In a telling glimpse of both devastation and redefined beauty, Toronto-based artist ZINNIA, the pen name of Rachael Cardiello, shares “Always A Romantic”, the next single from her upcoming album, Dollar Store Disco, set to be released February 7, 2025. Described as a divorce rager, Cardiello searches for self-preservation and joy throughout the record, as “Always A Romantic” echoes within the hollow feelings of solitude and the comfort lead by newfound clarity.

Like the weight of heavy eyelids, “Always A Romantic” drifts into a soothing moment of stillness,  blurring out the world as an absorbing piano fluctuates with intensity, animating only what we can feel around us. Although the instrument is isolated in this rather spacious track, the singular voice that it leads becomes the benchmark for retainment and release as Cardiello’s powerful vocal range explores the room. “I really thought I was a romantic / I really thought you were worth it,” she sings, reflecting on a once fulfilling relationship now broken and fading with a tender and soaring performance.

About the song, Cardiello shares, “‘Always A Romantic’ arrived years after the wreckage of my divorce from the quiet of a hard-fought-for stability. There is a stickiness in letting a new truth settle into your body when you believe another story to be true. There is an almost physical whiplash of coming to terms with, and integrating that change.” 

“Always A Romantic” is accompanied by a music video, both filmed by and starring Oriah Wiersma. In a decaying house, flashing hints of a once connected appearance, what is left becomes a search for the stories now lost, only to live within the people that once called it home. “When Oriah and I talked through possible movement for this piece, I kept returning to the way Ginger Rogers used to bend back in Fred Astaire’s arms when they danced. How she was so terrifyingly open and malleable amidst the dips and twirls,” Cardiello shares about the video. 

Watch the music video for “Always A Romantic” premiering here on the ugly hug.

Dollar Store Disco is set to be released February 7, 2025 via the Montana tape label Anything Bagel. Preorders of the record will be available this Friday, October 11.

Written by Shea Roney | Photo by Oriah Wiersma