Xana (musician)

Xana was born in Victoria, Canada, and grew up in a music-loving family on Vancouver Island.[1][4][5] At age 5, Xana took violin lessons, and at 10, she took vocal lessons.[6]

In 2015, Xana formed an acoustic pop-punk duo, Coffee Eyes, with Joel Cossette.[3][7][8] When the duo broke up, Xana took at two-year educational program, during which time she avoided writing. In 2018, two months after her program ended, she went to work in order to later make music a financially viable career. She wrote what was to be her third solo single, "Tipsy", during the gap between school and work. She continued to write music for the next two years, although she would only begin recording in 2020.[6][8]

Xana debuted solo with the single "Goddess" in 2020.[7] The song serves as a statement as to who she is as an artist and the space she'll take up in the industry. Asked why the song uses male pronouns, despite Xana identifying as a lesbian, Xana explained that "the song speaks to many different situations, personal or otherwise. It was a fuck-you to those people who think they can walk all over you and take whatever they want. With everything that I was dealing with personally and seeing around me in the music industry, the use of “he” pronouns reflected those experiences."[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck right before her planned debut, Xana primarily promoted her music through TikTok.[2]

Xana subsequently released singles "Pray", "Tipsy", "Yellow", and "Kitchen Light".[9]

Xana worked with the indie band Cold Fame on their debut single “tuesday.” which was released on November 23, 2021.[10]

Xana released her debut album, "Tantrums", on April 15, 2022.[6] The album is autobiographical, reflecting on Xana's experiences in a toxic relationship.[11] The title reflects how, through her music, Xana is "throwing tantrums so other people don't have to."[12] There has been positive reception to the album, with Xtra Magazine citing the opening track as one of "the best queer songs of April" and "the perfect song to throw up two middle fingers to after the end of a relationship gone awry".[13]

The songs "Yellow", "Kitchen Light", and "19" from "Tantrums", as well as the single "Tipsy", have music videos featuring the character Jodie, who is inspired by a woman with whom Xana had a relationship, and who was important to Xana's personal "life and "journey". Excluding "Tipsy", all the videos star Maia Cervillin as Jodie; the actor was changed after "Tipsy" due to the on-screen chemistry with Maia.[8] The music video for "Kitchen Light" gained over one million views on YouTube.[14]

In November 2022, Xana released an acoustic single, "bet you'll get off on this." The song was written over two days and recorded over three.[15][16] In 2023, she released single "Bad Bandit," a Western-themed track with "splashes of country twang," and "babyblue," which reflects Xana's experience with lost childhood friendships.[4][17]

Xana identifies as queer and lesbian.[1][8]

As of April 27, 2023, Xana has over 250,000 listeners on spotify, and her most popular song, “Goddess,” has over 10 million streams.[20] She has just over 35,000 subscribers on YouTube and a total of seven music videos, with the most popular, “Kitchen Light,” having over 1.5 million views.[21] She also has over 91,000 followers on TikTok with a cumulative 1.9 million likes.[22]