KYLO on Heartbreak, Letting Go and Finding Her Own Sound

After finishing her last EP, KYLO noticed something had changed. The music she had spent years making no longer gave her the same feeling. She still loved electronic music and what that period of her career had meant to her, but the excitement was gone. Everything had begun to feel stale.

For the Toronto-based artist, the answer wasn’t to make another record in a familiar style. She wanted to hear more of her voice. She wanted to give lyrics and melodies room to carry a song without layers of electronic production around them. The indie-folk music she had long enjoyed began to feel closer to what she wanted to make herself.

That change can be heard in “Nimble,” released in August 2026. The single draws on indie folk and pop, with traces of country and a greater emphasis on live instrumentation. Its subject is a relationship that ended suddenly, leaving behind feelings that refused to settle into one clear emotion. KYLO waited almost a year before she could write about it.

Once she began, the song came more easily than she expected. Nostalgia proved the difficult part. She wanted to remember what had been good without losing sight of the hurt. Rather than repeatedly rewriting her first instincts, she tried to leave the words close to how she had felt them.

“Nimble” introduces her forthcoming album The Space in Between, written during a period of changing habits, personal relationships and ideas about the future. Although the single arrives with more force, KYLO says much of the album is softer and more intimate. For the first time on a recording, she has also allowed herself to sing across her full range.

Her second single, “Maybe,” released on October 9, 2026, moves further into that quieter sound. Built around indie-folk and singer-songwriter pop textures, it considers the promises people make to themselves when they want a relationship to change. Its chorus holds on to the possibility of something better, while the verses gradually confront a less comforting reality. Where “Nimble” looks back on a relationship that has ended, “Maybe” stays with the uncertainty of not quite being ready to let go.

In conversation with Good Hours, KYLO talks about leaving a familiar sound behind, the memories that were hardest to put into lyrics, the artists who helped her hear new possibilities and why she feels more comfortable in her own skin now than ever before.

When the Old Sound No Longer Fits

Good Hours: “Nimble” marks the beginning of a new chapter for you. When did you first realize that your music needed to move in a different direction?

After I finished my last EP a few years ago, I knew I didn’t have the excitement in my heart for it anymore and that everything was feeling a bit stale. As much as I loved that genre and part of my musical career, it just didn’t feel like me anymore and I was ready for a change.

Good Hours: Your earlier work leaned more heavily into electronic production, while “Nimble” strips things back to voice, lyrics, and real instrumentation. What drew you toward that more organic sound?

I have always loved so many different genres of music, especially the indie-folk kind of sound. I wanted to be able to show my vocals more and really lean into my songwriting and just strip everything back to the basics — vocals and instruments.

Good Hours: There are indie folk and pop textures here, alongside subtle country influences. Which sounds or artists helped shape the musical world you are building right now?

There are so many different artists, but if I had to only name a few, I would definitely say Gigi Perez. Her album At the Beach, in Every Life was huge for me last year. Also, Noah Kahan, Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief, and First Aid Kit, to name a few.

Writing What Was Difficult to Remember

Good Hours: “Nimble” lives inside a complicated emotional space: missing someone while also feeling hurt by them. Was it difficult to write without simplifying those conflicting feelings?

This song actually was probably one of the easiest to write on my album, funny enough. I think because it was grounded in such a real feeling. I let myself be vulnerable and just say how I felt, and tried not to change too many lyrics after the fact, or make them sound a different way.

Good Hours: The song looks back at a relationship that ended suddenly. How much distance did you need from that experience before you could turn it into music?

I definitely had to process my feelings and take some space before I was ready to turn it into something. It was probably almost a year!

Good Hours: Heartbreak, anger, nostalgia, and longing all seem to exist beside one another in the track. Which emotion was the hardest to capture honestly?

I think the nostalgia was the hardest for me. Trying to think of good memories to work into the lyrics, that also had a meaning to them and evoked certain feelings but at the same time sounded good as well, was a bit tough.

Letting Her Voice Take Up More Space

Good Hours: When production becomes more restrained, there is often nowhere for a lyric or vocal performance to hide. Did that vulnerability change the way you approached singing “Nimble”?

Yes, absolutely. I used to kind of have my vocals float on top of electronic beats and with this album, it was very stripped down, and I was able to sing in my full range — which I never have done on a track before.

Good Hours: “Nimble” introduces your forthcoming album, The Space in Between. What does that title mean to you personally?

I wrote this album during a time in my life that felt just like that — the space in between past habits I wanted to break and a future I was working towards, while going through some personal growth at the same time. The album dives into all the little moments in this space — heartbreak, friendships, life goals, personal battles, etc.

Good Hours: Does “Nimble” represent the sonic center of the album, or is it only one side of what listeners will hear?

A bit of both, I would say, but the album as a whole is much softer than “Nimble.” I kind of wanted to come out with a bang with “Nimble” and then pull it back to more intimate tracks with just as much meaning.

The Person Behind the New Songs

Good Hours: Has making The Space in Between changed what you value in songwriting?

I think it has made me really focus on lyrics and melodies in a way I didn’t before, which was super meaningful for me.

Good Hours: You are revealing a more organic and vulnerable side of your artistry with this release. What feels most different about KYLO now compared with the artist who made your earlier work?

I’ve just grown so much as a person — like anyone, people grow and change and with that come lessons learnt from the past, and things you want to keep with you as well as things you want to leave behind. I’m the most comfortable in my own skin at this point in my life that I ever have been, and this album encompasses the process of getting there.

Good Hours: When someone reaches the end of “Nimble” for the first time, what feeling do you hope stays with them?

I hope it brings people to feel whatever they need to feel in that moment. I love that music is so subjective that way. For me it goes through all the motions of nostalgia, heartbreak, anger, and by the end I’ve told my story and am looking towards letting go and having hope.

There is a small but telling difference between wanting to make a song sound vulnerable and being willing to leave it that way. For “Nimble,” KYLO chose not to polish away the uncertainty in what she had written. She let conflicting feelings remain beside one another.

That same willingness to change runs through The Space in Between. The album’s title describes a period without a settled destination: old habits being left behind, a future taking shape, and a person learning to feel at home with herself. For KYLO, the music sounds different because life does too.

KYLO: Frequently Asked Questions

Who is KYLO?

KYLO is a Toronto-based singer and songwriter whose earlier music drew on electronic production. Her more recent work moves towards indie folk and pop, with an emphasis on vocals, lyrics and live instrumentation.

What is KYLO’s song “Nimble” about?

“Nimble” explores the feelings that follow the sudden end of a relationship, including heartbreak, anger, longing and nostalgia. KYLO says she needed almost a year before she was ready to write about the experience.

When was “Nimble” released?

“Nimble” was released in August 2026.

What is KYLO’s album The Space in Between about?

The album reflects a period of personal change, including leaving old habits behind, reconsidering relationships and working towards a different future. KYLO says much of the record is softer and more intimate than “Nimble.”

Which artists influenced KYLO’s new sound?

KYLO names Gigi Perez, Noah Kahan, Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief and First Aid Kit. She says Gigi Perez’s album At the Beach, in Every Life was especially important to her.

How has KYLO’s singing changed on the new album?

With fewer electronic layers around her vocals, KYLO has been able to sing across her full range on a recording for the first time. She also says the album has brought a stronger focus on lyrics and melodies.

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