WATCH / SHARE “SWIMMER” HERE
BUY / STREAM “SWIMMER” HERE
WORLD TOUR DATES WITH THE WEATHER STATION AND ANDY SHAUF BEGIN FEBRUARY 17
Photo Credit : Tess Roby // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, Montreal’s Helena Deland shares the intimate, heartfelt, chilling new single “Swimmer”. The song is dedicated to her mother who sadly passed away last year and comes accompanied by a video that Helena filmed and directed using footage taken while flying over the St. Lawrence River via helicopter.
WATCH / SHARE “SWIMMER” HERE
BUY / STREAM “SWIMMER” HERE
Helena shares: “A little while after finding out that my mother was sick and that our days together were numbered, I went through a fundamental change, faced as I was with the need to reconsider things I had taken for granted. Growing older with her was now an impossible scenario, but I was being offered a suspension, some time to understand and try to change patterns that had been detrimental to our relationship, and to love her how I wished for her to be loved. I feel that we are in a similar predicament with the world, faced with the climate crisis.
Some losses are too big to wrap our minds around. Here, I am on the beach, watching my mother swim, faced with the immensity of the ocean, of our fragility, riding the troughs of magical thinking and crests of acceptance.”
‘How detailed and hopeful,
how exact
everything is in the light
on the rippling sand,
at the edge of the turning tide —
its upheaval —
its stunning proposal —
its black, anonymous roar.’
-Mary Oliver, "Clamming", Dreamwork
“Swimmer” Single Artwork by Jack Bool // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
The release of “Swimmer” follows the celebrated debut full-length, 2020’s Someone New (Luminelle) and comes just before Helena embarks on an extensive tour which begins next week and includes headlining dates in Los Angeles and New York City, along with dates supporting The Weather Station and Andy Shauf, the latter of which will continue on with an overseas run that will keep Helena on the road through May of 2022.
2022 TOUR DATES // TICKETS HERE
2.17.2022 Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
2.19.2022 Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
2.21.2022 Denver, CO @ Globe Hall *
2.23.2022 Minneapolis,MN @ Turf Club *
2.24.2022 Madison, WI @ High Noon *
2.25.2022 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
2.26.2022 Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
3.01.2022 Quebec, QC @ Le Pantoum
3.03.2022 Montreal, QC @ Le National
3.05.2022 Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
3.13.2022 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club ™
3.15.2022 Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre ™
3.16.2022 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater ™
3.25.2022 University City, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room ™
3.26.2022 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar ™
3.29.2022 Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall ™
3.30.2022 Washington, DC @ Black Cat ™
3.31.2022 Philadelphia, PA @ Union transfer ™
4.18.2022 Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn ™
4.19.2022 Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne ™
4.20.2022 Bordeaux, FR @ Krakatoa ™
4.21.2022 Paris, FR @ Le Trianon ™
4.22.2022 Rouen, FR @ Le 106 ™
4.23.2022 Luxembourg, LU @ Kulturfabrik ™
4.24.2022 Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg ™
4.25.2022 Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown ™
4.26.2022 Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje ™
4.28.2022 Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen ™
4.29.2022 Oslo, NO @ Ingensteds ™
4.30.2022 Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Klubb ™
5.02.2022 Hamburg, DE @ Knust ™
5.03.2022 Berlin, DE @ Silent Green ™
5.05.2022 Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique ™
5.06.2022 Cologne, DE @ Luxor ™
5.07.2022 Genk, BE @ Little Waves Festival ™
5.09.2022 Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon ™
5.10.2022 Edinburgh, UK @ Summerhall ™
5.11.2022 Glasgow, UK @ Drygate ™
5.12.2022 Manchester, UK @ Gorilla ™
5.13.2022 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social ™
5.14.2022 Bristol, UK @ Fiddlers ™
5.15.2022 Brighton, UK @ Chalk ™
5.16.2022 London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire ™
5.18.2022 Belfast, UK @ Empire ™
5.19.2022 Dublin, IE @ Button Factory ™
* Supporting The Weather Station
™ Supporting Andy Shauf
PRAISE FOR HELENA DELAND’S SOMEONE NEW
“...spare, introspective... The most striking tracks on the record show Deland trying to locate herself—physically and emotionally—in relation to others.” - American Songwriter
“"Straddling the line between spare guitar folk music and ethereal synth-pop, Helena Deland stands out from the crowded field of similar artists by crafting music that maintains an unsettling aura, like the sort of sounds you’d hear emanating from the Bang Bang Bar in Twin Peaks. She still has a way with catchy, hummable melodies, but on this evocative debut album, the Montreal-based musician applies her breathy, youthful voice to songs that are just as likely to keep you up at night as soundtrack your end-of-week masked trips to the liquor store."” - The A.V. Club
“Montreal singer-songwriter Helena Deland doesn't waste a note on her long-awaited project Someone New. You'll be hard-pressed to find a debut album released this year with such rich compositional acumen and creative instincts that orbit the domain of pop.” - The FADER
"The hopes, misgivings, wariness and vulnerability of a new romance all play out together in Helena Deland’s 'Comfort, Edge.' The first seconds of the song take their time coming into focus, with whispers and muffled, low-fi instruments. Then the tempo drags its feet, but the grungy guitar chords push forward; the harmonies climb, but Deland’s vocal maintains its cool, with hints of the melody from John Lennon’s 'Jealous Guy.' She sets out her requirements — 'You’ll never make a fool of me' is the first — but she doesn’t necessarily expect them to be met." - The New York Times
“What I love about this record is that it spends time in the sometimes embarrassing or less desirable or presentable places that we find ourselves in. She sings about sometimes shrinking herself down, or not treating people well, or letting other people not treat her so well. And it feels really refreshing to hear that perspective in these songs, backed up by this really kind of polished, clever, adventurous music...This is feminist work in the same way that the films of Chantal Akerman are feminist work... It's not ‘manifesto’ as you say, it's not punk rock ‘lift-our-voices-up-and-scream’ - it's subtle. And I just want to shout out one more thing about this record - the sequencing is incredible! I encourage people to listen to it as an album, because it really takes you on a journey...This is one of my favorite {albums} of the week!” - NPR - All Songs Considered
"Stunning, intricate debut album...Someone New shudders with a digital glow… Her songs are like islands: self-contained, gorgeous little worlds where nothing is obvious—especially the genesis of love and its unsteady first steps." - Pitchfork