Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto to French-Canadian and Moroccan parents Ian Arden will release his debut EP “Songs for Rebecca” in 2023 which features the single ‘Nadia’, which was directed by David J Redman who has recently worked with Sony Records artist TEDY. The video for ‘Nadia’ was produced by Treplam, a company whose staff worked on ALESSIA CARA’s 2022 music video for ‘Jingle Bell Rock’.
Ian collaborated with Grammy Award winner John Greenham of BILLIE EILISH and BO BURNHAM fame. Greenham calls Ian “an incredibly gifted artist.”
Featuring several musical guests, Ian Arden’s Songs for Rebecca is a remarkable new album which echoes the sounds of the 20th century, yet remains fresh, current and impactful.
The twenty-something Toronto troubadour was raised in a French Canadian and Moroccan household. When Ian began speaking as a toddler, he struggled with a stammer. Speech therapy showed meager results at best. Furthermore, while French was spoken at home, the child’s English language skills were feeble to say the least.
When Ian’s father feared his son would be left behind and never reach his full potential, the elder Arden forced his son to stay up late into the night and recite song lyrics from memory. Ian’s father mainly focused on the songs of Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. These sessions were emotionally scarring because of the unrelenting perfectionism of the elder Arden.
Every night, a new song was chosen. Ian’s father would force his son to repeat the song’s lyrics again and again until they were recited in their entirety with no stammer and no accent. Only then could Ian be allowed to go to sleep. There were countless nights where neither Ian nor his father got any sleep.
The methodology was unscientific, and yet yielded a miracle. After several years, the stammer had mostly vanished and Ian could speak English without an accent.
Songs for Rebecca is the story of Ian Arden discovering a blessing in disguise from his father’s cruel tutelage. When Ian noticed those around him struggling with mental health, he began writing songs to console those closest to him. While the days of the troubadours of old are long gone, Ian hopes to carry their flame in the hopes of bringing light into the darkness of a world that is changing all too rapidly.
Songs for Rebecca will be available on all platforms January 20, 2023
