Canadian newcomer Tenille Arts is celebrating the first number one of her career this week as “Somebody Like That” claims its place at the top of the country chart.
During the song’s 70-week climb to the pinnacle, Tenille performed the song on ABC’s The Bachelor, earned a spot on the prestigious New Faces show at Country Radio Seminar, and was nominated for Best New Female Artist by the Academy of Country Music.
But the uptempo, aspirational “Somebody Like That” can trace its beginnings back to Tenille’s own heartbreak.
“I had just gone through a breakup right before writing the song,” she tells ABC Audio. “So I had written a ton of breakup songs and was just kind of like, ‘Okay, I’m done writing those. I don’t want to write another sad song.'”
“You know, I want to write something hopeful about looking for love and just kind of the love that we look up to,” she continues, “whether it was our grandparents or our parents, and just kind of pull from that and and make it a realistic love.”
Luckily, co-writers Allison Cruz and Alex Kline were on board.
“You know, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies,” Tenille says of true love. “There’s gonna be ups and downs, and I think we really tried to paint that picture in this song…”
“You could be in a relationship, you could be heartbroken,” she adds, “and it all just kind of says the same message about not settling until you find something really great and until you find your person.”
Though she’s now a Nashville resident, Tenille was born and raised in Weyburn, a small prairie town in Saskatchewan.
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