Conveying a moment in time, a vision in nature, or a fleeting feeling in a way that others can understand and relate to their own lives is the ultimate recipe for writing timeless, well-loved songs. When Toronto indie-folk artist Abigail Lapell sat down at the piano to write her newly-released tune “Pines,” she checked off each and every one of those boxes. Inspired by a songwriting residency in the Rockies, “Pines” captures the intimacy of walking alone through the woods, spellbound, surrounded by frozen mountain vistas, accented by a contagious melody falling somewhere between the stylings of Neil Young and early Cat Power. “Pines” transcends being a just song about Lapell’s time in the forested mountains—it’s a song sung to them and for them. In a perfectly complementing music video, “Pines” was brought to life visually with hand-drawn graphite animations by Columbian illustrator and director Tatiana Vaca. Today, Big Takeover premiered the song and video calling it “mystical and stunning.” Big Takeover continued their praise for Lapell who stated, “It’s certainly no minor feat when an artist wins English Songwriter of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, enraptures throngs of concertgoers at Americanafest in Nashville – and converts yet more new fans while traipsing through Europe. But somehow Lapell has managed to do exactly that.” Fans can watch the beautifully orchestrated video for “Pines” today at this link and pre-order or pre-save Lapell’s upcoming album Stolen Time ahead of its April 22nd release right here.
The upcoming Stolen Time strikes a balance between Lapell’s acoustic debut, Great Survivor, and her two rockier Chris Stringer-produced records Hide Nor Hair and Getaway, while bringing a live off-the-floor 70s folk-rock vibe and more structural experimentation to the table on songs that feel expansive in their scope—unhurried, psychedelic, and other-worldly. Lapell’s band underscores and meets the power of her vocals on songs like “Ships,” a wild sax solo seemingly enticing her higher and louder to meet the crashing waves. But many of Stolen Time’s standout tracks are solo acoustic guitar songs, backed by little more than Lapell’s harmonica, pump organ, or accordion. “Old Flames,” with Lapell’s melodic fingerstyle guitar mimicking flickering embers, is a bit of an answer song to Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” and the swirling and woozy “Scarlet Fever” was inspired by an elderly relative’s tales of being quarantined as a child. “Land Of Plenty” was influenced by Lapell’s family history of escaping the Holocaust by immigrating from Eastern Europe to North America, as well as more recent immigration stories.
Stolen Time also marks the collaborative meeting of two important music communities for Lapell, who spent formative years in Montreal’s Mile End before returning to her hometown: From Toronto, Dan Fortin (bass), Dani Nash (drums, vocals), Christine Bougie (lap steel, guitar) and Rachael Cardiello (viola); and from Montreal Katie Moore (vocals), Chris Velan (vocals), Pietro Amato (French horn) and Ellwood Epps (trumpet); Nashville pedal steel player Fats Kaplin and Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee also play on the album.
Stolen Time Tracklist:
Land of Plenty
Ships
Pines
Scarlet Fever
All Dressed Up
I See Music
Waterfall
Stolen Time
Sewege
Old Flames
I Can’t Believe
