Toronto’s Jenn Nucum Releases New Single

Navigating life as a diasporic queer woman of colour, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Jenn Nucum‘s music deconstructs the complex fabric of identity with dreamy and ambient Alt Rock melodies, honest lyrics, and emotive vocals. 

Her new single, “Monuments,” was inspired by Jenn’s childhood experiences that continue to echo and affect her daily life as a diasporic Filipinx person. 

“This song is about being groomed to be palatable to western society, facing cultural erasure starting at a young age, and being forced to navigate oppressive colonial systems and institutions as a racialized person,” Jenn explains. 

Reflecting and empowering, “Monuments” takes inspiration from post-rock. Strings and melodic guitar guide Jenn’s voice before the track bursts into catharsis. 

“Blessed are the oppressed fighting a broken system,” Nucum sings, reworking and subverting The Beatitudes from the Bible, reflective of her Catholic upbringing and the Philippines’ colonization by religion.