BUY / STREAM “CANDLES” HERE
LISTEN / SHARE “CANDLES” HERE
ON TOUR NOW WITH GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS
ON TOUR WITH NORTHCOTE STARTING JUNE 12
FULL DATES BELOW
Photo Credit : Heather Saitz // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Lauren Dillen’s songs are arborescent, growing with tender determination. This suits the Toronto singer-songwriter, whose love of plants extends from the metaphors in her songs to the plant cyanotypes she crafts as album artwork to her work as a tattoo artist, specializing in vintage botanical designs. With a mindful approach, Dillen’s folk songs uncover the understory by keenly observing what’s on the surface. As she sings, “we watch the leaves shoot up as the roots shoot down.”
While Dillen’s soothing voice and deft musicianship can be heard through her work with folk-rock quartet Burs, her solo project is all about self-work and following her instincts. Her songs are reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling, and Andy Shauf, with soundscapes informed by ambient musicians like Emily A. Sprague.
Today, Dillen is releasing the new single “Candles”, which she says inspects “the nature of a long term relationship; the feeling of years rolling by, small moments of appreciation, complexity, care, negotiation (and renegotiation), choosing (and choosing again) commitment to one another. Like a child on their birthday, a bit of blind faith might be required.”
BUY / STREAM “CANDLES” HERE
LISTEN / SHARE “CANDLES” HERE
MORE ABOUT LAUREN DILLEN
Lauren Dillen’s music resonates with the confidence of someone who knew who they were at a young age, despite their conservative environment. Growing up in Brooklin, Ontario, Dillen was one of the only openly queer people in her rural high school. Songwriting, especially writing her first guitar-and-voice love songs, became a means of exploring her identity. Though there was no music infrastructure in town, Dillen was driven to create her own performance opportunities, starting open mics and offering sets at local restaurants—“Most people would describe me as strong-willed,” she offers, smiling. These creative outlets were also fundamental to Dillen’s sense of self, “ways to fill her cup of self-esteem,” and she knew, “if I wasn’t careful, it could have been knocked right down.” Soon Dillen was performing constantly, whether singing in the jazz choir or playing her own songs at a café, until she went to study at Humber College and found her feet in Toronto’s indie scene.
The throughline of Dillen’s music over the years has been truthseeking. With refreshing, intentional arrangements, she shares songs with the intimacy of sharing a garment. “These songs aren’t necessarily the truth,” Dillen explains, “but I write them out to explore the truth, to explore what something actually looks like.” Dillen unveils the feelings that linger behind a relationship, expressed through precious details in soft light—a trait she shares with fellow Toronto songwriters like Sister Ray and Charlotte Cornfield.
With a fresh excitement for performing her music and a newfound connection to her own truth, Lauren Dillen is basking in all that arises. “I don’t have to push towards the things that I want,” Dillen reflects, “I can just allow them to unfold.”
TOUR DATES
Apr 16 - Hamilton, ON - The Westdale *
Apr 17 - Montreal, QC - L’Esco *
May 29-31 - Ymir, BC - Tiny Lights Festival
June 12 - Victoria, BC - The Other Guise Theatre ^
June 13 - Nanaimo, BC - The Globe Theatre ^
June 14 - Duncan, BC - Jac's ^
June 16 - Vancouver, BC - The Heatley ^
June 17 - Kamloops, BC - Bright Eyes Brewing ^
June 18 - Kelowna, BC - Jackalope's ^
June 19 - Summerland, BC - Detonate Brewing ^
June 20 - Nelson, BC - Legion ^
June 22 - Rossland, BC - The Flying Steamshovel ^
June 23 - Fernie, BC - TBA ^
June 24 - Lethbridge, AB - Owl Acoustic Lounge ^
June 25 - Calgary, AB - Modern Love ^
June 26 - Red Deer, AB - Vin L Den ^
June 27 - Edmonton, AB - The Buckingham ^
June 28 - Saskatoon, SK - Art Bar ^
June 29 - Regina, SK - The Exchange ^
June 30 - Winnipeg, MB - Handsome Daughter ^
* - supporting Great Lake Swimmers
^ - supporting Northcotes