There is a particular kind of freedom that arrives when life finally begins to feel light again. For Tenille Arts, that feeling has a soundtrack.
On August 7, the Saskatchewan-born country star will unveil “The Right Drugs,” a buoyant new single arriving via Dreamcatcher Artists and ONErpm. Playful in title and quietly profound at heart, the song finds Arts celebrating the natural highs that come from open skies, familiar places, small pleasures, and the simple realization that happiness can be found close to home. “The title is playful, but at its core, the song is about how intoxicating peace can feel after a hard season,” Arts says. “Sometimes it means finding your way back to who you were all along.”
That sentiment is woven into the song’s imagery, which draws deeply from Arts’ Saskatchewan upbringing: wheat fields stretching toward the horizon, long drives beneath enormous prairie skies, and the stillness of moments when there is nowhere else to be. Rather than reinventing herself, Arts is embracing the person she has always been—a fitting premise for an artist entering what feels like a particularly luminous new chapter.
Joining her for the release are Allison Veltz Cruz and Alex Kline, collaborators with whom Arts shares a piece of country-music history. The trio became the first all-female cast to write, produce, and perform a No. 1 country single with “Somebody Like That,” Arts’ double-platinum breakthrough that also made her the first Canadian female artist to top U.S. Country Airplay since 2007.
The visual world of “The Right Drugs” extends that same sense of uncomplicated joy. Directed by Ryan Nolan, the music video pairs whimsical outdoor scenes with hand-drawn animation, moving through wildflowers, Sunday drives, wheat-field kisses, cherry Coke and sunsets. It is less a traditional music video than a collection of little memories—the kind that become meaningful precisely because they are ordinary.
And the timing feels especially fitting for Arts, who will soon return home in a very public way. On September 19, she is set to perform at the 2026 Canadian Country Music Awards at Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre, while two nights earlier she will join some of Canada's finest artists for the CCMA Legends Show at Sid Buckwold Theatre. Before that, Nashville awaits: Arts returns to the intimate, storied Bluebird Café on August 18.
With more than 700 million global streams, a 16-time Grand Ole Opry résumé, three appearances on ABC’s The Bachelor, and a global social audience of more than 3 million, Arts has already established herself as one of Canada's most accomplished contemporary country voices. Yet “The Right Drugs” suggests that the next chapter may be less about proving anything and more about simply being present for it.
Born and raised in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Arts began writing songs at 13, guitar in hand, and has spent the years since turning prairie beginnings into an international career. Her music has earned Canadian Top 10s, major award nominations and wins, and recognition from Billboard, Rolling Stone Country, People, CMT, Taste of Country and CBC Music.
Now, with “The Right Drugs,” she seems less interested in chasing the next high than recognizing the one already surrounding her. The wheat fields. The open road. The people she loves. A sunset that asks nothing of you. Sometimes, the most intoxicating thing is simply feeling like yourself again.