Tonia Evans to Release RUNNING UP THAT HILL Cover Amid Personal Healing
The track stems from her forthcoming album LOVE ME TILL I'M ME AGAIN.
Toronto-based, Newfoundland-born singer-songwriter Tonia Evans (Cianciulli) is set to release a cover of Kate Bush's RUNNING UP THAT HILL, a track she describes as the only song capable of carrying the weight of the past year of her life. The recording arrives from her forthcoming album LOVE ME TILL I'M ME AGAIN and follows Evans's divorce, filed after 23 years of marriage, in the wake of a betrayal she says upended a 27-year relationship.
The cover is out July 16, 2026. 'Three years ago, the answers arrived unexpectedly through an avalanche of anonymous emails, text messages, and even a Bell payphone call containing details and photographs of a betrayal that would ultimately unravel a 27-year relationship and forever change the course of my life,' Evans says. 'Healing through betrayal trauma has been messy, emotional, and heartbreaking as a woman, a mother, and an artist, it will never define who I am. However, it has moulded me in ways I never could have imagined, stronger, more resilient, and more unapologetic than ever before.'
'Running Up That Hill' had been on Evans's mind for years before circumstances finally brought it to life. In January 2026, during what she describes as one of her lowest points, she received an offer with just 24 hours to choose a song, rehearse it, and prepare for a one-hour vocal session. 'I immediately knew this was the moment for Running Up That Hill,' Evans says. 'I dragged myself out of bed and into the recording studio to trust the process of an opportunity that spontaneously presented itself.'
The core vocals came together in only a few takes with engineer Anthony Wright. 'Vocal coach Lorraine Lawson was present that day, and has helped me unlock a deeper, more vulnerable expression when it comes to popular music. There were goosebumps. There were tears. We got what we needed,' Evans recalls. 'I truly felt like God's hand was on my voice that day, especially as I sang the words, make a deal with God. Those lyrics no longer felt like they were directed toward another person. I was singing them to myself.' Kate Bush herself once described the isolation that shaped her songwriting: 'I had friends but I was spending a great deal of my time alone and for me that was vital because there's an awful lot you learn about yourself when you're alone,' a sentiment that echoes through Evans's own reinterpretation of the song, four decades later, from an entirely different vantage point.
For Evans, the song is not a lover's quarrel, but a conversation between who she is today and the woman she says she abandoned for years. 'It is an apology to my inner child, to the voice I ignored, dismissed, and even gaslit into silence,' she explains. 'Betrayal trauma isn't only about infidelity. Sometimes the deepest betrayal is abandoning yourself.' That reckoning was shaped in part by her training with the Institute of HeartMath, where she learned that the heart and body often recognize danger before the mind can make sense of it, a lesson she says became deeply personal in hindsight.
The recording itself was built to favour honesty over polish. 'Sung with raw vulnerability rather than polished perfection, these performances invite listeners into the messy, beautiful process of becoming fully human,' Evans says. 'I am no longer interested in hiding behind the technical excellence or carefully curated appearances of the classical music industry. I am interested in truth.' That same philosophy carries into the accompanying music video, created with director Dimmanti, shot in black and white as a visual metaphor for honesty. 'After living through years of deception, I believe more than ever that honesty is the only path to freedom, even when it hurts,' Evans says of the video, which stages a conversation between her present self and the younger woman who, she says, always knew the truth.
The single was produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Dima Graziani, who also contributed piano and synth to the track, bringing the same textured, cinematic sensibility that has defined Evans's recent releases. 'Running Up That Hill' arrives alongside previously released originals 'Bravery,' 'Churchyard Roses,' and 'Thousand Cries,' with LOVE ME TILL I'M ME AGAIN rounded out by a series of emotionally resonant covers, including 'Lightning Crashes,' 'Runaway,' 'Fix You,' and 'Say My Name,' each chosen for its place in the soundtrack of Evans's own healing.
Originally trained in church and classical music, Evans built her early reputation performing with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Concert Orchestra, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, and Casa Loma Symphony Orchestra. She has since become one of Canada's most passionate interpreters of Newfoundland's musical heritage, recognized by CBC for her work reviving the legacy of the province's first international opera star through her award-winning biography, The Heart's Obsession: An Intimate Biography of Newfoundland Songstress Georgina Stirling, co-written with her grandfather, historian Calvin D. Evans. Beyond music, Evans is a Registered Psychotherapist (Q) supporting women, mothers, and adolescents through life's transitions at A Mother's Journey Therapy Clinic, the founder of the non-profit Wish Arts, and the author of the children's book 'Flick Your Heart-Light On, Let Your Fears Be Gone!'
With this release, Evans is also reclaiming a piece of her own identity, returning to her family name as she steps into what she calls a bold new chapter rooted in truth, healing, and the courage to become fully herself. 'Welcome back, Tonia Evans,' she says simply. 'This next chapter of music is rooted in radical honesty, healing, and rediscovering who I am.'
Evans has said the experience of healing from betrayal trauma has been difficult but ultimately transformative, shaping both her personal outlook and her artistic direction on the upcoming album.
