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Tuesday 01-Jul-2025 11:00 AM

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There ain’t no Aspirin for your soul. But Francis Baptiste has a song that comes close. The Vancouver-based Indigenous singer-songwriter returns with “Aspirin for the Soul,” a searing folk-rock confession about pain, healing, and the bruised beauty of survival.
Born and raised on the Osoyoos Indian Band Reservation in Oliver, BC, Baptiste has spent the last 20 years in East Vancouver, where his lived experience—addiction, fatherhood, poverty, and healing—have become the raw material for his music. “Aspirin for the Soul” marks a new chapter in his songwriting: blunt, bluesy, and bruised with hope. “I’d trade suffering any day / trade a heartache for a hangover,” he sings. “There ain’t no aspirin for your soul. Oh no, ain’t no fixing what’s been broke”.
The single is a preview of his forthcoming album Lived Experience in East Vancouver, out this October. “This song is about not knowing how to deal with trauma, outside of substances,” Baptiste explains. “I can numb my pain with drugs and booze, and deal with the hangover when it comes. But there’s no aspirin for my soul”.
In classic Francis fashion, the song was recorded with a powerhouse group of musicians from across the Vancouver scene. Baptiste handles vocals and guitar, joined by Ricardo Pequenino (piano, vocals), Rob Thomson (bass), Max Ley (drums), Emmett Jerome (lead guitar), Tegan Wallgrin (violin), Feven Kidane (trumpet), Darryl Havers (organ), and even a flute cameo by Mike Allen of Five Alarm Funk.
This single arrives with a stunning video filmed at the DUDES Club, the men’s health organization where Francis now works in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. “The video is centered on recovery and talking circles,” he shares. “I’ve spent years sitting in those circles, talking about trauma and healing. It felt right to film it where I live that reality every day”.
Baptiste first turned heads with his 2022 debut Sneqsilx (Family), sung partially in Nsyilxc?n, the endangered language of the Syilx people. His follow-up, Senklip, the Trickster, continued to explore intergenerational trauma, oral traditions, and his role as an Indigenous father. The Georgia Straight called his music “bluesy, bruised, and blossoming.” CBC praised his honesty, calling him “unsparingly candid”.
Now Baptiste is taking that honesty on the road. He kicks off a packed BC summer tour starting May 24 at Portside Pub in Vancouver, with dates in Penticton, North Vancouver, Revelstoke, Okanagan Falls, and more.

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