Montreal-born singer Reve on astrological signs and the elements of pop success

Singer Rêve poses for photos in Toronto on Monday, Oct. 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO — Early in a conversation around her new album "Saturn Return," Rêve tips to being fascinated by the intangible.

She's a Pisces – a water sign known for its romance, mysticism and love of dancing and writing, all traits that indisputably fit her character. And she takes astrological signs quite seriously.

"I get that from my mom," the 27-year-old pop singer-songwriter attests while lounging at her record label's Toronto office wearing a Def Leppard shirt and a leather jacket.

"She called my lawyer last year and was like, 'You can't let (my daughter) sign a contract during this retrograde. I will show up at your door and be very angry.'"

The Montreal-born performer, whose stage name is French for "dream," isn't quite so rigid on the rules of celestial magic. But she believes in it enough to name her album for the spiritual energies.

In some ways, the stars have aligned to bring her to this point. Her debut full-length album, released on Friday, comes nearly a decade after she first got a taste of fame before retreating into the shadows

Lately, Rêve, born Briannah Donolo, has been experiencing the payoff of her determination to slowly shape a debut album while offering slivers of her creation process and her girl-next-door sincerity over TikTok and other social media platforms.

In May, she climbed into the Top 5 on Canadian adult contemporary radio with her name-dropping, Whitney Houston-themed single "Whitney," while her song "CTRL + ALT + DEL" won best dance recording at the 2023 Juno Awards in March.

Both tracks hint at the ambitions of a Canadian performer who is reaching for the stratosphere of pop, a space where backup dancers, elaborate outfits and broad concepts thrive.

Donolo first landed on the music industry's radar in 2014 when she stepped onto the ice at a Montreal Canadiens-Boston Bruins hockey game at age 18 and delivered shimmering renditions of the U.S. and Canadian national anthems that left spectators cheering in support.

The attention was instantly motivating for the young woman who had been writing songs since childhood. But in retrospect, she admits it might've been too much, too soon.

"I didn't know who I was," she said. "The people I was working with were only a few years older than (me). We were all experiencing it for the first time and doing the best that we could."

Still performing under her birth name, Donolo had about six songs in the bank. That was enough to play for record labels who had come knocking, but she said none of the executives were impressed with the work. They told her to come back with a proven track record and a clear identity.

And so, like many aspiring artists, Donolo worked a handful of side jobs, from restaurant server to singer in a 13-piece wedding band — an experience that gave her "sea legs as a performer in a live setting" while she spent her downtime partying at Montreal clubs.

When her position as video co-host and writer for an online men's magazine was cut by layoffs, she turned to online job postings to find another gig.

It landed her an interview at what she thought was a Montreal-based technology company. Half an hour into the vetting process she learned it was actually a screenwriting role for pornographic film scenes, she said.

She decided to take it.

"The environment was very professional so I was like, 'It's going to be good. I'm going to do this for six months," she added.

In retrospect, the job was an unusual turn for an aspiring pop singer, but Donolo shrugs it off as another learning experience that moved her a step closer to her debut album.

"Saturn Return" takes its name from an astrological period that occurs for a person every 30 years when the sixth planet from the Sun aligns with the same spot in the solar system it occupied when they were born.

The moment is symbolic of shifting into a new stage of adulthood that's less hindered by external influences. It marks the freedom of finding one's true self, which is an experience Donolo relates to.

Over 13 tracks, her album blasts through the galaxy of dance music history, with dashes of disco, EDM and house music that evoke pop legends Donna Summer, Madonna and Lady Gaga. She tells stories from the vantage point of a woman on a trek of self-discovery who's playing the roles of partner, temptress and fool.

"Contemporary Love" spins the disco sounds of Studio 54 into a modern tale of the dating scene. On the techno-fuelled "Tongue," she recalls slipping under the seductive spell of another woman, a song concept she imagined as she was coming out as bisexual.

"Breaking Up With Jesus" drops a trip-hop beat on her story of falling for a superior lover, while "Disco at the Strip Club" offers a heavy dose of strings to recall a sexy night out.

Each song leans into the studio-made theatricality of pop escapism with an eye to late 1990s Eurodance and early 2000s club music. Montreal power duo Banx & Ranx and Latin Grammy-nominated Carl Ryden are among the team who added deep layers of production to the sound mix.

Donolo said that's exactly the sort of album she envisioned when she began working on the project during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She wanted to create pop music that brought people together under the dance floor lights as much as it shared her story.

"I always say there's an ultimate truth floating around the room and it's our job as artists to pull that out of the ether," she added.

"And my ultimate goal ... is to create a safe space to feel it all."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2023.