Toronto pop-rock singer-songwriter Jenny Palacios returns with “IYKYK,” an honest, nostalgic, and playfully self-deprecating anthem for anyone who’s grown up without ever truly “growing into” themselves. Packed with 2000s rock-ballad guitar tones, wry humour, and the soft ache of arrested development, “IYKYK” is an ode to the awkward kids who turned into equally awkward adults – the ones who never quite figured out the script everyone else seems to know by heart.

“I’ve always wanted to write a song called ‘IYKYK‘ — I just really like the phrase, but funny enough, this song didn’t start with that in mind,” says Palacios. “I had written a lot of lines about constantly feeling so awkward and out of place – just stuff that you’re kind of meant to figure out before you’re a grown adult. I’m always in places where everyone else knows exactly what to say or do next. I started asking myself, ‘Is this a unique experience?’ I knew I couldn’t be the only one with this kind of arrested development, so ‘IYKYK‘ felt fitting. It’s like a plea to the weird kids who are now weird adults.”

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

I had many, many directions as time went on with IYKYK. Initially, even before I brought it to the studio, the demo for it was a lot slower in tempo, and some of those riffs at that bpm I found it gave like, Perks of Being a Wallflower, school dance scene, 80’s slow dancing, maybe no one’s asking you. Later as the song became more developed, I thought it’d be fun as a training montage. I really liked an underdog story for it, so I was thinking maybe it’s my band and I starting out as the losing bet for an upcoming fight or something, and at the end maybe it’s my big fight and the climax is that I actually lose it. Eventually, I think I just decided I thought this song deserves the full band, in everyday spaces, where one might expect to act business as usual, so we went with Sam’s (Samuel Mejia, Drummer) kitchen, which feels a little cramped, a little home-y, it’s not show-y or perfect by any means, which felt just so right.  Thomas, Sam’s roommate, walked in at some point and we thought it was just so perfect and like the touch of awkwardness that we needed, so it’s in the final cut. The other half of the music video, I really wanted this feeling of loneliness, which kind of shows the other side of feeling alone in a crowded room or the odd one out and nothing like a huge empty park to get the feeling of being alone across. 

2.What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

There were really specific angles I wanted for the band shots that I collected and sent to Matt (Matt Guarrasi, NAKEDBURN), my friend and director of photography. A lot of the references were from videos like, Good Charlotte’s Unpredictable, Pale Waves Television Romance, The Aces’ Girls Make Me Wanna Die, Green Day’s Redundant, The 1975 You & Me Together Song and more. We kept pretty close to this deck I made, describing look and feel. To pull from it directly, I wrote:

The video is built around emotional vignettes and less a clear story.

“IYKYK” is about feeling like you’re late to every version of yourself. Late to confidence, conviction, femininity, certainty and being observational of who you actually are and ultimately, the comfort in admitting it.

The video explores the awkward adulthood of being both aware and lost, of wanting to be cool and composed but constantly tripping over your own humanness.
Key emotions: restless, bare, self-deprecating, awkward, honest.

Visual shorthand: a life and movement that looks fine, but feels slightly off.

The video loops between detached performance and quiet observation.

3.What was the process of making this video?

I’m really lucky to have the talented friends I do, it’s pretty easy to call Matt up on the drop of a dime and put together a quick game plan in a burst of inspiration. This time around, I had started the art direction deck I mentioned to really get specific and sent it to him. As far as shooting goes, we met up one night and got the park shots, Rob (Rob Licandro, Guitarist) on lighting which was key. Everyone was a little busy so we couldn’t really get together to rehearse, but luckily Sam and I squeezed a quick drum rehearsal in and a week later when the rest of the band was free, we got the shots at Sam’s place. Deck open on my iPad to reference haha. We got a little nervous about the sound, getting drums in a tiny Toronto kitchen, where your neighbours can probably hear and feel everything you do. It got a little freaky since it was so loud but we wrapped up pretty quick.

For the edit, Matt sent me all the footage and I kind of lived with it for a week. Once I had the video where I wanted it, I sent it back to Matt for colour and in a day or two the final product was up on Youtube and out in the world! 

The way I work, I feel like I definitely always just set a deadline and like, figure it out. This time, the video was finished and uploaded within like 3 hours of the release date, it was a close one!