Chiiild is a product of his environment. When the pandemic kicked in, the Los Angeles-via-Montreal artist locked himself in his house and made his last album Hope For Sale as an act of introspection and trying to be the light in dark times. On his latest project Better Luck In the Next Life, Chiiild flipped the script and tried making the album he would have wanted to listen to on his commute to and from school growing up.

His commuting playlist consisted of alternative artists like Incubus and Linkin Park, but also mid 2000s hip-hop and R&B heavyweights like Mario, Omarion, and Fabolous. What attracted him specifically was the weirdness behind the production.

“I’m just kind of a big fan of interesting musical decisions that sometimes come out of ignorance,” Chiiild explained. “I’m not really into like smart music, you know? I love that ignorant savant type of stuff [...]”

Replicating the weirdness on Better Luck In The Next Life took time. Chiiild could spend days or weeks at a time tinkering with a song he thought might have been complete. Sometimes he would rewrite certain lines or verses with the hopes of tapping into a more honest side of himself.

“I’ll record the song, and then I’ll find a more honest way to rewrite a certain line. I love to be able to print out the lyrics and just not even listen to the music and just read it. I think it also equally tells the story.”

Taking his time, Chiiild also managed to secure some a feature from Charlotte Cardin, one of Quebec’s biggest artists to flesh out highlight track “I Hope I Packed A Parachute.” Even beyond the album’s surface, Montreal creatives permeate the album. Most of the people Chiild work with hail from his hometown, showing that home, even thousands of kilometres away, still influences his craft.