Elissa Barclay was a musician and an activist.
Join us Nov. 10, 6:30pm @ Alternity, 333 Bloor St West in Toronto to celebrate the launch of Elissa’s new album Tales of an Underground Compassion Clinic.
New Album
Tales of an Underground Compassion Clinic, the second album by the late Elissa Barclay, will be available to stream Nov 7, 2025–just in time for what would’ve been her 45th birthday.
This record marks a return for Barclay to her folk roots where her haunting vocals soar over sparse acoustic guitar. And still, the rocker maintains flickers of her signature grunge style. These semi-sweet songs overlay the history of saints and shipwrecks with the gritty realities of a city where survival means going underground.
Music and lyrics by Elissa Barclay
Album mixed by Brad Kilpatrick
Album mastered by Phil Shaw Bova
Painting by Corie Waugh
Cover design by Rose Zinnia
Available on Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, YouTube and wherever you stream music.
Launch Party: Nov. 10, 6:30pm @ Alternity (333 Bloor Street West, Toronto)
Elissa Barclay (1980-2019) dedicated her entire life to music and healing through her live concerts, albums & activism.
Elissa was known in the Toronto indie music community as Warrior Girl. Her nickname is an emblem of the strength she emanated with her buzzing electric guitar and fearless voice. Elissa took her pain and the injustices of the world and channeled them into searing music.
Blending punk, pop, alternative, and folk, Elissa championed outsiders and rebels in songs that are both stormy and dreamy. In 2015 she released Glass and Wire, an album of semi-sweet grunge anthems that celebrate feminine resilience.
“Flowers of St. Francis” is the first single from her forthcoming sophomore album Tales of an Underground Compassion Clinic. A soft yet fierce offering, Tales of an Underground Compassion Clinic embarks on a mystical journey through an urban underworld. Elissa’s magical soundscapes embody compassion and resistance as she explores the hard and gentle edges of rock and folk. These songs remind us how joy and grief are necessarily entwined.
Discography
From punky grunge to dreamy acoustic ballads, Elissa Barclay’s discography showcases an artist full of talent and vision.
Tales of an Underground Compassion Clinic
New Album Available November 7, 2025
“Flowers of St. Francis”
2020. Available wherever you stream music.
“Flowers of St. Francis” is the first single from Barclay’s new album Tales of an Underground Compassion Clinic.
A haunting plea, “Flowers of St. Francis” features driving electric guitar and urgent strings. Barclay’s powerful voice offers gifts of flowers and compassion to counter a hellish landscape.
Glass and Wire
2015. Available wherever you stream music.
I will bring you flowers of St. Francis
I will bring you a bag full of stones
“Flowers of St. Francis” by Elissa Barclay