CHARLOTTE CORNFIELD’S NEW LP, HURTS LIKE HELL, OUT TODAY VIA NEXT DOOR RECORDS (CANADA) / MERGE RECORDS (WORLDWIDE)
LISTEN / SHARE “KITCHEN” HERE
BUY / STREAM HURTS LIKE HELL HERE
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES BEGIN MARCH 31, PERFORMING IN TORONTO ON APRIL 9 AT LULA LOUNGE
“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” - Exclaim!
“Her moving fragmentary realism is often heavy but just as often shot through with plenty of humour, both wry and awkward, and inventive phrasing that borrows as much from hip-hop as country.” - The Globe & Mail
“On the stunning ‘Hurts Like Hell,’ the Toronto singer tackles relationships and motherhood. Cornfield’s best work to date.” - The Toronto Star
"As a songwriter, as a singer, in every way possible, Cornfield levels up on Hurts Like Hell." - UNCUT
“Charlotte Cornfield is a songwriter who brings a sense of profundity to the simplest of phrases.” - The FADER
"Charlotte Cornfield is an expert observer, writing songs from inside a feeling or moment as it unravels. On 'Hurts Like Hell', the songwriter embraces collaboration, family, and a different kind of creative rhythm." - RANGE Magazine
“[Charlotte Cornfield] is one of our best living songwriters.” - Paste
“A hushed, awestruck meditation on a consequential conversation”
- Stereogum on “Living With It
Photo Credit: Colin Medley // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today marks the release of Hurts Like Hell, the highly anticipated new album by Toronto’s Charlotte Cornfield. Her sixth album, Hurts Like Hell is the first she’s recorded since the birth of her daughter in 2023, an inflection point for her as a person and an artist. The album’s recurrent themes of personal growth and renewal, of love’s perseverance through difficulty and shame and awkwardness, are rooted there.
Cornfield’s change in perspective is evident not only in her approach to the lyric, but in how she approached recording, with Hurts Like Hell representing her most collaborative effort to date. Beyond vocal features by Feist, Buck Meek, Christian Lee Hutson, and Maia Friedman, the Philip Weinrobe-produced sessions represented the first time Cornfield recorded with a full backing band, an all-star assemblage featuring Palehound’s El Kempner (guitar/vocals), Lake Street Dive’s Bridget Kearney (bass/vocals), Adam Brisbin (guitar/pedal steel), and Sean Mullins (drums), expanding Cornfield’s sound by further embellishing the intricately detailed universes contained in her songs.
LISTEN / SHARE “KITCHEN” HERE
Change can certainly be heard on the album track “Kitchen”, which is a “straight up love song,” according to Cornfield. “Meeting my partner Nelson was a major turning point in my life. Everything changed for the better after that. I wanted to try to capture that feeling, and some of the awkwardness and tenderness and real shit that is all part of the big picture of love.
“When we recorded this Phil had us all switch instruments a few times and then Bridget ended up on piano, and there’s no bass, which gives this song a floaty kind of lift. El and I were playing acoustic guitars really, really quietly, just the high strings. And then Maia Friedman came in and crushed that backing vocal.”
WATCH / SHARE “LIVING WITH IT” FEAT. FEIST HERE
WATCH / SHARE “HURTS LIKE HELL”(MUSIC VIDEO) HERE
Next week, Cornfield will embark on a short tour in celebration of the album’s release. US dates will feature Hurts Like Hell collaborators Kearney and Kempner, as well as Evan Cartwright (Cola) and Nick Levine (Jodi, Great Grandpa). Tickets are on sale now.
TOUR DATES
Mar 31 Brooklyn, NY – Public Records
Apr 02 Chicago, IL – Schubas
Apr 04 Los Angeles, CA – Scribble
Apr 09 Toronto, ON – Lula Lounge [SOLD OUT]
Jul 17 Guelph, ON – Hillside Festival 2026
BUY / STREAM HURTS LIKE HELL HERE
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
HURTS LIKE HELL TRACKLIST
1. Before
2. Hurts Like Hell
3. Lost Leader
4. Lucky
5. Living With It
6. Number
7. Squiddd
8. Kitchen
9. Long Game
10. Bloody and Alive