Canadian Alt-RnB Artist kerri Finds Happiness with ‘Finish What You Started’ LP

Today, Montreal-based vocalist/producer kerri announces his first album in two years, the 19-track Finish What You Started. The raw, introspective LP combines selections from his first two offerings of 2023—the BUNNYHUG EP (February) and the HURTING EP (May)—with new tracks such as “Next Time I’ll Choose Love” and “WHY WOULD I GO ON?”

Finish What You Started introduces listeners to kerri in his most exposed state, pushing past the stigma around mental health conversations that his surroundings instilled in him growing up. kerri boldly shares captivating stories about personal and fictional tribulations, probing his psyche before finding happiness. 

kerri often toes the line between stripped-down ballads and grand, cinematic compositions—the heart-wrenching “Family Man” displays his mastery of leading one style into another. On the whole, Finish What You Started sees kerri adopt a more bare bones approach to both his emotions and his music. Sometimes being concise is a sign of maturity.

“I definitely believe in myself more as a writer (now). I used to be so focused on putting everything possible into a beat, but now I’m riding more of a back-to-the-basics mentality. I’m not a kid anymore, and I want the music I release to represent something true for my life in a more mature and balanced format.”

kerri announces Finish What You Started alongside the release of his new single “getting older.” The penultimate track of the record, “getting older” finds a sense of build and relief in its production, while the lyrics craft the ultimate metaphor for kerri’s own path toward personal acceptance.

“I love that after going through all these emotions on the record,” he shares of the track, “I get to actually have a moment of appreciating myself. With ‘getting older,’ I finally feel ready to love myself, love others, and let others love me.”

2023 is shaping up to be the biggest of kerri’s career on several fronts. At press, HURTING received love from Complex Canada, Early Rising, Ones to Watch, Exclaim! and more. On the editorial side, his track “fourdoors” (with M1RZA – HERE) landed Spotify’s New Music Friday: Canada, while on the sync side, his 2021 track “us/faces” (HERE) was recently placed on S2E9 of Peacock’s Bel Air. 

“getting older” is available at digital retailers here: https://kerri.ffm.to/gettingolder

Finish What You Started Tracklist

Untitled

Too Long

I Just Saw A Ghost (feat. Skinny Atlas)

Ultraviolence

Family Man

Encore

Next Time I’ll Choose Love

Nosebleed

Things I Want (feat. Skinny Atlas)

WHY WOULD I GO ON?

alvin’s theme

1999 (feat. VITO)

Controlling Me

HURTING

Hands

Livin

Wolf

getting older

Finish What You Started

ABOUT KERRI

Hailing from the prairies of Canada, Saskatchewan-born, Montréal-based artist kerri first found his interest in music at a young age – a fateful Google search to understand how Skrillex songs were made quickly led to ignoring schoolwork to find the best way to make beats in Ableton. By age seventeen, kerri knew that music was a passion he couldn’t ignore and dove head-first into his soon-to-be artist project, forgoing college and releasing his first single instead (2017’s “my boo,” a stripped-down version of the RnB club banger by Ghost Town DJs). With the addition of lyricism to his lofi-styled beats, kerri’s melancholy R&B vocal performances add yet another layer to his complex yet personal self described “astronaut music.” that features a distinct moody and otherworldly soundscape. 

kerri’s upcoming album Finish What You Started sees him at his most exposed state. Created after he found himself in an all too familiar moment— twenty-one and wondering who to become and where to go from here— kerri knew that he couldn’t waste any more of his time being consumed by what was out of his control. Now 24, he’s been finding comfort in a more bare bones approach to both his emotions and his music. Finish What You Started is raw, hard-hitting, and entirely sincere – all neatly layered between the breezy synth lines and bold instrumentation that has defined kerri’s music since the beginning.