WATCH / SHARE “LONG DIVISION” HERE
ELLEN FROESE NEW ALBUM, FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING, OUT NOW VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS
BUY / STREAM FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING HERE
Photo Credit : Landon Johnson // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, to celebrate the release of Ellen Froese’s new LP, For Each Flower Growing, the songwriter is sharing the video for album track, “Long Division”, a song Froese wrote “in a few different places over almost a year. I wrote the verses alone in the dead of winter, experimenting with open tunings. I recorded what I had come up with then, and over the end of summer I wrote the lyrics to the jammy bridge part while sitting by a beach along the South Saskatchewan River watching the geese fly away for the winter once again. This song ended up being one of my favourites on the album, thanks in big part to my producer Sam Corbett (The Sheepdogs) and the wonderful musicians who played on it. Lyrically, It’s got a pretty loose concept, but it’s about the distance that can be created between people when small intensities in life and relationships are allowed to build up.”
WATCH / SHARE “LONG DIVISION” HERE
MORE ABOUT FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING
Out today via Victory Pool Records, the album is “based around ideas of 1970s science exploration via Carl Sagan’s series Cosmos, Arthur Russell’s drum machine folk music, finding humour in sadness, and analyzing past relationship choices,” says Froese. “I am moving past old ideas and into a realm of music that incorporates some newer techniques that I have been opposed to in the past (doubling vocals, drum machines, synths), and recognizing that folk music can be anything I want it to be – I don’t have to be stuck in an antiquated mindset to hold strong musical ties to the past. A lot has changed since I started writing this album – I’ve grown up a lot, grappling with the fact that my original recording engineer and great friend, Jill Mack, passed away during the process. Jill’s death turned the album into something different - it is now an homage to her and will always hold memories of my time in the studio with her.
BUY / STREAM FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING HERE
Produced by Sam Corbett, Froese says he “calmly and consistently pushed me towards more radio-friendly songs while still respecting my artistic tendencies and wishes. I am truly very excited about where the songs ended up and I think they are significantly more ‘adult’ than my old music. There are a variety of songs on the album – from Fairport Convention-inspired 70s psychedelic folk jams to quiet contemplative sad finger-style guitar songs to Poppy Family-inspired 60s pop to a country waltz. It finds me working through notions of how my homeschooled/Mennonite/farm/only-child/kid bluegrass band upbringing has affected me and how my values and ideas of what family is have changed throughout the years, and how that lead me to where I am now, at 26.”
Clever and slightly self-deprecating, Ellen Froese’ songs get into the places of your heart that hold both those quieter melancholic feelings and those moments of warm contentment that make you want to dance shoulder to shoulder with whoever is around.
WATCH / SHARE LIVE PERFORMANCES OF}
“FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING” + “LIKE YOU’RE LOOKING AT ME”
MORE ABOUT ELLEN FROESE
Growing up on a dairy farm in the heart of Saskatchewan, Ellen’s passion for music started at an early age, beginning with a love of listening to the classics in her dad’s truck. But it was discovering Neil Young that drove her to a love of songwriting. Hearing his music made her quit piano lessons to instead teach herself guitar. The beginning of her career was heavily influenced by classic folk and bluegrass.
Since her days with In With The Old, a band which Ellen lovingly calls her “teenage bluegrass band,” which produced two albums and toured extensively, Ellen has performed in various forms, from solo singer-songwriter, to member of a duo, to being in a full band. Her influences have expanded from traditional bluegrass music to include musicians such as Tia Blake, Gordon Lightfoot, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Now with three solo albums and one forthcoming, Ellen’s sound has evolved (though she’s never stopped being obsessed with folk music). Her music now adds elements of rock n’ roll, classic country ballads, honky-tonk, and 1970s psychedelic pop grooves while still being grounded in the bluegrass tradition of a working-class relatability.
WATCH / SHARE “FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING” HERE
Despite a love of touring and van life, Saskatchewan is still home to Ellen. She can often be found at one of her favourite venues in Saskatoon, the Broadway Theatre, slinging beers for other artists’ shows. Or sometimes, she moves a little further down the street to play a honky-tonk night, featuring everyone’s favourite country covers, at Amigos Cantina. With a charismatic and charming stage presence, she is quick to bring up others onstage.
WATCH AND SHARE “IN THE SUN” HERE
In winter 2021, Ellen released “In The Sun”, the first of two singles featuring collaborations with Chris Mason (The Deep Dark Woods) and Clayton Linthicum (Kacy and Clayton). “‘In The Sun’ is about conflict and feeling helpless, unable to get your point across. It's about the feeling of not being heard, and just wanting to escape the cycle of thought - planning your next move, and thinking and thinking about what you could say to make them hear and understand you.” says Froese. The second single, also featuring Chris and Clayton, “Did You Have a Love Before”, is only getting fans more and more excited for what’s coming next.
WATCH / SHARE “DID YOU HAVE A LOVE BEFORE ME?” HERE
Album Artwork Credit : Yonina Rollack
FOR EACH FLOWER GROWING TRACKLIST
01 Long Division
02 For Each Flower Growing
03 Like You’re Looking At Me
04 The Story Goes On
05 Things I Have Left To Do
06 In The Sun
07 Did You Have A Love Before Me?
08 Sad To Be Sad
09 Everybody Knows
10 All In Its Own Time
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