Toronto-based singer-songwriter Cinzia & the Eclipse makes a stunning return with new single “Just for Fun”, we caught up with her to discuss new music and more
Montréal-born, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Cinzia & the Escape has one hell of a voice— her vocal abilities are simply out of this world. She proved this on her 2020 single “Don’t Call Me Up”, a vulnerable pop track about moving on from a manipulative past that has the power to crush our souls and bring tears to our eyes.
Taken from her upcoming EP due out later this year, today, she makes a most welcome return with her stunning new single “Just for Fun”, her first release since the 2020 EP Little Italy. We caught up with her to discuss the new single and much more. Cinzia is unapologetically her true self at all times, getting to know her has been a very fascinating experience.
Read our conversation below:
Hey Cinzia, how are you doing?
If I’m being honest I sort of feel very restless haha. I’ve been waiting so long to release new music and I’m very impatient. So I’m excited, scared, elated and relieved that I can finally share what we’ve been working on for so long.
It’s been almost three years since you last released music, what have you been up to behind the scenes?
Exactly three years is SO LONG! I’ve really been taking the time to build Cinzia & the Eclipse to be exactly what I want it to be and create a sort of world that’s safe for me and my listeners to dive deep into our feelings together. I guess that sort of means I’ve been spending a lot of time on my own, learning about myself as a human, what I want to bring to this world and how I want to do that. I used to be really closed off to collaborating when it comes to writing but I’ve been spending a lot of my musical time with other artists, writing together and learning from each other, it’s really allowed me to grow as a writer and just as a human being understanding other human beings in this world you know?
Glad you took the time off to do all of that! Despite being away for that long, you’ve still managed to achieve some success like the sync placement in the Disney+ series Growing Up. That must’ve given you a boost, how did you celebrate that placement?
My gosh, that placement was such a shock because it came out of nowhere! Needless to say I was very pleasantly surprised haha. My producer Lucas and I went to a great restaurant in Montreal called Impasto to celebrate our win. If you’ve been there you know it’s pretty fancy so we spoiled ourselves for sure!
Amazing, gotta celebrate every win! Have you had any other sync placements?
Not yet! But apparently “No Matter” was in a commercial in Ireland. I don’t know if that’s true but someone reached out to me on instagram and let me know that’s how they found my music. I’m very curious what the commercial was for!
Wow, that’s so cool! Random question, how does one pronounce your name?
Not random at all! Very common when it comes to a name like mine. It’s actually the itlaian version of Cynthia and it’s pronouncec Cheen-zea.
Noted! How many languages can you speak?
3! English, French and Italian.
Before we talk about your new single, let’s rewind back to your amazing song “Don’t Call Me Up” which was released back in May 2020. Girl, who hurt you? I felt every single word. Everything.
Hahahahah well thank you!! It’s really important to me that every single work that hits the paper has a purpose in my songs. Honestly, I’ve probably hurt myself emotionally more than anyone ever has. I used to build up so many expectations about people and situations instead of being present with the energy that someone is offering you. So I would build up stories in my mind and when reality wouldn’t play into it, well I’d break my own heart. I’m very happy to say I now take life for exactly what it is and maybe romanticize it a little but only because every day life IS romantic. I should be asking you who hurt you?! Every single word! Damn there must be some hurt in that soul but I’m right there with you!
Hahaha, well damn, not sure where to start! That song is up there with the very best, thank you so much for sharing it with us. Now, let’s move on to your new single “Just For Fun”, please talk us through the creative process.
“Just for Fun” is an interesting one. I wrote it with Lili-Ann DeFrancesco and we originally wrote it for her. We had a lot of fun writing it, she took it home and wrote a little more and for some reason it didn’t get picked up. We work with the same producer LucaTheProducer, and one day we were sitting in the studio with my manager and Luca started playing “Just for Fun” and my manager LEAPED out of his chair. You all at DiscoverNü know me and my music well so you know I’m a little sad girl at heart and “Just for Fun” is so different and such a curveball from the way I usually write so it was sort of a Why not moment! Why not start this next Cinzia & The Eclipse era with a band and honestly just have some fun with it!
Absolutely love that! We do love the sad girl stuff, but it’s so good to hear something this bright too. It’s upbeat, it’s a well-crafted sun-soaked tune, what inspired you to write this anthemic bop?
Lili and I were talking about how sometimes you just want to have a good time. We all take life so seriously all the time and mostly because we don’t have a choice. We sort of realized that we didn’t want to complicate the song, we just wanted to be free of any expectations imposed on us, and just… have fun! So needless to say, the song title was really easy because it’s honest and says exactly what we were feeling!
It’s the first single taken from your forthcoming EP, sonically, what can we expect?
This next EP is really and truly a reflection on me and the musical influences I’ve carried from Florence and The Machine, Julia Michaels, Fleetwood Mac and Sam Fender. It still holds a lot of my folk pop vibes from Little Italy but has a little more rock kick to it and I’m excited about that!
Amazing! Do you have any upcoming gigs?
Yes!! We’re playing a few festivals in Toronto like CMW on June 10th, NXNE on June 15th. I’m really excited to go back to Montreal and play a local Italian festival — that one’s a little special since it hits so close to home. We have some tour dates for the fall but I don’t want to spoil anything just yet!
Finally, why should people stream “Just For Fun” ?
Simple because it’s fun! I want people to feel free, excited and down for a good time when they listen to it. It was seriously one of the most fun songs to write and record so I really hope everyone has that same amount of a good time when they listen.
