Originally from Manitoba, singer-songwriter Desiree Dorion has enjoyed a successful career in music, making her mark as a four-time Manitoba Country Music Award winner.
When asked to describe her musical style, she said, “I’m a storyteller, first and foremost. I like to paint pictures with words and tell honest stories through song.”
In the last few years, Dorion has taken an interest in producing her own work.
Dorion’s first self-produced single, “Let Them,” was released on Sept. 12. The song was inspired by the end of a longtime friendship.
“I was initially really upset about it,” she recalled. “And then the more I got to thinking about the end of this friendship, the more I realized that the only person I can really control is myself, that if somebody doesn’t want to be in my corner, I just need to let them go […] let them be who they are, and I just have to continue being who I am. And that’s where my power lies.”
To reflect the song’s empowering message, Dorion decided to make the track upbeat with a “rockier” edge.
Dorion took an interest in music production after participating in Her 204, an album released through Women in Music Canada where each artist was asked to record and, if they wished, produce a cover of a song by a woman artist. While working on that album, she learned how underrepresented women are among music producers — among all producers on the Billboard Hot 100, only a small fraction are women, a statistic she described as “abysmal.” So, when it came time to work on new projects, she had an idea.
“It dawned on me, ‘Well, why don’t [I] just produce it?’” she reflected. “I feel like I’m at the stage now in my career where […] I know how the whole process works.”
“Let Them” will be part of Dorion’s eighth studio album, which will be released in early 2026. The album will largely consist of revisited songs that were written some time ago.
“I have a bunch of songs in my catalogue that I haven’t ever shared with anybody,” she explained. “Some of them I’m touching up and I’m reworking, but some of them, I’m like, ‘Man, this is actually a good song […] people should hear this one.’”
In addition to a new album, Dorion has formed a band featuring three Indigenous musicians — drummer Michel Bruyere, bassist Leroy Constant and guitarist Troy Flamand. This came from a desire to continue advocating for fellow Indigenous artists.
“I’ve held space in the advocacy world for Indigenous women and for Indigenous artists, and what I realized is that I […] was a bit of a hypocrite. I wasn’t hiring Indigenous people to work on my own music and to work on my own project. I thought, ‘Okay, well, that needs to change,’” she said.
Dorion hopes that by getting involved in production, she might be able to inspire other young women to produce their own music.
“I really just hope that I can use my platform to inspire other female artists to […] take the reins and really own their project in the way that they want to,” she stated.
Desiree Dorion’s latest single, “Let Them,” is now available on all major streaming platforms. For more information on Desiree Dorion, visit desireedorion.com or follow her on social media @desireedorion.
