted my parents to know that I’m going to be OK and that I can handle things like taking the train alone.”

“A Little Older” and “Full Circle” gracefully allude to similar coming-of-age themes, while “Waiting for This Love to Die” is an outlier: a pop-driven song about a past romance. But Billianne cites the final track, “Tower of Sequin,” as her favourite on the EP.

“It’s a love letter to the city,” she said. “I’ve been such a Milton person, where I’m just secluded in a forest-y farm area. This song is about having the realization that I feel comfortable (in Toronto). I’ve found my group of people, my group of musicians I like working with.

“I say this a lot in this song: ‘I wonder what I can find here.’ That statement is very optimistic. That’s how I feel about Toronto now.”

This summer, Billianne will tour at festivals and open for artists like Tim Baker and the Paper Kites in gigs across Canada, from Newfoundland to British Columbia. She returns to Toronto in the fall to headline her own show at the Axis Club on Nov. 22.

“What’s so special about (touring) is there are people in the audience who have been following me for a while now and they’re fans of the songs,” said Billianne. “It’s this real-life connection instead of a comment section. It makes it feel so much more real.”

Through all the viral moments and achievements, Billianne said she has one end goal: longevity.

“I just want my music career to be long lasting; to form deep connections with fans and for my music to touch people.”

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