“Prettier With Your Mask Off,” the new single by singer-songwriter Jade LeMac, is intense, dramatic, and nostalgic. It feels like a blow that cuts straight through the chest, coming from someone who seems to have poured everything out from deep within to create a song with that same rawness.

The singer’s voice moves back and forth between high notes, accompanied by powerful percussion and a chorus that comes and goes without asking permission, as if carving into the music the unhealthy emotional attachment that can develop within a relationship.

“Attraction can come instantly, but sometimes attraction grows over time, especially when a person stops hiding who they really are. With this song, I show that through the perspective of someone experiencing Stockholm syndrome,” the artist says about the inspiration behind the track.

A hint of nostalgia is what makes the song linger. There’s something in the way LeMac sings that makes it sound as though she already misses what she’s still caught up in.

Listeners may already know LeMac’s voice from Netflix’s “My Life with the Walter Boys,” which featured her breakout track, “Constellations.” The series returned to the Vancouver-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s catalog in its third season, using four songs from her EP “It’s Always At Night.”

Among the standout songs are “Running Home,” which also marked her debut on the Billboard Canada Hot 100, and “Pink Balloon,” which earned her 15 million streams across streaming platforms. The 2026 Juno Awards also recognized her talent by nominating her in the Breakthrough Artist of the Year category.

This year, LeMac took her songs to Governors Ball and opened for Hilary Duff on her sold-out, 34-date U.S. tour. On October 26, her writing took the spotlight in Toronto, where SOCAN named her Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year.

For the first glimpse of her next EP, Jade LeMac chose a song that leaves its narrator right in the middle of what she’s feeling. “Prettier With Your Mask Off” arrives via Warner Music Canada and East West Records, with the EP due in early 2027.

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Photographed by Meredith Traux.