Roxane Bruneau

While Roxane Bruneau is one of many aspiring singers who made the jump from viral-video sensation to IRL pop star in the mid-2010s, her leap was arguably the unlikeliest. In contrast to the legions of DIY troubadours covering pop hits in their bedrooms, Bruneau—born in 1991 in the Montreal suburb of Delson—first gained a following online for her comedic talents, as demonstrated in her character-driven sketches or guerilla vlogging expeditions to her local tattoo shop. But Bruneau’s musical ambitions were no joke—blessed with a striking, soulful voice, the singer made her proper debut in 2017 with Dysphorie, a candid collection of folky alt-pop confessionals where the singer delves into her history of mental-health struggles. The album’s restlessly anthemic single “Des p’tits bouts de toi” would pick up the Felix Award for Song of the Year, en route to the record going gold in Canada. But Bruneau was just getting warmed up: Her 2020 follow-up, Acrophobie, cracked the Top 10 as it projected Bruneau’s signature candour onto a grander canvas of synth-sculpted arrangements.