ABIGAIL LAPELL’S NEW LP OUT TODAY, SHARES NEW VIDEO

WATCH / SHARE “ALL DRESSED UP” HERE
BUY / STREAM “ALL DRESSED UP” HERE

ABIGAIL LAPELL’S THIRD LP, STOLEN TIME, SET FOR RELEASE APRIL 22, 2022 VIA OUTSIDE MUSIC

CANADIAN TOUR DATES CONTINUE THIS WEEK WITH DONOVAN WOODS

BUY / STREAM STOLEN TIME HERE

Photo Credit : Jen Squires // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Celebrated songwriter Abigail Lapell’s new LP Stolen Time strikes a fine balance between her hushed acoustic debut, Great Survivor, and her two rockier, Chris Stringer produced records, Hide Nor Hair and Getaway. Stolen Time brings a live-off-the-floor 70s folk-rock vibe with 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, 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. 

In celebration of today’s release, Abigail revelas the brand new video for “All Dressed Up”. Filmed in Austin during SXSW with local filmmaker Max Conrus, Abigail says, “It was my first time at Southby, and first time out on the road in quite a while, so it was super fun getting to capture the early days of Spring and visit some iconic Austin sightseeing spots. I love the contrast of the glitchy vintage TV set against these natural landscapes, which kind of mirrors the contradictions of the song: "all dressed up" is a fever dream of isolation and claustrophobia, circumscribed by all these obsolete media machines -- but with a semi-hopeful note, too, about making the best of an absurd situation, or at least, 'this too shall pass'. And Spring will come again". 

WATCH / SHARE “ALL DRESSED UP” HERE
BUY / STREAM “ALL DRESSED UP” HERE

MORE ABOUT ABIGAIL LAPELL
Over the past decade and three spellbinding albums, Lapell has garnered two Canadian Folk Music Awards (English Songwriter of the Year in 2020 and Contemporary Album of the Year in 2017), hit number one on Canadian folk radio, and accrued a staggering 13 million+ Spotify streams while touring widely across Canada, the U.S., and Europe. 

PRAISE FOR ABIGAIL LAPELL

"If you're into classic folk like Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny, you should check out this gorgeous new album." - BrooklynVegan 

“Lapell’s latest sees her follow further in a folk-rock direction, taking full advantage of her band’s explosive live chemistry.” - Under The Radar

“Stripped-down beauty.” - FLOOD

“Abigail Lapell may be the best folk artist you haven't yet discovered.” - KUTX

“Abigail Lapell’s music recalls that of those 1960s folk-rock Canadian troubadours like Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot.” - PopMatters

“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.” - Big Takeover

“Lapell excels at weaving gorgeous sonic tapestries.” - The Boot

“Simple but mesmerizing” - Glide

“An exceptional piece of music.” - Ear To The Ground

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

STOLEN TIME TRACK LIST
01 Land Of Plenty
02 Ships
03 Pines
04 Scarlet Fever
05 All Dressed Up
06 I See Music
07 Stolen Time
08 Waterfall
09 Sewage
10 Old Flames
11 I Can’t Believe

TOUR DATES
04/20 - Sarnia ON - Imperial Theatre ^
04/21 - Sarnia ON - Imperial Theatre ^
04/22 - Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre ^
04/23 - Huntsville ON - Algonquin Theatre ^
05/21 - St Andrews NB - Paddlefest New Brunswick
05/22 - Perth-Andover NB - Tobique River Trading Co Brewery (2-4pm)
06/09 - Halifax NS - Bus Stop Theatre *
06/11 - Harbourville NS - Harbourville United Church *
06/18 - Huntsville ON - Huntsville Festival of the Arts - Hillside Farm *
06/22 - St Catharine's ON - The Warehouse *
06/23 - London ON - Aeolian Hall +
06/24 - Toronto ON - Dakota Tavern (7-9pm) *
06/25 - Hamilton ON - Mills Hardware *+
06/29 - Montreal QC - URSA *
06/30 - Ottawa ON - Red Bird Live *

 ^ with Donovan Woods
* with Jenny Berkel
+ with Ken Yates

 For a full list of dates and ticket information, please visit abigaillapell.com/shows

ABIGAIL LAPELL ONLINE
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KEN YATES SHARES “BEST OF THE BROKEN THINGS” FROM UPCOMING LP

NEW ALBUM, CERULEAN, DUE OUT JUNE 3, 2022

WATCH / SHARE “BEST OF THE BROKEN THINGS” HERE
BUY / STREAM “BEST OF THE BROKEN THINGS” HERE

PRE-ORDER CERULEAN HERE

TOUR DATES BEGIN THIS SUMMER // TICKETS HERE

"An enchanting song of acceptance and resolve, Ken Yates’ “The Big One” is a soothing and stirring apocalyptic lullaby that finds refuge in the face of life’s fragility." Atwood Magazine

"The melancholic track finds Yates back with his sweet, signature guitar strums, only this time, exploring the depths of a heartbreaking unrequited love.” Canadian Beats on “Consolation Prize” Feat. Katie Pruitt

"Ken has earned a strong reputation as a bona-fide composer who combines his emotionally charged storytelling with some incredible and unforgettable melodies.” - Great Dark Wonder

Photo Credit : Jen Squires // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Singer-songwriter Ken Yates releases his third single today, "Best Of The Broken Things", where he pieces himself back together–along with its accompanying icy, tranquil video. Cerulean, Yates' forthcoming full-length album, is due out June 3 and is available for pre-order now.

"Best of the Broken Things," sees Yates take a hard look at himself as he explores his own conscience and gives himself a pep talk throughout the track. What began as a pep talk to another person transformed into Yates turning inward , telling these words to himself, and it was at this point that the forthcoming album took shape. Yates softly sings in the final chorus, "And the worst pain comes with no bleeding / When you’re stuck staring at the ceiling / But I think it’s worth repeating / You’re the best of the broken things / The best of the broken things." With the help of producer Jim Bryson, the track concludes with an extended instrumental outro that initially saw various changes to its arrangement before ultimately landing on the stripped down version that can be heard today. In typical Ken Yates fashion, accompanied by the voice of Caroline Marie Brooks, the track ends with a long, hopeful crescendo as Yates manages to find the silver lining in otherwise fractured circumstances.

WATCH / SHARE “BEST OF THE BROKEN THINGS” HERE
BUY / STREAM “BEST OF THE BROKEN THINGS” HERE

In addition to the new music, Yates will be touring this summer live with more to be added, across Ontario. Multiple dates feature artists like Jadea Kelly, Abigail Lapell, Jenny Berkel, and Brian Dunne. Tickets are available now here.

MORE ABOUT CERULEAN
“Reflecting back now, I can almost hear myself processing what I was going through in real time, to the point where even the track listing was obvious–an accurate timeline of the feelings and emotions I was dealing with.” 

Cerulean opens with “The Big One” ft. Kathleen Edwards, an achingly poignant song that starts, quite poetically, at the end. “A friend kept talking about ‘The Big One’, a high-magnitude earthquake expected to strike the Pacific Northwest. In the last couple of years it feels like we have all developed a slight doomsday mentality, myself included; feeling like the world might be ending. Of course, we’re not really sure how, so that song is reckoning with the ‘armageddon’, and a realization of how trivial a lot of our personal relationships or conflicts can be when we are staring face-to-face with the end. The only thing to do is ride out your last few moments with the people you love.”

An album standout, he paints a portrait of relatable restlessness on “Don’t Mean to Wake You” (ft. Stephanie Lambring), a warm and driving folk rock reverie. Yates finds himself lost in a pool of thoughts that gnaw at him so much that he has to turn over and wake his partner. It’s as much an attempt to save himself from himself, as it is a gentle cry for help. 

WATCH / SHARE “CONSOLATION PRIZE” FT. KATIE PRUITT HERE
BUY / STREAM “CONSOLATION PRIZE” FT. KATIE PRUITT HERE

The dynamic and driving “Honest Light” similarly finds him reassuring himself, this time from within. “My wife always refers to golden hour as ‘honest light’, when the light illuminates all the dust on your floor and the crumbs on your counter”, Yates explains. “I had the line, ‘life is like a cheap wine, it don’t get any better with time.’ I merged the title and line together as sort of this acceptance that things are not alright, but you’ll be alright.”

This mature recognition of life’s imperfection proves the lifeblood of Cerulean, and every time Yates seems to be on the verge of sinking, he swims – held afloat not only by his own inner strength, but also by his community. Cerulean is a group effort, with features from singer/songwriter contemporaries including Kathleen Edwards, Stephanie Lambring, Katie Pruitt, and more.

“Although these songs were born in a period of isolation, it turned out to be my most collaborative album yet. There are full band arrangements on every song, and a few of my favourite artists lended their voices, which really brought this record to life”. 

WATCH / SHARE “THE BIG ONE” FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS
BUY / STREAM “THE BIG ONE FT. KATHLEEN EDWARDS

After forty minutes spent exploring a world of vulnerable depths and soaring sonics, Cerulean closes in a moment of tranquility. “The final song, ‘Cerulean’, is about searching for balance – an equilibrium. We move through this endless colour wheel of emotions every day, but you have to find those small moments of peace and acceptance, and reassure yourself, ‘I’m okay.’ 

Yates’ mother Beverley passed away in August 2021.

“I’m strangely in a better headspace now than I was a year ago when she was still with us,” he admits. “I may owe that to taking a hard look at myself through the lens of these songs”.

Now that he’s on the other side, Yates says this album proved a transformative experience – allowing him to grow, while giving him some much-needed resolution to the past few years. “I feel more open than ever, at peace with where I am as an artist,” he reflects. “This is the first time I’ve had a real personal story I wanted to tell. It does feel like I’ve had a moment to reset my life, and now I can start to share that with the rest of the world.”

Loss is a shared human experience. Through Cerulean, Ken Yates not only puts the full scope of his own healing process on display, but he also reminds us that we’re not alone in our pain – and that with time, we may just find our way to acceptance. (Mitch Mosk)

PRE-ORDER CERULEAN HERE

KEN YATES LIVE
May 25 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
Jun 8 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
Jun 11 - East Lansing, MI - Pumpstock
Jun 18 - Bayfield, ON - Bayfield Town Hall
Jun 19 - Smith's Falls, ON - Bowie’s
Jun 20 - Kingston, ON - The Red House
Jun 22 - Toronto, ON - The Cameron House
Jun 23 - London, ON - The Aeolian Hall
Jun 25 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware w/ Abigail Lapell 
Jun 27 - Londonderry, NH - Concerts on the Common 

All tickets can be found HERE

*** More dates will be announced soon ***

PRE-ORDER CERULEAN HERE

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

CERULEAN TRACKLIST
01. The Big One (feat. Kathleen Edwards)
02. The Future Is Dead 
03. Don’t Mean To Wake You (feat. Stephanie Lambring)
04. Consolation Prize (feat. Katie Pruitt)
05. Small Doses
06. Best Of The Broken Things 
07. Honest Light (feat. Caroline Marie Brooks) 
08. Half Clenched Teeth 
09. Good Things (feat. Liz Longley) 
10. Grocery Store 
11. Cerulean 

KEN YATES ONLINE
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EDWIN RAPHAEL ANNOUNCES CANADIAN TOUR DATES

May 5 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS with The Franklin Electric
May 11 - Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz
May 12 - Ottawa, ON - Club SAW
May 13 - Toronto, ON - The Drake
July 30 - Montreal, QC - Osheaga

NEW SINGLE “HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD” OUT NOW

WATCH / SHARE “HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD” HERE

BUY / STREAM “HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD” HERE

“Rare it is to find a writer who speaks so candidly about something that is far from straightforward. It’s deep, it’s provocative, and most importantly, it sounds gorgeous.” Indie Shuffle

“shows the Dubai-born, Montreal-based indie folk songwriter in a delicate light, mixing familiar acoustic melancholy with Eastern-style scales. The music video matches both the spiraling instrumentation of the song and Raphael’s lyrical vision, showing him navigating between two different worlds.” COMPLEX

"Raphael's languid instrumentals are all too easy to melt into." - Exclaim!

"Raphael indulges by opening up that affecting guitar-vocal pairing to a lush bridge with added horn, guitar and drums." - CBC Music

"Tranquil melodies flow over electronic and acoustic instrumentation." - American Songwriter

Video Still

Recently, Dubai-born, Montreal-based songwriter Edwin Raphael shared “Have You Been Told”, his first single and video of 2022. Now he is preparing to take his live performance to the stage in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. All tickets and information can be found HERE and all dates are listed below.

“Have You Been Told” is a track that “steers through the fixation of constant repetitive cycles from a place that is ‘all blown up’ to ‘all so bare’,” says Edwin. “It’s the conflicting pursuit of stimulation vs stability. The phrase ‘have you been told’ suggests the idea of keeping the devil on your shoulder at ease by satisfying it in small doses as well as constantly sort of reminding yourself to check yourself. Essentially the song explores a medium ground where there is a balance between the two.”

The single arrived complete with a video directed by Raphael, Jonathan Frydman, and Ben Del Vasto. “The music video matches both the spiraling instrumentation of the song and Raphael’s lyrical vision, showing him navigating between two different worlds,” notes Complex. 

“The vision for the music video was to find a visual language that expressed what I felt when I heard the song,” says Bel Vasto. “As production went along the vision changed slightly but what remained and what was later found in the editing room was the story of our protagonist existing in two different settings/worlds, with fragments from each informing the other.  A mix between a dream and a journey.”

Frydman adds, “Edwin and I really tried to put forward a strong narrative for the song and with the song being this hypnotic loop, it was essential to flow in tandem with the various melodies on display. What we came up with was a storyline where the protagonist finds himself in between two places connected through a portal (the painting), where he realizes neither world is quite right as much as he'd like to believe it. The balance has to be found within oneself.”

WATCH / SHARE “HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD” HERE

“Have You Been Told” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

MORE ABOUT EDWIN RAPHAEL
How do you anchor yourself when occupying multiple geographic identities at once? For Edwin Raphael, it requires an intentional and intensive form of world-building. By developing an unmistakable style of folk that merges Eastern scales with the Western pop canon, Raphael reimagines his music as a exploratory tool that allows him to construct an interior and sacred home to retreat into. 

Growing up in Dubai, as the son of parents who immigrated from the city of Cochin in India’s coastal Kerala state, Raphael studied classical guitar before deciding on the keys. As he developed an affinity for John Mayer and Ben Howard, he felt at odds with Dubai’s distinct sense of “placelessness” — and the bewildering feeling of being immersed in a culture where everyone claimed an alternate homeland. It wasn’t until he moved to Montreal to pursue a business degree that he felt a sense of stability, and became deeply entangled with the city’s indie bedroom pop scene.

His debut EP Ocean’s Walk (2015) paired stirring, melancholic instrumentals with a fierce self-reckoning. It would set the stage for a string of releases that would dive deeper into the psyche; like confronting the aftershocks following a significant heartbreak, or relearning your emotional baseline as you mature. Subsequent releases, Cold Nights (2017), his acclaimed debut Will You Think of Me Later? (2019), and its follow up Staring at Ceilings (2021), reveal an artist devoted to sharpening his ability to translate his experiences into ubiquitous statements, and saw him open for Hollow Coves, JP Saxe, Noah Kahan. 

Subscribe to Edwin Raphael’s Newsletter HERE.

BUY / STREAM STARING AT CEILINGS EP HERE

WATCH EDWIN RAPHAEL PERFORM LIVE ON CBC MUSIC’S ‘THE INTRO’ HERE

MORE PRAISE FOR STARING AT CEILINGS

"The track seemingly blooms from a spacious and rustic folk sound into something far more lavish." - Under The Radar

“'Sea of Things' feels primal, mimicking the ocean with cyclical, crashing movements, patiently building itself up and washing itself back out." - FLAUNT

"Calming ambience and angelic vocals." - Lyrical Lemonade

"Chill pop with a touch of folk." - EARMILK

"Weightless and ethereal" - Indie Shuffle

"The instrumental and harmonic components provide the same floating-in-space feeling we love from Fleet Foxes." - Culture Collide

"Offers an escape from anxiety." - Kajal

"Incredibly raw and emotional." - C-Heads 

"A gently addictive soundscape, all wistful energy and patient." - Beats Per Minute

"Notes of Bon Iver and Frank Ocean come to a glorious head to create something moving, exciting and fresh." - The Rodeo

EDWIN RAPHAEL PERFORMANCE DATES
May 5 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS with The Franklin Electric
May 11 - Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz with Frieda Mari
May 12 - Ottawa, ON - Club SAW with Schoolhouse
May 13 - Toronto, ON - The Drake with Cassidy Mann
July 30 - Montreal, QC - Osheaga

TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS CAN BE FOUND HERE

EDWIN RAPHAEL ONLINE
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