Never A Sore Subject: In Conversation With Evelyn Little

Evelyn Little keeps a running list of random words and lines on her phone. Not lyrics, not full ideas, just fragments, things that sound interesting, phrases that feel like they could become something. "Sore subject" was one of them. She didn't know what it would turn into when she wrote it down, only that it had weight. That instinct, quiet and unhurried, is kind of how everything works for her.

The Manitoba-based singer-songwriter has been building something real on TikTok — over 46K followers and more than a million likes — not through calculated drops or trend-chasing, but by consistently showing up with music that feels honest. Her previous single "Girls" introduced her to a growing audience hungry for exactly that. Now, with "Sore Subject" out, she's proving that momentum was no accident. We caught up with her ahead of the release to talk about writing in the shower, the strange pressure of going viral, and what it actually means to want more than the algorithm can give you.

How's release week treating you for "Sore Subject?"

I'm really, really excited, just for everyone to hear this song. I feel like it's pretty different topic-wise compared to my other singles that I've released. I feel like it's more me than "Idiot."

That's a bold thing to say about a song that's only your third release... that this one is more you than what came before. But Evelyn means it. Each single has been a step closer to something she's been trying to articulate since she first started writing, and "Sore Subject" feels like the version where she finally stopped holding back. It's the kind of song that sounds simple on the surface until you actually listen to what she's saying.

On the subject of your new single "Sore Subject," what was the writing process like for you? From TikTok, it seems like quite a heartfelt, melancholic song.

So, I typically have an ongoing list of random words and lines in my phone. And I remember having "sore subject" written down. I just thought it was an interesting name for a song. Using that, I came up with 'favourite person to a sore subject.' And then I just came up with the chorus in the shower. Typically, that's how I come up with songs. It's about losing something, and I don't think it typically has to be in a romantic sense. It could be in a friendship or just being promised anything. I feel like I experienced that multiple times in my life. So that's kind of what inspired it.

"I typically have an ongoing list of random words and lines in my phone (...) I just came up with the chorus in the shower."

There's something almost accidental about the way she describes writing: ideas forming in the shower, phrases sitting in a notes app for weeks before they click. But that casualness is deceptive. What she's actually describing is a songwriter who's always on, always collecting, always processing. The chorus didn't appear from nowhere; it appeared because she'd been carrying the title around long enough that her brain already knew what to do with it. The melancholy in "Sore Subject" isn't performed, it's the result of having written about that specific feeling of losing someone, or something, or a version of yourself that trusted too easily, enough times to finally get it right.

What are you working on at the moment? What's coming after this single that fans can expect?

More music. Hopefully, my first EP will be coming out soon. Whatever grabs people's attention on TikTok is typically what we'll be working on next.

"Hopefully, my first EP will be coming out soon."

An EP means a larger statement: a collection of songs that have to hold together as something more than a playlist. For an artist who's been releasing singles one at a time, building an audience response by response, that's a significant shift. It also means the songs she's been stockpiling in that notes app, the ones that didn't make it onto the singles, might finally get their moment. Given how much of herself she puts into even a single phrase, the prospect of a full project is a lot to look forward to.

Is there pressure that comes with releasing music to an audience outside of the Internet? How does that go?

Yes, there's definitely pressure now knowing that my songs could go viral because now that's what I'm striving for, just knowing that that's a possibility. So there's definitely pressure that way. I also want it to be appreciated outside of just TikTok, you know. Hopefully someday I'm successful enough to not just be a 'TikTok artist,' which, there's nothing wrong with that, but my goals are, obviously, I want to be really successful and connect with a lot of people outside of just social media.

It's an honest thing to admit... that virality is now part of the target. There's a version of that conversation that sounds cynical, like an artist admitting they're making music for an algorithm. But that's not quite what she's saying. She's saying that once you know something is possible, you can't unknow it. And alongside that, there's a quieter ambition: to be the kind of artist people seek out, not just stumble across. The kind whose music lives beyond a fifteen-second clip. That distinction matters to her, and it shows in the writing.

How did going viral change the way you made music?

Something I noticed with 'Idiot' is the first three seconds of the song. You know that there's gonna be a story and there's something there. Also, you just know what the emotion of the song is gonna be right away. So I'm definitely writing more with a good hook at the start now.

Three seconds is not a lot of time. But Evelyn has figured out what a lot of artists spend years learning: that a song's opening isn't just an introduction, it's a contract with the listener. You're telling them exactly what they're signing up for before they've had a chance to decide. The fact that she learned this not from a songwriting course or a producer's note but from watching how people responded to her own music says a lot about how she operates. She pays attention, adjusts, and keeps moving.

What or who were your early passions and/or influences when starting songwriting?

I grew up listening to a lot of Taylor Swift and Kesha. And I still love them, but as I got older, I've grown to love Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, and Noah Kahan, but I'd say right now some of my main influences would be Lily Allen, Maisie Peters, and Lola Young.

The evolution of that list says something. Taylor Swift and Kesha at the start: big voices, big emotions, songs designed to be sung loudly and meant. Then a pivot toward writers known for specificity: Rodrigo's brutality, Lorde's strangeness, Noah Kahan's rootedness. And now Lily Allen, Maisie Peters, Lola Young — women who write with a particular kind of wit and directness, who don't dress things up more than necessary. You can hear all of that in "Sore Subject." The emotion is big, but the writing is precise.

How do you see yourself as having gotten to where you are today?

I think just, like, persevering. I always knew that the songs I was writing and posting were decent. And I knew that if I just kept posting and kept writing eventually, something would come of it. I just knew it was going to happen at some point, as delusional as it sounds.

That particular brand of self-belief — the kind that keeps going not because everything is going well but because you've decided it eventually will — is rarer than it looks. A lot of people write songs. Not everyone posts them. Not everyone keeps posting them after the first few don't land. Evelyn did, and she did it knowing, on some level, that patience was the whole strategy.

When did your music journey begin? Were you always a musician when you were younger?

Yes, I was always singing and writing silly songs when I was little. I grew up dancing, so I was definitely surrounded by music, and I did musical theatre, which really got me into singing even more, and I took piano lessons, which I really did not like at first, but then once I started songwriting, I now love playing the piano. And my family is quite musical, so I've always just been surrounded by it.

It's the kind of origin story that makes sense in retrospect but probably didn't feel like an origin story at the time: just a kid who danced, sang in shows, reluctantly practiced piano, and grew up in a house where music was always playing. The piano is a good detail. She didn't like it until she needed it, and now it's central to her sound. That's often how it works: the things you're forced into become the things you can't imagine being without.

A lot of your songs do include the piano. Are you willing to try and experiment with other instruments?

Yes, I definitely want to learn some guitar. I tried and then my fingers hurt. I've never taken any lessons. I just tried learning online and I haven't gotten that far.

Fair enough. Guitar fingertips are their own initiation ritual, and not everyone makes it through. But the willingness to try is there, and given what she did with a piano she initially didn't want to play, it's probably only a matter of time.

What do you hope to accomplish one year from now?

Hopefully my EP will be out, and more people have found my music, and I'm connecting with more people. I would definitely love to at least be like opening for someone on tour. My goal is definitely to perform live because I'm a dancer, so performing is just such a big thing for me. I would love to be performing my songs.

Live performance is the piece that's been missing so far, and for someone who grew up dancing, who spent years on stage in musical theatre, who describes performing as "just such a big thing," the absence of it from her music career so far must feel strange. The EP and a tour slot aren't separate goals; they're two parts of the same thing. She wants to give people a reason to show up, and then actually show up.

Who would be your dream artist to open for?

Well, I would love to perform for large audiences, so a stadium tour would be insane. So, like, Taylor Swift probably.

Full circle. The same artist she grew up listening to, now the benchmark for what success looks like. There's something very Evelyn Little about saying it plainly, without hedging like it's obvious, like of course that's the answer. It kind of is.

What advice do you have to young artists wanting to venture into the music business?

Just keep writing and sharing. That's what I did to get a head start, just get your foot in the door, write good stuff, write bad stuff, write about everything. That's definitely what helped me. I've written about situations a hundred times, just trying to make sense of something, and sometimes my songs don't even make sense to me. Like, it's just gibberish, but I feel like writing helps you figure out what you like and don't like and what sticks and doesn't.

There's no secret in there, no hack, no shortcut she's holding back. Just the same thing she's been doing since she was a kid writing silly songs; showing up, putting it out, and trusting that the process will eventually hand you something worth keeping. "Sore Subject" is proof that it does.

About the artist

Evelyn Little is an emerging music artist based in Toronto, Ontario.

Her latest single, “Sore Subject,” was released on April 10th, following the success of “Girls” and “Idiot.” She is known for her witty lyricism and relatable themes, and draws inspiration from Maisie Peters and Lola Young. Currently, she is in the midst of writing her first EP.