For Kaeley Jade, The Great Unknown is about what happens at life’s crossroads. The Edmonton, AB-based Métis singer-songwriter explores those moments across an eight-song blend of folk, indie and rock.
Themes of change, turbulence, and spiralling guided Kaeley’s journey to create the album. One of the central ideas behind the record was “turning points,” which Kaeley describes as, “Those moments when you’re kind of being tried by fire, and you’re kind of figuring out where to go from there.”
Kaeley has been releasing music since 2020, though her earlier work had a pop-leaning focus. On The Great Unknown, she dives into her earthy, folk-roots, with expansive arrangements that vary from drums and electric guitar to acoustic guitar and piano.
“We really wanted to try and bottle up the feeling of an impending storm in this project,” Kaeley said. With themes and rhythms inspired by nature woven throughout the album.
The album was produced by Juno Award-winner Hill Kourkoutis.
Synths and acoustic guitars draw the listener into the album’s opening track, “The Ceiling,” which explores turning points from large to small. Kaeley said the struggles explored in the song range from those days when it is hard to get out of bed to things as large as choosing to stand up against injustices.
This theme continues into the next track, “Flooding on the Moor,” which Kaeley wrote after driving through smoky, clouded roads during wildfire season in Quebec. She said climate change is an issue that keeps her up at night, pointing to a lack of care from some people and listing “The Earth” as a co-composer on the track.
Following this, “Wisest Fool,” leans into the folk-pop realm, with subtle country influences. This anthem reflects on realizing that something no longer serves you, and was one of the most challenging songs to produce due to its emotional depth paired with an upbeat backing.
The folk-pop tone continues into “Strangers,” where Kaeley speaks about growth and moving forward. The song features a charged-up band before closing on a stripped-down chorus.
The Adele-inspired piano ballad, “August,” and one of the album’s singles, “Never Come Home Again,” bring the listener down a quieter road, with stripped-down vocals and acoustic accompaniment.
“It’s really nice for the listener to have those hills and valleys to traverse,” she said.
The album’s final two songs, “Growing Pains” and “The Great Unknown,” symbolize release and growth, offering closure to the turning points explored throughout the record. The lyrics of the title track read, “I’ve been practicing letting go / I’ve been releasing what I can’t hold / I let it wash over me.”
Across The Great Unknown, Kaeley captures the grief and growth that accompany moments of uncertainty, threading these themes through her lyrics, instrumentation, and vocal delivery.
“I hope that it’s inspiring to people,” Kaeley said. “I hope that people can feel a bit empowered to make some changes in their lives that will benefit them and to take back some of their power to shed things that are no longer serving them.”
