Many musicians can attest that there’s a certain catharsis that comes with songwriting, and for Métis singer/songwriter Caitlin Goulet, it couldn’t be more true.

“I’ve always felt like music has been my one safe space where I can actually say whatever I want to say. I can actually admit to the uglier parts of me, the toxic tendencies. You know, my crap, my baggage,” she tells Loose Lips over the phone.

Her debut album Inside Thoughts is an 8-track romp into her mind, overlaid by introspective, electronic soundscapes. Released on July 9, the album already has more than 12,000 streams on Spotify, featuring previously released tracks “Dive Deep” and “Fun N’ Games.” 

“A lot of lessons, growth, pain, joy, and fun went into it. I started facing my trauma from past experiences while creating this album. It helped me move through it,” Goulet says of the Vancouver-recorded album, which features producer/composer/musician Van Ber (Evan Berndt), and co-writers Indigiqueer pop artist Nimkish, 2SLGBTQ+ pop artist Mac Ramsay, Indigenous singer-songwriter Taryn Laronge, and Jamaican-Canadian rapper Marzzybaby.

“In sharing my experience through these songs,” states Goulet. “I want my listeners to feel seen and know that they are not alone. We all get messed up sometimes. And that’s okay.”

Feeling seen was something Goulet definitely recognized when she got a huge shoutout from Jarrett Martineau, host of CBC’s Reclaimed, a national radio program that plays exclusively Indigenous artists.

“I was really honoured, I guess I’m flabbergasted. I didn’t even know they were playing my music,” she gushes.

“Caitlin Goulet writes songs that are like dreams you can get lost in,” Martineau said at the time. “They feel like clouds moving through your body or sound taking over your spirit.”

“When I heard what he had to say about the songs, I was like, ‘Wow.’ And I was just really touched and honoured. And I really felt like what I had tried to do with my music really landed, because I felt like what he said was like: okay, that’s exactly what I was trying to do. So it made me feel really proud of what we did,” Goulet exclaims.

When it comes to reclamation, Goulet is earnest about how her Métis heritage influences her music and the way she approaches the business of music.

“I try to work with Indigenous folks as much as possible and collaborate,” she says, noting that the album was a collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks alike.

“I feel like Métis heritage is such a weird thing to unpack sometimes…. There’s a lot of colonialism in my family history. There’s also people in my family history who were in residential schools. So it’s always just wanting to come to the table with an open mind and learn as much as I can.”

For this album, Goulet was able to secure funding through the First Peoples’ Cultural Council and Creative BC.

“The First Peoples’ Cultural Council, they’ve been incredibly supportive. The first grant I got was for one of the retreats that I went on, and then by the time I applied for the second one, which was for the album, again, I already had the wheels in motion, I already had a plan,” she reveals.

“It was almost as if I was like: Okay, I’m gonna do this no matter what happens, whether I get the grant or not. But if I get the grant, it’s going to happen a lot faster, because it’s not going to be me saving up and scraping together, you know? And I can do more with it.”

And that she did, releasing an 8-track, dreamy album that serves as an intimate look at Goulet’s “Inside Thoughts.”

Find Caitlin Goulet at @CaitlinGouletMusic, and stream the album here.