Interview: Ottawa Songwriter Heliara Channels Authenticity and Emotion on ‘Everything’s a Love Song’ EP, Anchored by the Tender “Confessions to my Daughter”

Ottawa-based singer-songwriter Heliara shares Everything’s a Love Song, a deeply intimate and emotionally rich EP that explores love in all its forms. Blending pop, rock, indie, and genre-spanning influences, the six-song collection unfolds as both a personal reflection and a universal meditation on connection, vulnerability, and what it means to love and be loved.

Originally conceived under the working title Eclectic Love Songs, the project evolved organically as its deeper thread revealed itself. “I wanted to explore different types of love and different musical genres,” Heliara explains. “When I realized each song reflected a different form of love, the title Everything’s a Love Song just made sense.”

The EP culminates in its most personal moment: “Confessions to my Daughter,” a heartwarming and vulnerable closing track that captures the depth of motherhood and unconditional love.

What makes Everything’s a Love Song particularly striking is its unexpected alignment with the Ancient Greek concept of love, which categorizes love into distinct forms such as eros, agape, mania, and storge. “I found out about this after I had already written all six songs,” Heliara says. “When I looked into it, I almost fell off my chair. Each song I wrote corresponded to one of those forms. In two cases, it was right down to the title.”

That sense of intuition carries throughout the record. Written and recorded over a year and a half, the EP showcases Heliara’s growth not only as a songwriter, but as an artist learning to trust her creative instincts. “I’ve learned that my creativity is limitless when I’m in alignment with myself,” she shares. “The lyrics come naturally without me asking them to. I tweak them to make the message more universal and pithy, but the essence of what I am communicating feels quite channeled in a way.”

Written in the quiet stillness of a 3AM moment while caring for her sick child, the chorus for “Confessions to my Daughter” arrived in a rush of emotion. “This is a song that my daughter will have forever,” Heliara explains. “I want her to know these things about herself and about me as a mother.”

The track is made even more special by the presence of her three-year-old daughter, whose soft backing vocals appear from the very first line. Musically, “Confessions to my Daughter” blends warm, country-tinged verses with soaring, Motown-inspired choruses, building toward a powerful, modulating finale.

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

I truly enjoyed every aspect of the creation of ‘’Everything’s a Love Song,’’ from start to finish. Melodies and lyrics come to me spontaneously anywhere and everywhere (whether I’m at home doing dishes or out and about), so my first step is always recording a little voice note as the song progresses in my head and writing down the lyrics as they come to me (which can happen quite quickly if I am really in the zone). My next step is then refining the songwriting to make the message more pithy, universal and relatable, and I was fortunate to work on this aspect with Tara Shannon (tarashannonmusic), who offered me valuable advice on song structure and lyric flow, among other things. I then sent demos of the songs to my producer Steve Foley at Audio Valley Recording Studio and we started the recording process with laying down bed tracks, tracking lead vocals and adding in harmony vocals. Hearing a song come to life through production is really a thrill for me that never gets old! The last step is then marketing the release, which happened in a very organic fashion over 9 months (I released a new track about every month and a half) and I enjoyed presenting each song, with its own message, colour and vibe, through live performances and social media posts. And finally, the release of ’’Everything’s a Love Song,’’ culminated in my sold-out EP Release Party on Friday, May 15th at LIVE! on Elgin here in Ottawa: seeing people vibe, dance and connect to the music was definitely a highlight for me!

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

‘’Be true to yourself,’’ although I will admit that this is so much easier said than done. Over the past few years, I have been progressively releasing the tendency to people-please and the fear of not being good enough that has plagued me for so much of my life. We can waste so much time worrying what others think about us, and letting go of that is incredibly liberating! I have learned that when I am truly in alignment with myself, my creativity is endless and possibilities open up in the most beautiful ways.

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

I love The Beaches and it would be a dream to be involved in absolutely anything with them!

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

My music is a reflection of who I am, and that is a unique mix of sweet, edgy and zany, powerful and vulnerable, and normal and weird! 🙂 I believe that my authenticity and vulnerability tend to connect with people because my songwriting is honest and relatable. In “Self-love,” for example, I included the lyric “and my kids broke my pelvic floor,” which I doubt has ever been done before in a pop rock song! And every time I sing ”Self-love” in public, someone (usually a mother) comes up to me and tells me that the message resonates with them, which is a huge honour for me. I also think that my melodies are catchy and it is always fun when people tell me they’ve got a song of mine on repeat in their head or they wake up singing it!

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

‘’What if I Did’’ is a beautifully catchy, feel-good collaboration by local Ottawa artists Dan Petti and Erica Brighthill, and I just love it! We have so much talent in Ottawa that deserves to be highlighted and this duet is an awesome example.