One of Canada’s Most Unique Vocal Groups, AV & The Inner City, Challenge Easy Answers with Stirring New Single “The Failer”
Blending Gospel, Soul, and Roots with rich cultural and musical diversity, the all-female, intergenerational group offers a rare and powerful perspective on trust, nuance, and belonging.
Featured on CBC, SiriusXM, CKUA and Porter Airlines Magazine
Release Date: Friday, May 23 2025
Out Now!
AV & The Inner City is a dynamic and creative six-woman vocal group that blends Soul, Roots, and Blues influences. Drawing from the rich musical backgrounds of each member, the group crafts an uplifting, non-religious Gospel/R&B sound rooted in the timeless sonic tapestries of the genres. The community focused group was born out of just that - community - organically forming after each member took part in a series of socially-distanced porch concerts hosted by AV (Ann Vriend) during the pandemic. Since then, the vocal group has made an immediate impact: earning an "Emerging Artist Award" at the 2023 Edmonton Folk Music Festival, landing features in Edify and Porter Airlines’ in-flight magazine, receiving airplay on CBC and CKUA, and surpassing 20,000 Spotify streams within their first three months of their first release. The group is led by multi-award winning Roots/Blues artist AV, who serves as lead vocalist and music arranger. A vibrant reflection of Canada’s musical diversity, AV & The Inner City's members come from all backgrounds, including the Indigenous, Black, LGBTQ, and recent immigrant communities. A true rarity in today’s music landscape, the intergenerational, all-female, and genre-bending group is rooted in social connection, born from the COVID era when connection was nearly impossible. Their coveted stage performances are marked by emotional depth, vocal power, and a rare sense of communal authenticity. Their newest single, “The Failer” is a contemplative and soulful anthem about the ease of living life with absolutes and the discomfort of nuance in any area of life. "The Failer" was just released on Friday, May 23 2025.
“The Failer” was written and arranged by AV, who also served as co-producer on the track alongside longtime collaborator and drummer, Elie Mercier. The track was recorded in Edmonton, Alberta, at Riverdale Recorders and AV’s home studio, while the drums were recorded by Mercier in Grenoble, France.
About "The Failer":
A melancholic and passionate song about the desire for certainty, AV & The Inner City's “The Failer” is an anthemic and thought-provoking reflection of institutional and personal trust, and the oversimplification of absolutes in a complex world. Exploring the confusion and frustration of stepping back from black-and-white belief systems, "The Failer" suggests the importance of nuance in a society that often cherishes the tunnel vision of ready-made answers, and the danger in glorifying heroes and heroines, while at the same time fully acknowledging the very human need for safety and reliable leadership.
Sonically, the track draws from the recognizable language of marching bands with a military-esque snare beat at the beginning, and haunting, overlapping melodies from the group of vocalists. Sparse yet commanding, the track’s slow pace and simple instrumentation leaves space for thought about living in a world at times commanded by political, spiritual, and moral absolutes, as it progresses from a melancholic ballad to an intense, almost Rock anthem. With both tension and tenderness in its delivery, “The Failer” recognizes how tempting it is to seek perfection in leaders and ideologies, yet how necessary it is to resist that pull. Rather than providing answers, the song becomes a mirror, reflecting the complexity of the desire to feel secure, to belong, to believe, and to be right. An invitation for curiosity and exploration, “The Failer” encourages listeners to look at all angles: psychological and logical, personal and political — and sit with the rare discomfort of what arises when moving beyond blind faith in systems, movements, and people.
“‘The Failer’ is about the search for security, absolutes, and reliable heroes against the backdrop of self-doubt, betrayal, and mistrust, whether personal or political, and the gradual conclusion that there may not be any absolutes at all. Though I wrote this at least 15 years ago it seemed a good time to pull it out of the vault, as our society as a whole seems to be confronting these exact sentiments now.” - AV
AV & the Inner City is a Soul/Roots group that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Edmonton’s inner city. In just three years, they completed their first summer tour, playing major festivals like Vancouver Island, Calgary Folk Festival, and Edmonton Folk Festival, where they received the Emerging Artist Award. At the Calgary Folk Festival, former Nickelodeon promoter Vic Bell praised their set by saying: “Soul and gospel singing ruled… This was an act that could have closed the Main Stage any night.” The group of all female vocalists grew out of AV’s weekly “porch concerts” - nearly 60 free shows held from 2020 to 2021 in Edmonton’s McCauley neighborhood, offering live music and connection during the pandemic. By summer 2021, the vocalists had become a polished ensemble, performing AV’s originals in rich, soul/gospel harmonies. Their first releases have already garnered over 20,000 Spotify streams.
Connect with AV & The Inner City:
https://annvriend.com/pages/av-and-the-inner-city-1
https://www.instagram.com/avinnercity/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/@AVandTheInnerCity?app=desktop
