Interview: Toronto’s Rosanne Baker Thornley Paints a Portrait of Maternal Love in Music Video for Intimate Ballad “Her Mother’s Eyes”

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Rosanne Baker Thornley unveils the official music video for her beautifully introspective single, “Her Mother’s Eyes” — a cinematic, heartwarming track inspired by the quiet, emotional power of a single wedding morning photo. Framed through a mother’s gaze, the song pays tribute to the intricate, ever-changing relationship between mothers and daughters.

Drawn from a deeply personal experience, “Her Mother’s Eyes” paints a vivid scene: a daughter on her wedding day, the final touches of makeup being applied, a veil waiting in the stylist’s hand — and a mother witnessing the culmination of years in one fleeting moment. It’s a song that acknowledges the little girl who still lives within the woman standing before her, and the life they’ve shared leading up to this day.

Thornley’s signature vulnerability and lyrical honesty guide the track, giving voice to emotions rarely explored in contemporary folk and singer-songwriter spaces. With cinematic grace and gentle restraint, the song unfolds like memory itself – tender, truthful, and timeless.

1. What did you enjoy most about the recording process of this new release?

The recording process is for me the always familiar and comfortable space of slipping into the focus and calm of the studio. In this case, “Her Mother’s Eyes” was recorded during Covid which provided my producer Will Schollar and me a sense of normality and a diversion from an otherwise unsettled world, with travelling to and being in the familiarity of Kensington Sound, one of the Toronto-based studios I’ve worked out of for many years. As for the actual recording of, in particular, my vocals, because this song is so very personal, every line pulled me fully into the feeling that had inspired the song, and put me right back in that. Often times in my recording career, I’ve had to ask for ‘just a moment’ to collect myself during recording when I get overwhelmed with what the song instills in me.Such is my relationship with my songs.lol. The mixing was also done at Kensington with Will and my close friend and oft co-creator / producer Ben Pelchat. Mixed also during Covid, it provided another so very welcome and satisfying bubble of experience and collaboration. 

2. Share a nugget of advice that has resonated with you most over the years.

Not sure if it’s advice I’ve received or more of what I’ve come to know myself through years of experience and having feet on the earth. I believe you need to take the time to create work that you are passionate to create and proud to share. Pride and passion are such valuable traits in creating art that resonates with you, and through you. To fully explore how that translates to your work and how it makes you feel. You need to love what you do first – so you can stand in front of whatever it is you do and who you are, and to feel connected, authentic and confident. To be able to say from a place of assuredness “this is me”. You need to love what you do first for you, because in this very fast-paced world where people often rush mindlessly by – your measure should be what you want to measure up to – and to let your passion drive you towards an outcome that makes you proud of you. To share or not share the final work is up to you, but the process is yours to fuel you. I’m really not sure what you have without having those authentic pieces of you in your creative life. 

3. Who would be your dream artist/band to co-headline a tour with?

If I think about me (with my band) co-headlining a tour, I feel that my sound and my aesthetic would best line up with artists/bands that carry the same slow-burn, emotion-based, lyric rich space. The goal for me would be to provide an experience that is cohesive, immersive – a night where the audience leans in to feel every word. A night of substance, authenticity and accessibility more so than gratuitous flash. I would of course – given my own love and creation of photography – use visuals to further immerse my audience in an experience they can fully disappear into. It would also very cool to have either me accompany at some point in the night my co-headliner, or to have them join with me. So who do I see myself co-headlining with? Australian-based band The Paper Kites; UK-based Sting (like how cool would an evening be of him in a partially plugged /unplugged space; UK-based Ben Howard (UK). Those are my top 3.

4. What sets your music apart from others in your genre?

I’m not quite sure what my genre is, still after all these years. I’ve come to define my music as cinematic. A comment that seems to capture how my songs land with people is “it’s like reading a letter you weren’t meant to find — deeply personal, raw, reflective”. I feel the intimacy of my lyric in the telling of and depth of truths and how it ‘feels’  – puts me kind of in a folk-focused, singer-songwriter genre. However, coupled with my more polished, ambient production style, creates a music experience that has its own climate – one that I really don’t know how to define exactly. So I go with identifying my sound as cinematic because of what I’ve heard people say about what my songs instill in them. Even my videos are approached from a film perspective rather than pure music video. I’m fortunate and grateful to have my music included in a very diverse number of places and playlists, and I can only smile when my songs successfully find and hold beside songs that are so not what mine are. My songs kind of move you into my lane for those fleeting few minutes before returning you back.

5. Tell us what your favourite song is at the moment and why?

Music is a constant in my day. Because of my background and past fronting rock bands, coupled with my participation in many other Artist’s songs, I listen to all types of music – from rock to singer-songer to indie to jazz to world music. One of my favorite songs at the moment has to be “Kid” by Stephen Wilson Jr. There is just so much described for you to see inside his so well-considered lyric. Stephen’s voice perfectly supports the story-telling tone of the track and has you listening to every so smartly crafted word. The open-tuning he has used here also piques my ears – with a tuning I was keen to figure out as my own songwriting weighs heavily on my own unique tunings and chord shapes. Also, the simplicity of the production on “Kid”, built on the warmth of his rhythmic classical guitar so perfectly supports the song without interfering or distracting for an experience that sits effortlessly and perfectly in my ears and heart. So much so that when I first heard “Kid” I commented ‘wow’ out loud after it finished and then eagerly sought it out. Yep. That says something. 

Thank you GroundSounds for inviting me to offer some insights. 

I love that it made me dive deeper still into why I keep my feet in this … 

Cheers, RBT

A fixture in the Canadian music community, Rosanne Baker Thornley is an internationally recognized, award-winning songwriter with an enviable history of co-writes and placements. Reclaiming the artist role in recent years with her powerful album Sorry I’m Late (2022), Thornley channels deep emotion and lived experience into music that resonates across generations. With “Her Mother’s Eyes,” she adds another intimate chapter to a growing catalogue that explores love, memory, and the quiet complexities of everyday life.