BELLS LARSEN ANNOUNCES TOUR DATES WITH LAND OF TALK, SHARES NEW ROSTAM COVER

CANADIAN TOUR DATES WITH LAND OF TALK BEGIN MAY 1 - TICKETS HERE

WATCH / SHARE “BIKE DREAM” (ROSTAM COVER) HERE
BUY / STREAM “BIKE DREAM” (ROSTAM COVER) HERE

BUY / STREAM IF I WAS, I AM HERE

 “Larsen, flanked by a bassist and drummer, breathed his pain so beautifully to life it would have been an injustice to not bear witness to it. With raw lyrics that painted sweet and sombre vignettes, Larsen's songs spoke to a poignantly and honestly lived life. With his voice a confessional hush, he shared lyrical meditations on loss, grief, sugary young love, the unruliness of nature and how small and ostensibly negligible moments and people hold enormous heft in our lives. It was impossible to not fall in love with him.”
Exclaim! | Live Review, Highlands Music Festival

“the unvarnished honesty and worn charm of a bedroom recording while retaining a sense of immaculate beauty” Under The Radar
Romantic and bittersweet, If I Was I Am oozes folk summertime sadness.” RANGE Magazine
“Listening to a Bells Larsen track feels like a homecoming” The Line Of Best Fit

Photo Credit : Matteo Gueli  // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Montreal-based songwriter Bells Larsen is announcing his upcoming tour with Land Of Talk which begins May 1. Tickets are on sale now, full dates can be found below.

In addition to the announcement, Larsen is sharing his cover of Rostam’s “Bike Dream”. “Rostam is one of my favourite songwriters and producers,” says Larsen. “The lush yet epic quality of his music never ceases to make me feel like I’m in a dream. That’s why –  of course – I love ‘Bike Dream’ in particular. The song’s lyrics place you in a very specific moment in time while the production (of the original) instills this flourishing sensation of timelessness in your chest. I put my own folky spin on the tune with guitar and doubled-vocals but also tried to maintain the dreaminess of the original with the help of Thanya Iyer’s violin. 

“Is this song about the anxiety of biking through a city? Is it about having two boyfriends? Who knows. The song just feels good and that’s why I love it.”

The track arrives complete with a video filmed during the winter in Montreal. “As soon as winter rolls around in Montreal, most people stop biking,” explains Larsen. “Most years, it's too icy to continue riding through the cold. If you walk around Montreal from January-February, you'll see abandoned bikes covered in snow and chained to poles, waiting for their owners to return to them in the spring. There are a select few Montrealers, however, who bare the chilly air on their bikes and keep on keeping on as though they're riding on a summer's day. This video is an ode to both the forgotten bikes and the hardcore people who bike through the winter months.”

WATCH / SHARE “BIKE DREAM” (ROSTAM COVER) HERE
BUY / STREAM “BIKE DREAM” (ROSTAM COVER) HERE

MORE ABOUT BELLS LARSEN
Bells Larsen is a Montreal-based songwriter who weaves together cathartic lyrics and memorable melodies in his music. Drawing from experiences of loss, love, and identity, Larsen's songs speak to his life as a trans, queer person. His folk-inspired sound and ardent lyricism slows down the pace of the world around him to create space for contemplation and expression. Traversing between emblematic and actualized narratives, he sees storytelling as a way to make sense of and connect with both the ordinary and unpredictable moments in life.

Good Grief, the 2022 debut from Larsen, was conceptualised during a time of restoration. Healing from the death of his first love, the album bridges the gaps between I, you, and we to narrate an intentional meditation on how we try to grapple with the meaning of loss. The album was soon met with acclaim; The Revue called Larsen "undeniably one of the most exciting young artists to arrive on the scene." Larsen has been featured on the CBC, Exclaim!, and has showcased his music at School Night, POP Montreal, and SXSW. 

If I Was, I Am, his new EP out on Next Door Records, embraces stillness. For Larsen, the last few years have involved a lot of movement — this new collection of songs is an attentive, inquisitive recuperation. He returns sonically to a place of familiarity, reminiscent of early bedroom demos, yet the frequency has shifted. With his newly-baritone voice front and centre, accompanied often only by a guitar, Larsen says: "Contrary to what some might think, the point of my transition isn’t about an arrival at a final destination; I don’t know that such a place exists. The only arrival that makes sense to me is the one where I come home to myself.” Grappling with stories of selfhood, change, and homecoming, If I Was, I Am considers the act of finding oneself as a constant state of becoming.

LISTEN TO BELLS LARSEN’S INTERVIEW ON CBC q HERE

BUY / STREAM IF I WAS, I AM HERE

TOUR DATES WITH LAND OF TALK
May 1 - Park Theatre - Winnipeg, MB
May 3 - Festival Hall - Calgary, AB
May 4 - Aviary - Edmonton, AB
May 6 - Dream Cafe - Penticton, BC
May 7 - Wise Hall - Vancouver, BC

BELLS LARSEN ONLINE
WEBSITE
TIKTOK
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM

BELLS LARSEN’S NEW EP, IF I WAS, I AM, OUT TODAY

BELL LARSEN’S NEW EP, IF I WAS, I AM, OUT TODAY VIA NEXT DOOR RECORDS

WATCH / SHARE “SUITCASES BY THE DOOR” LIVE PERFORMANCE

BUY / STREAM IF I WAS, I AM HERE

LISTEN TO BELLS LARSEN’S INTERVIEW ON CBC q HERE

“the unvarnished honesty and worn charm of a bedroom recording while retaining a sense of immaculate beauty” — Under The Radar

Photo Credit : Monse Munro // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Montreal songwriter Bells Larsen’s new EP, If I Was, I Am, is out today on Next Door Records. This EP is Larsen’s first release since transitioning; in his newly baritone voice over artfully sparse instrumentation, he examines the nuanced beauty of identity, as well as his experience as a trans, queer person navigating the qualms of young adulthood. Bells says, "Contrary to what some might think, the point of my transition isn’t about an arrival at a final destination; I don’t know that such a place exists. The only arrival that makes sense to me is the one where I come home to myself.” Alongside the highly anticipated EP, Larsen shares a live performance video of focus track “Suitcases By The Door”. 

Larsen shares of the track, “‘Suitcases’ is about watching someone you love go through big life changes and wanting to feel close to them through that growth. When I wrote the song, I was witnessing my partner navigate some major decisions. We talk a lot about bell hooks together and her definition of what it means to love. She says that to love is to want to support someone through their mental, physical, and spiritual growth; I suppose “Suitcases” is about that.”

WATCH / SHARE “SUITCASES BY THE DOOR” LIVE PERFORMANCE

BUY / STREAM IF I WAS, I AM HERE

MORE ABOUT BELLS LARSEN
Bells Larsen is a Montreal-based songwriter who weaves together cathartic lyrics and memorable melodies in his music. Drawing from experiences of loss, love, and identity, Larsen's songs speak to his life as a trans, queer person. His folk-inspired sound and ardent lyricism slows down the pace of the world around him to create space for contemplation and expression. Traversing between emblematic and actualized narratives, he sees storytelling as a way to make sense of and connect with both the ordinary and unpredictable moments in life.

Good Grief, the 2022 debut from Larsen, was conceptualised during a time of restoration. Healing from the death of his first love, the album bridges the gaps between I, you, and we to narrate an intentional meditation on how we try to grapple with the meaning of loss. Good Grief drew acclaim from CBC Music, Exclaim! and The Revue who proclaimed him “undeniably one of the most exciting young artists to arrive on the scene,” as well as showcase opportunities at School Night, POP Montreal, and SXSW.

WATCH / SHARE “PLACE TO BE” (NICK DRAKE COVER) HERE

WATCH / SHARE “TEN HANDS” HERE

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

IF I WAS, I AM TRACKLIST
01 Ten Hands
02 Suitcases By The Door
03 When I Was Your Favourite Person
04 Just Knowing You
05 Place To Be

BELLS LARSEN ONLINE
WEBSITE
TIKTOK
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM

BELLS LARSEN SHARES NEW NICK DRAKE COVER, “PLACE TO BE”

Photo Credit : Monse Muro // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Last month, Montreal songwriter Bells Larsen announced a new EP If I Was, I Am to be released July 28 on Next Door Records, and shared the first single, “Ten Hands”. Today he returns with another track from the collection, a cover of Nick Drake’s “Place To Be”. “Nick Drake is one of my favourite songwriters and the magic of his tunings never ceases to make me feel at peace,” says Larsen. “I love this song in particular because its lyrics echo a lot of the themes in my own music about change, growing older, and the then vs. the now. My interpretation of the line ‘just hand me down, give me a place to be’ is that Nick Drake is aching for both stasis and belonging in a moment of change. My transition has required so much movement; I too often longfor stillness amidst all the changes I’m going through. Considering both the relevance of the lyrics for me and the cozy-cabin feel of the song (and the fact that the EP wasrecorded in a cabin), covering ‘Place To Be’ for this project felt right.

WATCH / SHARE “PLACE TO BE” (NICK DRAKE COVER) HERE
BUY / STREAM “PLACE TO BE” (NICK DRAKE COVER) HERE

“Place To Be” Single Art // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

MORE ABOUT IF I WAS, I AM
The EP embraces stillness. For Larsen, the last few years have involved a lot of movement — this new collection of songs is an attentive, inquisitive recuperation. He returns sonically to a place of familiarity, reminiscent of early bedroom demos, yet the frequency has shifted. With his newly-baritone voice front and centre, accompanied often only by a guitar, Larsen says, "Contrary to what some might think, the point of my transition isn’t about an arrival at a final destination; I don’t know that such a place exists. The only arrival that makes sense to me is the one where I come home to myself.” Grappling with stories of selfhood, change, and homecoming, If I Was, I Am considers the act of finding oneself as a constant state of becoming.

The first offering from the EP, “Ten Hands”, a song “about being seen,” shares Bells. “For a long time, I figured that I had to choose between being myself and being loved. This song is a testament to the fact that I can choose both.” The music video, co-directed by Bells and Em Grisdale, is a compilation of home video footage following Bells’ transition, a moving portrayal of his relationship's evolution over the course of personal transformation. 

Larsen's artfully sparse instrumentation, often driven by acoustic guitar, offers an evocative base over which to explore his identity—a trans, queer person navigating the qualms of young adulthood, and of course, love. 

WATCH / SHARE “TEN HANDS” HERE
BUY / STREAM “TEN HANDS” HERE

If I Was, I Am is the highly anticipated follow-up to Bells Larsen's 2022 debut Good Grief, which drew acclaim from CBC Music, Exclaim! and The Revue who proclaimed him “undeniably one of the most exciting young artists to arrive on the scene,” as well as showcase opportunities at School Night, POP Montreal, and SXSW.

MORE ABOUT BELLS LARSEN
Bells Larsen is a Montreal-based songwriter who weaves together cathartic lyrics and memorable melodies in his music. Drawing from experiences of loss, love, and identity, Larsen's songs speak to his life as a trans, queer person. His folk-inspired sound and ardent lyricism slows down the pace of the world around him to create space for contemplation and expression. Traversing between emblematic and actualized narratives, he sees storytelling as a way to make sense of and connect with both the ordinary and unpredictable moments in life.

Good Grief, the 2022 debut from Larsen, was conceptualised during a time of restoration. Healing from the death of his first love, the album bridges the gaps between I, you, and we to narrate an intentional meditation on how we try to grapple with the meaning of loss. 

PRE-SAVE IF I WAS, I AM HERE

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

IF I WAS, I AM TRACKLIST
01 Ten Hands
02 Suitcases By The Door
03 When I Was Your Favourite Person
04 Just Knowing You
05 Place To Be

BELLS LARSEN ONLINE
WEBSITE
TIKTOK
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM