Tony Reflects on Producing Abigail Lapell's New Album
Plus info about upcoming shows, including a new date with Graven in Wakefield, QC!
Some Thoughts On Co-Producing Abigail Lapell’s New Album “Anniversary”
Today is the release day for Abigail Lapell’s new album, “Anniversary,” and having worked on it as co-producer, I thought for today’s post that I’d share a few thoughts on its creation and what it meant to be involved.
Abigail’s music was very much on my radar through mutual friends, various family members, and the Toronto scene before we even met, so I had already felt a certain kinship with her songwriting. You know when you hear three or four different unrelated people say “You really have to check this out”? It was like that.
So when I was approached about possibly working with her on a new set of songs, I was already interested. I had never produced an album that wasn’t one of my own though, and it wasn’t something I was seeking out or even thought I might enjoy. But after twenty years of collaborating and making my own records, I felt confident that I had something to offer. I’m not a technical wizard, I don’t have the latest plug-ins, or a home studio for that matter, and I would not consider myself a gear person. I trust my ears though, and put my stock in playing with words and melodies, and recognized Abigail as a true talent in that regard from day one.
The first thing that came to mind was that I really wanted to hear her voice in a big, open reverberant acoustic space, as opposed to in a small box in a studio. I have learned from experience that being in a big open space has the capability to bring out a certain kind of performance in singers and instrumentalists, and I had a hunch that it would suit her voice and playing style extremely well. It’s also just the way I prefer to work, and I’d be of a similar mindset if I were on the hunt for a new space to record one of my projects in too. I suggested bringing in my friend and close collaborator, Joe Lapinski, to help us achieve that. Joe is in fact a technical wizard and creates excellent recordings on location and in special acoustic spaces, so having him work with us was crucial in my mind, while I would focus more on the songs themselves, the instrumentation, the players, the scheduling, organizing, planning, and the bigger picture stuff in collaboration with Abigail.
We found a historic church in a quiet neighbourhood of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and were blown away by not only the acoustics of the building but just how quiet the noise floor was. Not to mention that the church contained not one, not two, but three different pipe organs of varying sizes and sounds; also, an excellent grand piano, a manual pump organ, and a harpsichord. All of them were played at some point in the process, and some of it actually stuck – the harpsichord in the lead-off track “Anniversary Song” (played by the great Tania Gill), the enormous sound of the big pipe organ on “Footsteps,” and the beautifully fragile “3am” which was performed and sung at the grand piano.
Did I mention that Abigail is not only a great singer and songwriter, but an incredible guitar player? She is the real deal. There are a few guitar solos on the record that were completely improvised and seemed to come out of thin air. I was pleasantly surprised to hear just how crazy good she could rip on guitar, and the riff and sentiment behind “Rattlesnake” is one of my favourite moments on the album. I will say that recording vocals, electric guitar, bass and drums simultaneously in a church presents certain sonic challenges. But it also forces real performances, captured in a way that requires some forethought and allows for minimal editing. The songs aren’t created in the box at that point. It is the sound of real people making real music in a room together, and it is part of the beauty of this record, I think.
Percussion, boot-stomps, handclaps, and harmonies also fill the space on the mostly acappella “Flowers In My Hair.” You can feel the warmth and the energy coming off of that one through the speakers. We called on our friends Laurel, Taylor, and Cat from the Niagara group Minuscule to learn, sing and record the harmonies live on the spot together with Abigail, myself, and Jake and Dan from Abigail’s band. It was spontaneous, loose, and seemed to have a 50/50 chance of working out, but everyone just nailed it. What a thrill it was to be in the room when it was happening and to hear the magic of that moment in playback.
Another beautiful instance for me was hearing how a crushing version of the song “Stars” landed perfectly on the first take. How often does that happen? Almost never. It took a bit of insisting, but the magic of that take, to me, is completely palpable and it was ultimately the one we used for the record. It felt like a cosmic alignment, and I became completely choked up while we were tracking it. It was an honour to be asked to sing backing vocals on that one, as well as on the lovely “Count On Me.”
The session crew all brought their A-game too, with Rachel, Michael, Rebecca, and Joe’s mystery steel all responding to the songs in such tasteful and thoughtful ways. We also called in our friend Adam CK Vollick to document some of the process with his incisive cinematographer’s eye.
All this is to say, I felt I put as much energy and attention into this record as I would have with one of my own, and so I feel very proud, emotionally invested, and attached to the thing we made. Thematically, the m.o. of recording “love” songs of all stripes and forms is also something I’ve dedicated a good portion of my own work to, so I felt good about assisting with the steering of this particular ship. I’m very excited to see where Abigail goes and what she does next in whatever form that takes. She is an important new talent with an incredibly powerful, goose-bump-inducing voice, and a fantastic live performer. I hope this record helps to lead even more listeners to her writing and her sound, and I feel lucky to not only have heard the songs before the rest of the world, but to have had a hand in their delivery.
- Tony Dekker, May 10, 2024.
P.S. – Abigail is currently on tour and will be performing at the TD Music Hall in Toronto on May 22, which may or may not feature a surprise special guest on backing vocals. Details are at https://www.abigaillapell.com/tour
Great Lake Swimmers In Concert!
Support added to the Wakefield, QC show on May 26th:
Album release set from Graven - Nepean Ontario Twang Thunder Folk from Singer-Songwriter Matty McKechnie
Just finished listening to Anniversary and absolutely love it! Beautiful songwriting and vocals. Will definitely be checking out more of Abigail's work! 😁
I'm British and enjoying discovering new Canadian bands and talent. My Dad visited Alberta amongst other parts of Canada and North America in the mid to late 80's. He brought Gordon Lightfoot cassettes home with him and we used to listen to Gord all the time on long car journeys. That started my love of all things Canadian! 😁❤🇨🇦