Canadian band Wishwell partners with HeartSupport to bring mental health hope on their upcoming album ‘Controlled Emergency’
Canadian indie rock band Wishwell will be releasing a new album in 2026 saturated in mental health themes, making it the perfect partner for HeartSupport’s mission — but it’s far from the first time the band has aligned itself with the organization.
A history of healing
“I used to actually use HeartSupport back in high school, back when it was just an anonymous posting blog wall,” explains Wishwell lead singer Taylor Simpson.
He’s referring to the early version of HeartSupport’s digital Support Wall, staffed by volunteers who offered encouraging comments to others going through similar life struggles and difficult mental health experiences. Taylor would reach out and share his experiences, offering his own feedback to peers as well. HeartSupport became something of a safe haven for him.
Like most others, he found HeartSupport because of his love for alternative music — August Burns Red in particular, whose lead singer Jake Luhrs founded the organization.
“I was a very big emo kid back in the day,” the singer recalls. “I heard that Jake had founded HeartSupport and was trying to make a difference in the mental health space, and I was very intrigued.”
The initial spark of interest led to lifelong involvement. These days, Wishwell has been holding an annual charity event in Toronto called One Beat Fest, where proceeds benefit HeartSupport’s mental health work. Taylor himself personally volunteers as a peer mentor through the Support Calls program, eagerly giving back what he once received.
That volunteer presence is significant: Wishwell represents one of HeartSupport’s primary presences in Canada.
Taylor says on behalf of the whole band, “This organization's amazing, and we can't wait to see the kind of impact it makes here in Toronto and Canada.”
Building a band to heal the scene
After his own years as an emo music fan, when it came time to build his own band, it was clear to Taylor Simpson that his band would share the same goal: to heal the scene. To meet music listeners where they are with messages of hope and help.
“As a band, the kind of culture and community we want to create amongst our listeners and our audience members is one which is safe, inclusive, not discriminatory about any sort of background,” Taylor says earnestly. “Our big thing is breaking the stigma surrounding these conversations about mental health issues, whether that be depression, anxiety, OCD, or PTSD. Any sort of mental health illness or background, suicidal tendencies, or anything like that. We want to create an open and vulnerable atmosphere and environment for people to feel safe in this community of Wishwell.”
That kind of safety and inclusivity is a model that HeartSupport wholly aligns with as well, a model that is entirely evidence-based and that Taylor himself has seen working.
He shares, “I feel like our mission and HeartSupport’s mission are like one and the same. Their whole mission is to create and foster this community of safe and vulnerable discussion surrounding mental health, giving people guidance who really need it but maybe can't afford full-time care or a psychologist. It's all based around volunteers and peer-to-peer support.”
All his time experiencing HeartSupport’s caring model ultimately fed into how Taylor built his band alongside guitarist Sunny. In addition to the yearly charity event, last year, the band even played a tour where $5 of every ticket sale went to HeartSupport.
“No one's here selfishly to try and boast about anything. It’s all for the greater good, trying to lift people up together,” Taylor says of his experience with other HeartSupport community members and volunteers. “That’s entirely what Wishwell as a band is all about: lifting people up, sharing our stories, making sure that everyone knows that we're all in this together. No one should feel isolated or alone in this.”
He continues, “They're so entwined, working with HeartSupport and having our core missions as a band. We are just perfectly aligned on what we both stand for and what we want to see in the world. It's so beautiful. And as a band trying to give back to a community that needs it most, it's been awesome to work through HeartSupport in that way.”
Controlled Emergency: a new album due out in 2026
The way Wishwell and HeartSupport operate in lockstep will be particularly clear on Controlled Emergency, the band’s forthcoming album. The vibey single “Second Guessing” has already given fans a taste of what to expect, offering an indie rock sound under lyrics focused on the experience of anxiety, overthinking, and ultimately overcoming.
“This song is about not giving up on yourself, even when things are super tough,” the band said when they released the song. “It’s about finding the confidence you’ve had all along. One of our favourite lines in the song is ‘who’s taking bets on me?’ It reflects the confidence we’ve grown into as a band.”
“The album is going to be called Controlled Emergency,” shares singer Taylor Simpson. “My way of explaining it is that there are grand emergencies in the world: war, natural disasters, crashes, all those kinds of emergencies. But the controlled emergencies are in our own world. They happen within our sphere. Like a panic attack, a depressive episode, or an anxiety attack. They're emergencies to us.”
Controlled Emergency will explore these moments of mental health crisis, offering solidarity from others who have been there — exactly as Wishwell has always done through the community they’ve created with their band. They hope it leaves listeners feeling connected, that it may even encourage them to stay alive when suicidal thoughts creep in.
“We want to make sure that those people who need it hear the message and the songs, and hear the message that we put out as just people in this band and Wishwell as a whole,” Taylor summarizes earnestly.
Their partnership with HeartSupport makes that possible, continuing to prove that when bands, fans, and the HeartSupport community come together, the impact on the scene is one of immense healing.
You can learn more about Wishwell, their mental health podcast, their Patreon, and their work with HeartSupport at https://linktr.ee/wishwellband/
