Atikokan, Ontario raised a pop star. Alex Sampson, the Canadian-born singer-songwriter who turned bedroom covers into a global following, just dropped his new EP ‘Growing Pains’ via Warner Records. You can listen here.
David Pramik (Selena Gomez, Bebe Rexha, Logic) produced the project, and his fingerprints give Sampson’s emotional honesty a polished, radio-ready frame. The songs pull from real life. Love, heartbreak, loss, and the messy business of growing up all sit at the center of these tracks.
The EP carries recent singles “How Lucky Am I?,” “Misery,” and “Not Even Gone.” Sampson built the sequence to move like a story, tracing the arc from heartbreak through memory and into self-discovery.
“The Growing Pains EP is my favorite project I’ve done to date. I say that every time but it’s because I always mean it,” said Sampson. “I hope the fans listen to this project and understand that I’m just like them. I go through the same things as everyone else. I’ve fallen in love, gotten my heart broken, lost people, etc. I ask everyone to listen from top to bottom as it tells a little bit of a story. Thanks for listening.”
Sampson’s story reads like a modern pop fairytale. He grew up in a town of roughly 2,600 people, found a worldwide audience through covers of Ruth B, Ed Sheeran and Billie Eilish, then won fans over with originals like “Stay Here” and “Play Pretend.” His debut EP ‘Blurry Vision,’ a run on season 19 of America’s Got Talent, and his sophomore EP ‘Hopeless Romantic’ followed.
The numbers tell their own story. More than 5.8 million combined social followers, over 101 million total views, and a 2023 spot on People Magazine’s Emerging Artists list. He connects with Gen Z while pulling in listeners across generations.
These songs land with warmth and emotional pull, a heartfelt step forward from a voice that keeps getting stronger. ‘Growing Pains’ shows Sampson stepping deeper into his next era, intimate and reflective, tied tightly to the fans who have grown right alongside him.
The release follows a busy stretch. Sampson wrapped his first headline tour across the U.S. and Canada earlier this year, and he’ll join Freya Skye as support on her upcoming tour.
Tracklisting:
“How Lucky Am I?”
“Misery”
“Not Even Gone”