Widely known as one of Atlantic Canada’s most promising young talents, award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, Rachel Cousins, is a four-time MusicNL Award winner and ECMA nominee who landed a Top 10 finish in CBC’s Searchlight competition. Her music has appeared in People’s Choice Award winning Wynonna Earp, CITYTV’s The Wedding Planners, and Hudson & Rex, and has been streamed over 250,000 times.
Stepping into a bold new chapter of her career, Rachel Cousins’ upcoming fourth studio album, What Hasn’t Killed Me, marks her artistic transition from her early pop roots into an Adult Contemporary sound, blending emotional depth with refined musicality. Produced by Grammy Award winning Greg Wells (Wicked, John Legend, Taylor Swift), the album is rooted in sonic and lyrical authenticity, finding Cousins evolving into a musical space defined by vulnerability and connection, shaped by her lived experiences. Her well-known soaring and emotive vocals expressively communicate the defining moments of her life over the past several years and include topics of mental health, addictions, sobriety, and other relatable experiences through Folk, Alternative, Rock, and Pop influences. The album’s rich musical tapestry reflects both personal growth and artistic maturity, while inspiring her to share her story in schools across St. John’s, Newfoundland, offering encouragement and advice to young listeners. (Watch – Rachel Cousins on CBC NL)
Her new single, Crying While Wasted offers a powerful introduction to the next phase of her career, focusing on the defensive and reflective emotional cycle of alcoholism. The track will be available everywhere on Friday, August 15 2025.
About “Crying While Wasted”:
Expressing the unfiltered reality of using alcohol as both an escape and an emotional outlet, Rachel Cousins’ Crying While Wasted confronts the internal conflict of recognizing the problem, and surrendering to it anyway. Written in just 45 minutes during her second year of sobriety, the song captures the thoughts and feelings she carried during nights out in her early twenties. Bridging her signature emotive vocals with the intimacy of Adult Contemporary storytelling, Crying While Wastedunfolds with conversational phrasing, pull-and-release dynamics, and a musical honesty that mirrors its lyrical candor. Produced organically in-studio with Grammy Award winner Greg Wells, the track’s arrangement leans into the stripped-back instrumentation that allows the emotion to take centre stage. Paired with single artwork as vulnerable as the song itself, Crying While Wasted is a reflective statement of authenticity, touching on mental health, addiction, and the connective power of music to comfort the uncomforted.
Quote: “‘Crying While Wasted’ pulls back the curtain on a part of my life I’ve never shared before. Writing it was cathartic, and my hope is that someone out there hears it and feels a little less alone in their own struggles.” Rachel Cousins
Biography:
Rachel Cousins is an award-winning Canadian pop artist whose soaring vocals, magnetic stage presence, and genre-blending songwriting have made her one of Atlantic Canada’s brightest rising stars. Since her 2017 debut EP This Fire, she has effortlessly fused pop melodies with folk, rock, and electronic influences, collaborating with Newfoundland icons like Alan Doyle, Fortunate Ones, The Ennis Sisters, and The Once.
Rachel’s accolades include six MusicNL nominations, four Pop Artist of the Year wins, and two East Coast Music Award nominations, most recently for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. In 2021, she reached the Top 10 of CBC’s Searchlight Contest with Aftermath, earning praise from CBC and The Telegram, which dubbed her a “Girl on Fire.” Her music has appeared in Wynonna Earp, Hudson & Rex, The Wedding Planners, feature films, video games, and Hockey Night in Canada. Highlights include her single “Let Go,” featured in multiple TV series and films, and “Hope to Bring,” which anchored The Wedding Planners. She is also the only Newfoundland artist to have a song (“Arrow of Love”) published by Hal Leonard for choir performance.
Fresh from a coveted spot in the RBC Emerging Artist program where she opened for Grammy winner K’NAAN, Rachel is now preparing to release her fourth studio album with Grammy-winning producer Greg Wells. Beyond the spotlight, she champions causes close to her heart, speaking to students about bullying, mental health, and the power of music.
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