Toronto singer-songwriter Abigail Lapell returns, with a collection of songs that reference a few personal milestones and explore the ideal of growing old together.
Release Date: 10th May 2024
Label: Outside Music
Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital
Anniversary, the new album from Toronto singer-songwriter Abigail Lapell, is billed as the ‘official’ follow-up to her acclaimed 2022 album, Stolen Time. Now, that description might be a tad confusing to anyone who follows these pages forensically, because it’s only a few short months since we were soothed and charmed by Lullabies, Abigail’s short collection of – yes – lullabies, from around the world. At the time, we agonized over whether we should describe Lullabies as an EP, an Extended EP or whether we should throw caution to the wind and credit that delightful 8-song collection as a full-blown album. We plumped for the latter option.
Not that any of the above deliberations matter in the slightest because, taken on its own merits, Anniversary is a charming album that requires no comparison with any of its predecessors. Abigail, along with co-producer Tony Dekker of Ontario indie-folk band Great Lake Swimmers, took the inspired decision to record Anniversary in the 200 year-old Church of St Mark in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the church’s acoustics – plus the opportunity to use the in-house piano, harpsichord and organs – has bestowed Anniversary with a unique sound: immediate and mellow, intimate and rich.
‘Anniversary’ can be defined as ‘returning yearly,’ and the album’s 11 songs track the revolving days, seasons and years to celebrate to celebrate and complicate the notion of eternal love – growing old together. Abigail has also taken inspiration from several personal milestones in her life – including turning 40, the fifteenth anniversary of her father’s death and recent weddings and births in her family. And, in just about every case, she’s challenged convention, as she explains: “I wanted to explore some of the contradictions within the pop culture notion of love. These dichotomies of light and dark, love and loss, fleeting and eternal – even in the wedding vows – ‘sickness and health, richer or poorer.’ “ All clear so far? I can assure you that it does become so, once you’ve heard the songs.
It’s lead single, Anniversary Song, that gets Anniversary underway. Tania Gill makes use of the St Mark’s harpsichord on a bright, fresh, song; the amplified guitars sparkle and the multi-tracked vocals mount an all-out sensual assault as Abigail merges entries to the periodic table of elements – iron and carbon – with the traditional anniversary gifts of cotton, leather and silver.
Described as “Part love song, part ghost story,” Footsteps is a powerful and dramatic affair, with lyrics that explore grief, memory and the power of love to haunt and console at the same time. Abigail accompanies her crystal-clear vocals on piano and the drama of the song is emphasized, in particular, by Jake Oelrichs’ crashing drums and, if you don’t get the ghostly aspect of the song from the lyrics alone, you’ll get the message from the spooky fadeout. The acoustics of the church definitely play their part in giving an otherworldly quality to Count on Me. Described as “A song for weddings and funerals,” it’s one of the album’s real highlights. Abilgail duets with Tony Dekker and their harmonies are mellow and resonant. What’s more, the instrumentation and the production are sublime – the drums are soft and truly effective and the guitars are sharp and bright.
Vivid, distorted, guitars set the agenda, and an insistent drumbeat provides the drive for Rattlesnake, a song that clearly takes its inspiration from the traditions of the Appalachians. Rural rituals and superstitions are reflected in lyrics like: “And when you hear the meadowlark singing in the pasture, gather roots and willow bark, dandelion and aster,” and the delivery is vibrant and infectious. And, if anything, the country ballad Blue Blaze takes us even deeper into the deep south. Abigail has taken the lyrical inspiration for the song from the classical French love song, Plaisir D’Amour, and her strong, passionate vocal delivery does great credit, both to the song and to the country genre that she inhabits so effortlessly here. Tinkly bar-room piano, howling harmonica, soaring beams of pedal steel and some delicious vocal harmonies all combine to achieve a country feel that is wholly authentic, but never over-sentimental.
There’s another strong vocal performance from Abigail, sweetened this time by some lovely discrete harmonies, on Someone (Like You) and the strummed electric guitar is powerful and confident. In contrast, Abigail is at her most vulnerable on the pared-back, soothingly intimate, 3AM. The song features a pair of soft, almost sentimental, trumpet solos from Rebecca Hennessey but, otherwise, Abigail’s voice and her piano are all that’s needed.
Abigail and her friends once again make optimum use of the acoustics inside St Mark’s with the acapella Flowers In My Hair. It’s a joyful singalong with just a shuffling hand-clap rhythm to accompany the harmony singing. The harmonies were, apparently, made up on the spur of the moment, but they’re right on the nail, nevertheless, and the sheer enjoyment that the ensemble derived from recording the track is characterized by the giggling at the end.
Strident, strummed acoustic guitars provide the propulsion for Blue Electric Skies, a “ballad of ambivalence and infatuation,” according to the album’s press release. It’s another intimate number and the tasteful vocal harmonies are illuminated by the ghostly tones of Tony Dekker’s singing saw. And, after such intimacy, I must admit to being taken aback somewhat by the opening verse to the electrifying Wait Up: “I was a cold-hearted bastard with a gunmetal grin; You were a natural disaster, rattling the door till I let you in.” The shimmering electric guitar licks give the song a coating of Stones-like grime, whilst Rebecca’s trumpet adds a note of wistfulness on a song where lyrics, performance and production all come gloriously together.
And so, we can look back over the eleven songs that comprise Anniversary and appreciate that, just as she set out to do, Abigail has probed those dichotomies of which she spoke – light and dark, love and loss, fleeting and eternal and the rest of them. And it’s comforting to realise that all that probing has a happy ending, with the charming Stars. After a fair share of anguish and frustration, Abigail finds solace as she concludes: “But there is no place I’d rather be, nothing I would rather do, than to hold you tight on an August night, and count the stars with you.” All reassuringly wrapped in a package of pensive piano and the sonorous bass of Dan Fortin. I love it when everything turns out well!
Watch the official video to Anniversary Song – the album’s lead single – here:
Abigail Lapell online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / Spotify / YouTube
Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube