Today, Vancouver-based rising pop artist Xana shares her eagerly anticipated intimate, empowering sophomore album The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t out everywhere now and reflects on a soured relationship with latest single “the sex was good!”. The evocative, gripping, proudly queer collection sees Xana confront dark truths and deep pain as she learns to process and heal past wounds through shimmering melodies, captivating vocals and candid, clever lyricism.
This summer, Xana will embark on a tour to support the album, The Sex Was Good Tour that will move across the U.S. this June and July beginning on June 1 in Portland, OR, with tickets on sale now via xanaofficial.com/tour, including a stop at Milwaukee’s Summerfest on June 29 where she’s set to perform ahead of FLETCHER. Find a full list of dates below.
Out today, The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t goes where Xana has never gone before, touching on incredibly personal–and at times traumatic–subject matter. Over fifteen vivid tracks, she puts herself in the driver’s seat, taking charge of her own story while offering listeners a place of refuge and freedom. Unbound to a single genre or a particular moment, the album unapologetically builds a heartfelt world that is as explosive and bright as it is profound and dark as well as radically queer, providing the necessary space for all–Xana included–to heal. The artist, who is the sole songwriter on the project, sees this body of work as a refined, fully formed evolution from her past work, in part due to her brutally honest songwriting and the free-flowing trust built with producers Liam Moes and Shane Stephenson. Thrilled to finally welcome listeners into this new cosmic world, Xana explains, “It’s an album that I’ve been wanting to write for a long time and I went into it knowing exactly what its purpose would be.”
Last month, Xana shared the building, melodic “Monster,” a track that recounts the artist’s most unsavory moments as it daringly unfolds with a list of some of her regrets and ultimately sees the artist takes responsibility for her actions. Xana says it’s one of her favorite songs she’s ever written, and explains, “I wrote this song at a time where I was forced to look my mistakes square in the eye and take accountability for the hurt caused by my actions. I had to ask myself questions like “Why do you think your feelings go above the feelings of others? Why are you okay with lying to people who care about you? Why is it impossible for you to apologize? Why are you so defensive and why do you default to throwing punches when you’re hurt?”
“Monster” is the apt follow up to the anthemic, rebellious previously shared dark-pop/rock track “Homewrecking Era” where she plays a villainous character who falls victim to her own toxic tendencies. If on “Homewrecking Era,” Xana makes a mess, on “Monster,” she cleans it up. “Homewrecking Era” is a shameless, playful exploration of toxicity and sees Xana step into a villainous role. Dripping with her signature seduction, the lyrics–paired with breathy, flirtatious vocals–depict a character who gets what they want, no matter the cost. Xana says the track is the record’s “bratty child,” as it dives into the forbidden pleasures of a toxic love affair, one that, Xana states, “becomes the magnetic force that keeps two souls entwined, despite the impending chaos.” Stage Right Secrets says the track “immerses the listener in an irresistible world of dark pop-rock decadence.”
The first taste of the project came with the risqué track and video–”Better Kind Of Best Friend“–a building, steamy ode to confidence and queer empowerment that celebrates sexual pleasure and bodily autonomy and now boasts over 1.2M streams across streaming platforms. The song’s inclusion on the album adds a new dimension, bringing levity, pleasure and depth to a project that delves into heavy topics, leading Xana to ask, “What’s an album about the horrors of sex without a song about the wonders of sex?” With queerness, and queer sex in particular, rarely spoken about positively publicly if at all, Xana hopes to shed light on the beauty and joy of queer sex. Xana adds, “As a queer person, my relationship with sex all my life has been a challenging road to navigate, and I think it’s really important to remind people that sex isn’t the end all be all and sex is allowed to be–and supposed to be–fun and lighthearted and pleasurable for all parties.” Upon release, the track was supported by several leading tastemakers including Exclaim!, GLAAD and Mundane Magazine. Glasse Factory wrote the track “restructures typical pop convention” and called the video, “a sapphic Renaissance utopia..serving autonomy through sexual exploration.”
Xana will embark on a U.S. tour to support the new album this summer beginning next month on June 1 in Portland, OR. The tour will make its way down the West Coast stopping in Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA Los Angeles, CA and more. In mid-June, Xana will make two stops in Texas and two stops in Florida, and will then perform in cities including Nashville, TN, a venue upgrade in Chicago, IL, Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI and Brooklyn, NY with a final stop in Salt Lake City, UT on July 3. Find a full list of dates below and grab tickets here.
Xana’s assertive 2020 debut single “Goddess” thrust her onto the scene and cemented her as an artist to watch. Today, the track has 13M+ streams on Spotify alone and the artist now has 305K monthly listeners. Atwood Magazine took notice of Xana’s uniquely relatable writing and growing fervent fanbase, writing, “It’s her authenticity and vulnerability that allows her to connect with her fans, giving raw and relatable material through storytelling lyricism and themes of female empowerment, LGBTQ romance and the everyday experiences of navigating life.” A string of singles followed in 2021, including “Kitchen Light,” which Out Magazine named as one of their 30 Best Sapphic Bops of the year and its official music video has been viewed over 2M times on YouTube.
Tantrums, Xana’s soaring debut album, arrived in 2022 and firmly established her in the pop space. In early 2023, Xana shared the Western-inspired “Bad Bandit” prompting Eat This Music to write, “Xana’s command of pop music is undeniable, and “Bad Bandit” is a showcase of her versatility as an artist..immediately drawn in by the roaring rhythms and pounding bassline.” In June 2023, Xana shared “babyblue” which Variance Magazine called “beautifully melancholy” and added “This driving pop anthem is the perfect mix of uplifting melodies and bittersweet, sentimental lyrics, delivered through crashing percussion and indie guitars.” Now, in 2024, gearing up for another world takeover, Xana continues to carve her own path propelled by self-discovery, queer liberation and bringing listeners closer to themselves.
With Xana’s sophomore studio album out everywhere now, The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t formally invites listeners into a radiant, fearlessly queer sonic universe that meets Xana where she is today, unafraid to confront the dark, messy truths of love, loss and self-discovery. Don’t miss Xana live on tour this summer across the U.S. including a stop at Summerfest with tickets on sale now here. Connect with Xana on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube and stay tuned for much more to come from the rising pop singer-songwriter.
Watch “Better Kind Of Best Friend” (Official Music Video) | Listen
