JoJo Worthington

JoJo Worthington’s music is infinite. This producer / songwriter / composer / engineer crafts intimate recollections that explode into limitless soundscapes. Worthington’s work pushes emotionally potent songs to the perilous edge.

Over the past decade, JoJo Worthington has emerged as a distinct presence in creative Canadian music, pairing deftly penned songs with spectacular sonic landscapes. Having wandered through the “lost, enchanted forest” (Bandcamp, New & Noteworthy) of 2016’s breakthrough album, \\, and sailed the seas of her epic avant-pop odyssey TCYK (2019), BAPTIZED I sees this visionary songcrafter adorning her armour, grabbing her sword, and beginning a quest for a destination that isn’t tangible—a quest towards the divine.

BAPTIZED I leaves no stone of Worthington’s distinctive sonic palette unturned. Tender acoustic ballads erupt into sweeping electronic passages; anthemic refrains find peace in surreal soundscapes. Uniting Phoebe Bridgers-esque hooks with the electronics sensibilities of M83, these songs match confessional intimations with grand gestures. They bring Death, the devil, and the Holy Ghost into scenes of high school bush parties and wintertime walks along the St. Lawrence. Combining earthly and celestial sounds, BAPTIZED I stands between worlds as Worthington yearns to make her “flesh connect / to the world as it is / and to be as the spirit is.” This chameleonic EP explores the feeling of crossing a bridge between the ordinary and the extraordinary; between the superficial and the sacred; between what has been and what should be.

Written while moving from a residency at the Banff Centre to a new city during the pandemic, BAPTIZED I finds Worthington making sense of her surroundings by looking inwards and going deep. On one hand, this means looking back and reconsidering formative memories and intimate relationships; on the other, it means looking critically at the present: seeing the local outcomes of ubiquitous housing crises, systemic racism, and mass misinformation. Through unprecedentedly vulnerable songs, Worthington works to make sense of what has happened, find spiritual purpose, and strive towards wisdom.

Part of the quest that is BAPTIZED I involves articulating the mental health struggles peculiar to her generation, detailing incessant duels with “millennial stress.” For Worthington, burnout isn’t a buzzword; it is the feeling of your mouth becoming detached from your body. It’s the never-ending pressure to “find every little way” for everyone to know your name when there are people dying from neglect around the block. It’s the double-edged sword of empathetic reflection, of art-making, of existence. But it is through this quandary that Worthington reaches beyond the mind and the body, considers the soul, and strives for victory through personal transformation.

Worthington has toured internationally, astounding audiences with her technologically miraculous live performances and opening for acclaimed acts such as Novo Amor, Ariana Gillis, Frightened Rabbit, Great Lake Swimmers, and The Grapes of Wrath. Her recorded work has received several international awards (Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Independent Music Awards) and she has applied her distinct production sensibilities for projects spanning from hip-hop to folk rock, including co-producing The Lifers’ Honey Suite, nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award. Worthington was selected from thousands of submissions to participate in the inaugural TD Creative Entrepreneur Incubator program, recently completed the Audio Recording Practicum at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and was selected to participate in 2021’s Equity X Mentorship Program (RBC & SOCAN).

Ceaselessly engaging, deeply affecting, and always forging deeper into the unknown, JoJo Worthington is one of the most forward-thinking musicians of her generation.