New Audio: Shaina Haynes Shares Shimmering “Timid”

Shaina Hayes is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, whose work effortlessly blends folk pop clarity with alt-country warm and a deep attention to emotional detail paired with graceful vocals, thoughtful lyricism. Her debut, 2022’s to coax a waltz and 2024’s sophomore album Kindergarten Heart helped the Montréal-based singer/songwriter firmly cement her intimate songwriting.

Alongside her musical career, Hayes continues to operate a vegetable farm in the tiny, rural Quebecois hometown, where she grew up. Fittingly, the land remains a grounding force in her life, shaping her sense of rhythm, patience and presence. Her dual existence as a touring musician and a hands-on farmer, informs the clarity and steadiness that runs through her work.

Kindergarten Heart received coverage from Consequence, KCRW, The Line of Best Fit, Under the Radar, Far Our Magazine, Uncut, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6. The album landed on the year-end lists of Le Devoir, Radio Canada, CISM, DOMINIONATED, Le Canal Auditif and a lengthy list of others. Both albums were supported with tours opening for the likes of The War on Drugs, The Barr Brothers and JOVM mainstay Elisapie.

Earlier this year, she released “Flourish” which received praise from Clash, Wonderland and RTÉ. Hayes’ latest single “Timid” comes on the heels of a short European tour opening for The Barr Brothers. “Timid” is a breezy and shimmering indie pop take on her long-held folk sound, while arguably being one of the more hooky songs she’s released to date.

Recorded in Montreal with a backing band featuring Francis Ledoux (drums), Étienne Dupré (bass), David Marchand (electric guitar), and Lysandre Ménard (upright piano) “Timid” sees Haynes and her collaborators balancing on a tightrope between jam-like looseness and taut, almost mathematical precision, rooted in the warmth and earthiness she’s long been known for. Sonically resembling Julia Jacklin, the new single is an ode to introverts and quiet thinkers; a song that celebrates the richness of the inner while gently encoring vulnerability and self-expression.

“‘Timid’ was a track that came about during a period when I was listening to a lot of Julia Jacklin and Billie Marten. Lyrically, I wanted to explore the idea that even at our most articulate, the way we express ourselves is just a tiny glimpse into what’s actually going on inside us – that we contain whole, unseen universes,” Haynes explains. Ultimately, ‘Timid’ is a song about everything we feel but rarely manage to express.”

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