Greyhound, Katie Tupper’s debut album, is about the instinct to chase–fleeting desires, guaranteed mistakes, the feeling of home, love in all its shapes and forms. It’s already knowing the ending but letting it unfold anyway.

Tupper’s music, led by her deep alto voice, blends soul, indie, alternative, and R&B with a hint of country twang. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Greyhound marks a sonic shift back to Tupper’s prairie roots, blending drum and bass with gritty steel pedal, analogue synth and incorporating stripped back folk-inspired elements.

Tupper's two EPs of heartland soul–Towards The End (2022), and Where To Find Me (2023)–have amassed 22 million streams worldwide and a JUNO Award nomination (2024 Traditional R&B-Soul Recording of the Year). Tupper has been enchanting audiences on TikTok and Instagram with covers of her favourite songs accompanied only by her bandmate and collaborator Benjamin Millman on keys. These covers, ranging from Justin Bieber to Jazmine Sullivan, have amassed over 35 million views. Her releases to date have also had the praise of tastemakers like Zane Lowe, a CBC Q interview with Tom Power, and even spins from Elton John on his Apple Music Radio Show, Rocket Man. In 2025, she was selected as Apple Canada’s “Up Next Artist” and Spotify Canada’s RADAR Artist of the Month, all setting her up for her first full-length project.

Greyhound was produced with her touring partners and frequent collaborators Justice Der and Felix Fox. Regarding working with them, Tupper says, “Everything they created was so exciting and interesting to me that the whole album sound appeared in front of us within our first few sessions,” says Tupper about working with Der and Fox. “They were my inspiration to push my sound and to explore a corner of R&B that blends soul and heavy drum and bass with delicate guitars and strings.”

It’s this duality–the fast and slow, the hard and soft, deep and delicate–that shapes the journey of Greyhound. This record is a homecoming, a return to her roots with years of new experience. It embraces the expanse of the endless sky and the light of the golden fields with an undercurrent of the sidewalks and skylines she’s spent years calling home.

Love is at the heart of it, ranging from romantic to platonic to rooted in a place. “Greyhounds that race on tracks are given rabbit decoys to chase that are unreachable. If the fastest dog gets close to the decoy it just speeds up to make them run faster. It made me think about my relationships and how I act in the world,” says Tupper. “I am often both the greyhound and the decoy. Chasing something unreachable and being the thing that cannot be caught. A lot of the songs have this theme of cycle and chase.”

“Disappear” and “Sick To My Stomach” are slow burns, soft ballads that explore losing yourself in romantic relationships and obsessing over someone new. “Whitney” and “Safe Ground” celebrate growing up and coming of age with your best friend. “Right Hand Man” and “Jeans (fall on my knees)” have Tupper’s low, smoky voice on full display as she navigates the pressure of being someone’s one and only and laments her own bad habits in love. “Round and Round” is infused with longing and hope from the perspective of her hometown.

Greyhound marks an evolution, both lyrically and sonically, for Tupper. She’s learned lessons, felt feelings and then left them behind. The closing song, “Cowboy Lullaby,” feels like a traditional country ballad with steel pedal and string arrangements, backed by a 1960s drum machine and infused with Tupper’s signature gospel soul. It’s Tupper metaphorically riding out into the sunset on horseback–a sonic ode to the Saskatchewan plains.

The album feels like having a drink with your best friend, pointing fingers, admitting guilt, dissecting feelings and situations from the heart. It’s nuanced and honest, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s the morning after, sun streaming through the windows.