Cannons and the glow after the crisis: ‘Good things really come from getting through tough times together’

For Michelle Joy, lead singer of Cannons, learning to live with pain was not a new sensation.

As a track and field runner during her childhood in Florida, her father and coach taught her that discomfort was simply the essential toll required to achieve excellence. With that same physical discipline, she tackled 2024 with her band, completing nearly 12 months of uninterrupted touring following the success of their album Heartbeat Highway.

However, behind the scenes and amid a painful divorce, Michelle began to ignore the signs that her body was collapsing: overwhelming fatigue and brain fog so severe that carrying out simple tasks like putting on makeup before going on stage became an exhausting odyssey.

Upon returning to California, she was diagnosed with anemia so acute it was depriving her brain of oxygen, forcing her to undergo surgical treatment and come to a complete halt.

That forced pause, which threatened to stall the momentum of a band with over a billion streams and a 10-year career, ultimately turned into an emotional refuge. While Michelle began her recovery, Ryan Clapham and Paul Davis continued creating demos and even wrote lyrics with her voice in mind, proving that the band had transformed into a true chosen family capable of supporting her in her most vulnerable moment.

From that collective catharsis came Everything Glows, the fifth studio album by the Los Angeles trio—a work that, far from sounding like the rest of an exhausted band, marks the most luminous, danceable, and liberating reinvention of their career. It was followed by the successful Afterglow Tour during the first half of the year, and now they are preparing to close out the year with over two dozen concerts across the United States and a couple of dates in Mexico to wrap up this era.

Michelle Joy, Ryan Clapham, and Paul Davis spoke with EL PAÍS via a video call from California about the limits of the body, creative complicity in the studio, and how music brought the light back to them when they needed it most.

Question. It’s been a few months since your latest album came out; has the meaning of the songs changed for you in any way?

Michelle Joy. The biggest change is just bringing the new album to the live show and seeing people’s reactions, and it’s been fantastic. I feel like the new songs fit into our set so well that it’s brought our live set to a different level that feels exciting and fun. People are singing the words every night, so that’s been the biggest change since the release.

Q. After the Heartbeat Highway tour took such a toll on your health, did returning to the stage this year feel like a triumphant comeback?

M. J. For sure! I would say we went through quite a bit of health processes. First, after the Heartbeat Highway tour, I was out of commission for a little while, went through surgery and different things. The guys kept things going with our album while I got my health back up. Then we went on tour and Paul needed surgery. Ryan and I said, “Let’s keep the show going and make sure we keep everything together while Paul heals up.” Now we’re finally all together, feeling good, and the shows are going well. Hopefully, we can finish off this tour strong.

Q. The first part of the tour was alongside Bob Moses in massive venues like Red Rocks and the Hollywood Bowl. Looking back on those concerts, do you feel this has been the biggest and most ambitious tour of your career?

M. J. Yes, definitely. We’d like to get back to some of those places soon, because half the tour we were without Paul since he got injured pretty early on. We had a lot of fun, but it still didn’t feel like Cannons; all three of us need to be there for it to feel right.

Q. Paul, what was it like for you not to be able to play those shows?

Paul Davis: It was tough, actually. But I was at a point where I physically could not play, so it was understandable. Although I got back pretty quickly and finished the rest of the tour a month later.

Q. Michelle, while you were resting, Ryan and Paul composed the lyrics to Everything Glows with you in mind. How did it feel to find out your bandmates completely understood what you were going through?

M. J. It felt great. After my surgery, I spent six weeks without being able to move. I have ADHD, so staying in one place for six weeks was mentally terrible; I wanted to get out and work on things. It was such a relief to know they were continuing and that they know me so well. They wrote lyrics that felt like something I would want to write myself, capturing things I love that I wouldn’t have even thought of because when you’re stressed, your mind goes too far. Hearing it for the first time was a really cool experience.

Q. Would you say the relationship among the three of you was the main influence for this album?

M. J. Yes. When we were trying to put the album together and think about what all the songs had in common, it was precisely that out of dark and stressful times a light emerges; something good can always come out of it. As a band, we’ve been through so much over the past 12 or 13 years together. Every time we’ve kept our heads up and communicated well, we’ve overcome very stressful moments and reached even more beautiful places.

Q. When you returned to the studio together as a single physical unit, what changed in the band’s chemistry compared to how you worked before?

M. J. The trust in each other’s abilities and what each person brings to the table continues to grow with every album. Our chemistry improves, and each time we know more and more what the right move in a song is without having to explain it to each other as much. It’s more like a family.

Q. In Light as a Feather, you move from a soft opening into a dance anthem about dancing alone after a breakup. How liberating was it to transform that heartbreak into a danceable catharsis?

M. J. It feels good. I feel like a lot of my favorite songs do that: they transform heartbreak into a feeling that makes you think, “You know what? I need to go through this, I’m proud of myself for still being here, and I’m going to enjoy my life.” Those are the songs you want to keep going back to.

Q. Another track from the record, These Nights, addresses how being on stage can sometimes make one feel swallowed up by their career. Now that you are recovered and in this leg of the tour, how do you navigate your relationship with the spotlight and the public?

M. J. We increasingly know our limits. When we started touring, we had never done it before, so we didn’t know how many shows in a row were good for us due to our social battery. It’s a real exchange of energy being on stage, and I never want to go up there and give 50%. I feel like people spend months getting excited for these shows, taking time off work, taking flights, planning romantic evenings, and even engagements around Cannons concerts, so I want to give them everything. We’ve learned that three to four shows in a row is our limit to be able to give 100%. Learning my personal limits during the burnout of that era has helped me show up better for our fans.

Q. Speaking of the fans, do you have a story with a fan that left a mark on you?

Ryan Clapham. Yes, all the time. A recent one is very sad, actually. The last time we played in Oklahoma—which is where we’re going tomorrow—I stopped to eat at a Thai restaurant and these fans happened to be there, and they were kind enough to pay for our meal. I got a message from one of her friends saying that girl had actually passed away, how much our music meant in her life, and that she was going to come to the show we have tomorrow. When you’re young, you don’t really think about how music can impact someone’s life and save them through a hard time. It’s very meaningful.

M. J. I feel the same way. I remember when we played Coachella we met someone whose husband told us, “My wife recently passed away and you guys were the only band both of us loved; all your songs make her come back to me.” It’s a beautiful feeling to realize our music is so much bigger than we ever imagined.

Q. You’ve mentioned that Everything Glows is about remembering we come from the light. How is that concept of light reflected in the group’s personal recovery?

M. J. I think it’s the general certainty that good things truly arise from getting through difficult, dark, and complicated moments together, being there for one another, supporting each other, and making space for whatever each person is going through. We don’t like writing music that makes people walk away feeling horrible or depressed. We go through sad or stressful emotions along with the listener, but we try to bring them to a place where they feel it’s okay to feel that way, letting them know they are not alone.

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