ABIGAIL LAPELL STUDIES THE HOPES AND HARDSHIPS OF IMMIGRATING TO A NEW WORLD ON NEW TUNE “LAND OF PLENTY”
WATCH / SHARE “LAND OF PLENTY” HERE
BUY / STREAM “LAND OF PLENTY” HERE
ABIGAIL LAPELL’S THIRD LP, STOLEN TIME, SET FOR RELEASE APRIL 22, 2022 VIA OUTSIDE MUSIC
TOUR DATES AT SXSW AND TREEFORT MUSIC FESTIVAL CONTINUE THIS WEEK
PRE-SAVE STOLEN TIME HERE
Photo Credit : Jen Squires // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
There’s a deep level of empathy that only comes about when one has experienced or been impacted by similar situations. In the case of Canadian singer/songwriter Abigail Lapell, watching a ban on Muslim immigrants happen right before her eyes struck a generational chord with the woman who’s family escaped the Holocaust by immigrating from Eastern Europe to North America. Lapell took to her notebook and the resulting song, “Land Of Plenty”, presents a simple-but-striking look at the hopes and hardships of immigrating to a new world as the opening track from her upcoming album, Stolen Time.
Its themes are both timeless and timely in its recurring, prayerful refrains, envoking the spirits of Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger. “When the Trump administration first brought in the Muslim ban, I remember watching something about it and just crying; it made me think of my whole family,” Lapell says. “They didn’t have an easy life here. You get here and you have no money, you have nothing to call your own, but you’re still rich. It’s not about romanticizing life in Canada, or ignoring the ills of our society. We were just raised with this idea, that as shitty as it is, it’s better than any other place or time in history. This is the land of plenty.”
WATCH / SHARE “LAND OF PLENTY” HERE
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“Land Of Plenty” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
MORE ABOUT STOLEN TIME
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”, the swirling and woozy “Scarlet Fever” was inspired by an elderly relative’s tales of being quarantined as a child, and the aforementioned “Land Of Plenty” haunts with its folk-refrain statement on immigration, past and present.
WATCH / SHARE “SHIPS” HERE
BUY / STREAM “SHIPS” HERE
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.
WATCH / SHARE “PINES” HERE
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TOUR DATES
Mar 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW - Stephen F’s Bar
Mar 18 - Austin, TX - SXSW - Chess Club
Mar 19 - Austin, TX - SXSW - Second Play Stages @ Fairmont Austin
Mar 20 - Austin, TX - Rawhide Trail House Concerts
Mar 24 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest - Boise Co-Op
Mar 25 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest - Pengilly’s Saloon
Mar 26 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest - The Hideout
Mar 26 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest - Treeline city bus
Jun 25 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
