Abigail Lapell and Steph Cameron add more dates to their European tour in May

Call it Prairie Noir or Canadiana Desert Rock: Abigail Lapell sings haunting, gorgeous modern folk songs. The Toronto songwriter and multi-instrumentalist returns with Anniversary, an evocative collection of original love songs. Co-produced with Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker, the album was recorded at 200-year-old St Mark’s Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Dekker helped shape the sessions’
spooky, resonant sound and lent his voice to a couple of spellbinding duets. Dekker and Lapell assembled a stellar cast of musicians to support Lapell’s power-house vocals, piano, harmonica and signature fingerstyle guitar. The ensemble’s sensitive, orchestral country-jazz arrangements reveal the depth of Lapell’s musical palette, balancing upbeat earworms with elegiac ballads.

Over the past five years and three captivating albums, Lapell has won three Canadian Folk Music Awards, hit number one on Canadian folk radio and reached a staggering 48 million + streams across digital music platforms. She tours widely acrossNorth America and Europe, performing on vocals, piano and finger-style guitar. Anniversary is out May 10, 2024 on Outside Music.

On her new album, Blood Moon, Steph Cameron explores the glint of the earth and its spirit and speaks to our connection to the land, sky and one another. The title, Blood Moon, describes the moon taking on a striking red hue and roots the subject of the album in awe of the natural world and that of human connection.

This sentiment is present across all nine tracks. Blood Moon is Cameron’s first band album and highlights her growth as a songwriter, with lyrics focused on the beauty and power of nature.  “These songs share my curiosity about the mystical world, drawing on my attachment to the forests and the plains. This record explores the sounds of those places while telling stories revealing what makes us human.”  On the production side, Blood Moon takes a deep dive into the eclectic sounds of British 60’s folk and captures the warmth of 70’s country/folk/rock, drawing on influences from bands like Fairport Convention and Pentangle, combined with Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Joni Mitchell’s Ladies of the Canyon. 

The earthy sounds and warm tones that influenced Cameron’s approach complement the record’s lyrics to create songs that take the listener through mystical forests in the warm summer rain to a crackling campfire beneath a blood-red moon. However, Cameron hasn’t let go of the sharp social commentary and storytelling she’s known for: From a loving tribute to her child to a sharp criticism of the police shooting of an adolescent boy, to her own story of growing up with abuse and moving on, fans will recognize Cameron’s talent for letting the listener see the world through her eyes. “While this album strongly focuses on the earth and its spirit, it also carries significant appreciation for people and tends to reach deep into their hearts.”

Ultimately, Blood Moon is a transformative record that reveals a new side of her artistry—one that makes us want to reinvest in whatever grounds us to the earth and each other.

TOURDATES:
16/05: Stockholm, SWE - Nalen
17/05: Falkenberg, SWE - Tryckhallen
18/05: Malmö, SWE - Plan B
21/05: Arnhem, NL - Luxor Live
22/05: Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg UP
23/05: Venlo, NL - Joriskerk
24/05: Leuven, BE - Cinema Roxy