Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, an electronic-pop act from Ontario, are being propelled to stardom with a song co-written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder and pop star Camila Cabello.
The duo was chosen by Tedder, music mogul Scott Borchetta and Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles to release “Ain’t Easy” – produced by Tedder – at the end of Wednesday’s episode of The Launch on CTV.
“We are so excited to release a song with Ryan Tedder,” said Woods. “‘Ain’t Easy’ is going to be a complete smash.”
Added Fine: “We’re super confident about the track that we made. We know it’s a hit.”
The song is in rotation on iHeartRadio stations and is available for streaming and download wherever you get music.
Auditioning with a stripped-down version of “Lean On Me” by Major Lazer and DJ Snake, Woods and Fine were chosen, along with 18-year-old Basil Phoenix of The Pas, Manitoba, to record “Ain’t Easy.”
The two acts beat out JP Maurice of Vancouver, LITEYEARS of Toronto, and Divine Lightbody of Brampton, Ont. for the opportunity. (All the auditions can be seen on the streaming The Launch: Director's Cut.)
“It was a phenomenal experience,” Woods gushed at the end of the show.
He and Fine surprised Tedder by lowering the song’s key and changing the tempo.
“Elijah and Jamie can be a double-edged sword because the blessing is that they know who they are, know what they want,” said Tedder. “The downside to that is they walked in, ‘Well, we’ve redone the song.’ I was like, well…that’s not how it works.”
But, after it was recorded, Tedder was convinced. “They crushed it,” he said.
Woods and Fine met while he was studying engineering and production at Ottawa’s Algonquin College and she was working at the school after graduating from its culinary program. They started writing and recording together in a studio set up in the basement of Woods’ home in Perth, a small town about an hour west of Ottawa.
Last year, they released several singles – and videos that have had thousands of views of YouTube.
On last week’s debut of The Launch, Logan Staats was chosen to release “The Lucky Ones.”
Next week’s episode features rock star Nikki Sixx and producer Dan Huff.
Catch The Launch on Wednesday nights on CTV. (The Launch: Director's Cut is available on CTV.ca, CTV GO, and CraveTV immediately following the broadcast.)