[Cover photo credit to Aaron Reimer]

Canadian singer/songwriter Justine Giles released her new single “Past Life” this summer, where she “continues to explore personal growth and healing through her songwriting.” It was her first new music since her 2024 EP, Another Chance, which collected the singles she’d recorded after moving from Toronto to Calgary in 2019.

In 2024 was named Calgary’s Solo Artist of the Year as part of the YYC Music Awards and “Past Life” was funded in part by Calgary Arts Development. The song was Produced by Mark Troyer at Calgary’s Evergreen Sound and features Sarah Houston on piano.

For Giles, the inspiration behind the track sprang from “an unexpected encounter with an acquaintance with whom she’d had a complicated history,” which led her to reflect on “how we often remain connected to such people, whether we want to or not.”

Today, we’re very pleased to premier the video for “Past Life” here on Wildfire Music + News. While we can anticipate some of the emotion of the song from hearing where Giles’ inspiration came from, so much about the personality of the track suggests how Giles approaches heavy subjects and navigates reflections on life through music. One of the strengths of the song is the way in which it defies expectations by not identifying as a breakup song. Instead, we’re pulled into the story of the situation, where the speaker addresses the other person as “you” and are carried along in a confessional way, getting a glimpse behind the scenes of their emotional landscape.

Despite how tortured things might seem, the speaker’s acknowledgement that they still wish they could “fix” the other person and their feeling that the other’s psychology mirrors their own make this song open-ended. It may be that life eventually draws these two people further apart, but only time will tell. Not even the song’s emotional crescendo, with so many questions left unanswered, can elicit desired clarity.

The video for “Past Life” is shot in a very aesthetically pleasing soft black and white. Outdoor settings and shifting light give it plenty of texture rather than simply light and shadow. The choice of locations actually does have some subtle impact on how we might interpret and experience the song. The natural world is associated with healing and reflection for many people, so fits Giles’ mentality very well as she moves through these questions. It is a place that can provide the grounding influence that Giles is seeking in this situation. It’s also a place that we often connect with our younger selves, and past selves, as well as a source of continuity in our lives, so it can bring us back to a clearer sense of our own identity.

Giles’ lonesomeness in the video also speaks to a truth that many psychologists would support–that loneliness, for all its pangs, is actually a promoter of personal growth. Needing time alone is often a symptom of processing and finding a new way ahead, a new level of self-knowledge. The video is varied in its settings, too, bringing an archetypal feeling to the roads that we walk down, the explorations that we make, and the views that we try to reach to gain broader perspective. The video also reinforces the truth, in a visual way, that there are still emotions present in the here-and-now about connections that were made in the past. Those big questions, about how and why we instantly connect with others, and how we navigate the seemingly uncontrollable nature of those connections, seem a question for nature and the universe as much as for the human heart.

Justine Giles says about “Past Life”:

Past Life is about relationships that feel familiar or somewhat destined. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if that’s what it is, some sort of profound soul connection, or if it’s just a subconscious relationship pattern or trauma bond. Perhaps it can be both?

I found myself left with their ghost whether I liked it or not. Sometimes that’s the hardest part of moving on, is getting through the flashbacks and memories that live not just in our mind but also in our body and in our spirit. I guess that’s a big part of healing from anything, really. Any deep hurts or traumas we have live within us on deep levels, and on many levels. There’s no quick fix unfortunately. But thank god for the gift of music is all I’ve gotta say, it helps me make sense of things.

The song “Past Life” also reflects a theme that’s important to Justine Giles, that of female empowerment. Originally from Sudbury, Ontario, Giles self-released her debut album, Shine, in 2014, and within a few years was named the Northern Ontario regional winner of CBC’s annual Searchlight competition. Moving to Toronto, she participated in Canada’s Music Incubator (CMI) program, while performing often in the city, and being invited to appear on CTV’s The Marilyn Denis Show.

Once in Calgary, she established her local reputation through performances at many of the city’s prominent venues. She also engaged in partnerships with the National Music Centre to create youth-oriented programs. These efforts earned Giles recognition from Calgary’s long-running White Hat Awards as an “Exceptional Rising Leader.”