Charlotte Cornfield has been referred to as "Canada's best-kept secret," but there's no hiding the Toronto native's brilliance. Hurts Like Hell is her sixth album, and the first she's recorded since the birth of her daughter in 2023 — setting the stage for one of the year's best meditations on the embryonic nature of life's firsts and lasts, and everything in between.Growth is a fitting touchstone for Hurts Like Hell: Cornfield writes tender, disarmingly honest music informed by the metamorphosis of motherhood. Lauded for her lyricism, the singer-songwriter masterfully uses traditional folk storytelling to crystallize moments in time; falling for a singer on stage, watching the world go by from a window, or admiring a photo of your newborn are alchemised in her hands. Closer "Bloody and Alive" is the most sacred and spellbinding example, conveying the pure magic of holding your child for the first time."Maybe lightning doesn't strike twice in the same life," Cornfield muses on "Lucky," but it's hard to think that it hasn't struck six times over the course of her career. Hurts Like Hell is a continuation of what we've come to expect from her discography and more, as she levels up her craft to give voice to characters and storylines beyond her own experience ("Squiddd"), weaving narratives based on past memories, vignettes and emotional barometers.Working with producer Philip Weinrobe, well-known for his work with Adrianne Lenker, Cornfield added a roster of high-profile collaborators to sing on the album, including Feist, Buck Meek, Christian Lee Hutson and Maia Friedman. The harmonies ("Hurts Like Hell," "Lost Leader") and gentle echoes round out the songs, adding a welcome dimension of warmth. Alongside a full backing band (featuring Palehound's El Kempner, Lake Street Dive's Bridget Kearney and more), the artist recorded all 10 tracks together in one room. She was also encouraged by Weinrobe to transpose the keys of the songs up, singing them higher resulting in her performance "entering a different zone emotionally," according to press notes.Before that, part of the creative process came from a group chat made up of songwriters and friends that Cornfield hemmed together for inspiration. Sharing voice memos, texts and files, the individuals in the chat provided a space for reflection, validation and shared experience. The beauty of Hurts Like Hell is rooted in this catharsis: transmuting pain — the good, the bad and the ugly — into a unit of strength and perseverance.An unflinching look at what it means to be human without running to cover up the soft underbelly of our vulnerabilities, this record sees relationships start ("Kitchen"), end ("Number") and begin anew ("Bloody and Alive") with routine inevitability. Cornfield is there to chart it all with care, understanding that the juice of loving is well worth the squeeze.
Wavelength
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