Ria Mae’s pop rhythms set the scene for both ecstatic dance-floor bliss and moments of serious introspection. Born Ria MacNutt in Halifax in 1991, Mae originally kept her teenage songwriting close to her chest, performing in front of a crowd for the first time just before leaving school. Her early work was rooted in the singer/songwriter realm, making her attention to craft clear on the soaring title track and the dramatic “Since You Left Me” from her 2011 debut, Under Your Skin. But her 2016 self-titled follow-up punched up the pop with a little help from rapper and producer Classified; she brought a soulful groove and seductive vibe to tracks like “Clothes Off” and “Ooh Love” and embraced her queerness on “Girlfriend”. In 2017, My Love upped the drama on tracks like the pumping “Bend” and the hazy, piano-driven “Broken”, featuring Canadian music icon Tegan Quin. In 2020, Mae expanded her sound through collaborations with T. Thomason (the shadowy “Loser, Pt. 2”) and Jocelyn Alice (“Therapy”) as well as more sophisticated production (“For Your Love”).