TOPS' JANE PENNY Shares New Single 'Beautiful Ordinary' Off Solo Debut EP Out This Friday

Jane Penny - vocalist, keyboardist and co-founder of Montreal indie pop band TOPS - will release her solo debut this Friday. Surfacing, a gorgeous EP to be released via Luminelle Recordings, has been previewed by the acclaimed singles “Messages” and “Wear You Out.” Today Penny shares one final single ahead of the EP's release, entitled “Beautiful Ordinary.” 

“Beautiful Ordinary” has a call-and-response quality, though Penny sings alone, each version of herself reassuring the other that “fear is an illusion.” Penny says, “This song is about being afraid to lose someone that you love. When I listen to it now it sounds like an anthem for codependency. At that time I thought that the more afraid you are to lose someone, the stronger your love was. I've come to see those fears in a different way, but I know they were very real emotions. I love dark 80s music, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys etc., and I thought that 80s vibe suited a song about such angsty juvenile feelings.”

Listen to the song now HERE.

Jane Penny also recently announced her debut solo performances under her own name. See below to find a show near you and get your tickets then HERE.

Wednesday, 5/29 - Toronto, ON - The Baby G

Saturday, 6/1 - New York, NY - Joe's Pub

Thursday, 6/6 - Montreal, QC - Casa del Popolo

Thursday, 6/13 - Los Angeles, CA - Gold Diggers

While a solo endeavor had been ruminating for Jane Penny for a few years already, it was after TOPS' European tour in March 2020 – when Penny and her then-partner, musician Adam Byczkowski (Better Person), found themselves ill with long COVID – that Surfacing came to materialize. Written, produced and recorded by the classically-trained Penny between Berlin and Montreal, Surfacing was made over the course of mostly-isolated years as Penny acted as caretaker for her bed-ridden partner. Whereas all of TOPS' music – crafted as a cohesive unit – consists of fleshed-out instrumentation like drums, bass, guitar and keyboard, Surfacing is an exploration of creating one's own world, through electronic music, samples and production, with the only “organic” sounds being Penny's voice, her flute and the occasional wind chime.