Red Flag Flowers
Cassidy Houston Releases New EP
Story by Sara Stoppel, Photo by Sarah McPherson
Cassidy Houston pauses to think for a moment before answering each of my questions. While navigating my curiosity about their music and love life, their face is pensive and calm, with every response carefully meditated on. Houston’s reflective nature is the basis of their newest EP, red flag flowers, an indie folk-pop concept piece set to release July 24.
red flag flowers was recorded with a team of musicians in Thunder Bay and Sudbury from September 2025 to March 2026. The EP is a tribute to the breakups Houston has had in their 20s, with each song telling the story of a “different type of relationship” or “situation” they went through.
Houston explains that the EP’s concept was originally modelled after their friend who was experiencing a breakup, with the title red flag flowers being a reference to a joke between them about “picking red flags like they’re flowers.” The EP’s direction shifted quickly when Houston also experienced a breakup with their long term partner.
Although the EP focuses on feelings Houston had around their romantic breakup, they explain that the EP is also about the “friend breakups, coworker breakups, [and] personal breakups with yourself and parts of yourself” you have while coming of age. “Relationships have been really important for me in learning who I want to be as a person and who I want around me, because the people around me and the people that I spent my time with have a direct impact on how I feel,” they say.
Working in the singer-songwriter/indie genre allows Houston to retroactively explore the emotions that they experienced. They explain that writing music is “taking my own story into my own hands. It feels empowering. I get to share my words how I want to share them.”
Houston doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. “If there’s some way I can be vulnerable and it lets somebody else feel a little bit less alone, I like that,” they say. “Truly, no matter what you go through, if you have the right support and know what you need for yourself, you will come out on the other side in a much better situation.”
Houston’s EP will be available on all streaming services and CDs with bonus tracks available on their website. Visit cassidyhouston.ca for more info.
