SPILL NEW MUSIC: JENNY PALACIOS – “IYKYK”

JENNY PALACIOS – “IYKYK”

INDEPENDENT

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.

Built around a symphony of guitars, the track dives unapologetically into 2000s-inspired pop-rock textures. Produced by Kyle Marchant (Nightwell) with additional writing from Palacios’ long-time collaborators, the trio let themselves fully indulge in nostalgia – following instincts, layering riffs, and embracing the loser-anthem charm.

Sonically, “IYKYK” mirrors the feeling of tripping over your own humanity – messy, unsteady, earnest, and familiar. But beneath the self-deprecation lies a sense of comfort.

Originally from Toronto, Ontario, pop-rock singer-songwriter Jenny Palacios first found her footing as the frontwoman of Arbors Lane, performing on Warped Tour stages alongside Hawthorne Heights, Pvris, I the Mighty, and more. As a solo artist, she leans into intimate yet expansive songwriting – blending the bare emotional storytelling of early 2000s pop rock with atmospheric, modern indie-pop-rock arrangements. Previous singles, including “Took” and “Back of My Hand,” Palacios worked with New Jersey producer Adam Cichocki (Casey, Gatherers) to showcase a shift toward darker full-band production, highlighting her ability to craft music that feels immersive, nostalgic, and sharply personal. Back in Toronto and working with Kyle Marchant (Bearings, Silverstein, Rune), Palacios continues to build a sound that feels both deeply familiar and newly her own.

ARTIST QUOTE

“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.”

“There are so many guitars on this song,” Palacios laughs. “The tones Kyle dialed really strike that 2000s rock-ballad, loser-anthem kind of world. We spent hours just writing riffs based on this one lead I had in the demo, and let ourselves get carried away with it. All three of us grew up in that era and were getting more and more stoked with the nostalgia of each riff that we just kept layering. We ended up with this almost arena-sounding but still playfully self-deprecating kind of track.”

At the emotional core of “IYKYK” sits a confession of identity, femininity, and the strange, slow process of becoming oneself. “I’ve always been pretty insecure about my femininity as in how I carry myself as a woman,” Palacios shares. “There are years of undetected damage from media consumption to address, but even in my everyday life, there are so many women who I look up to that just embody this specific certainty and confidence that I thought I’d have once I got older. I’m still waiting on it.”

Jenny Palacios
[Single]
(Independent)
Release Date: November 25, 2025

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