e8: Abigail Lapell

Courtesy of the Artist

Award-winning Toronto vocalist, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist Abigail Lapell is rewriting the narrative of her past in a new album that says farewell to transience, both emotional and physical. With her new album, Getaway, due out February 1, 2019, Lapell offers parting words to a time in her life she’s leaving behind, making peace with putting down roots, both with her life in Toronto and within love. The eleven prairie-noir tracks on Getaway represent a dynamic closing to this reflective journey combining a mid-century tone with a modern edge. Here, Lapell answers her e8 where she speaks about the album, podcasts, the importance of noting time zones, and more!



​Is there a story behind your album’s title?
I called the album “Getaway” because the songs all coalesce around the idea of leaving – a lot of road songs and breakup songs and otherworldly kinds of getting away and escape. I also love the ambiguity of the term “Getaway”, because it could refer to a vacation – like a “romantic getaway” – but also an escape, as in “getaway car.” This seemed fitting for an album full of ambivalent love songs and road songs.

Please share the story behind your album’s artwork.
I designed the album artwork using photographs by Gaelle Legrand, a great photographer/videographer based in Montreal. She and I went out to the Scarborough Bluffs, just east of downtown Toronto, to find this dreamy spot she knew of. But in the end got super lost and caught in the rain and super soaked and muddy, just trying to find the beach. So it was a bit of an adventure, wading through creeks and mud and brambles – but we eventually made it to the shore, which was stunning. And because of the rain, the light had this perfect flat, grey quality. The image on the album cover was actually an outtake, me with a backpack slung over one shoulder, checking my phone while clutching an umbrella – but it ended up being one of my favourite shots. It sort of captured the spirit of the day, and of the album itself, in a way. I love the gentle irony of the album title, “Getaway”-- which sounds like a relaxing, romantic vacation -- juxtaposed with this rainy, mundane and slightly frazzled candid shot.
 
Why did you choose to anchor the album with the songs you did?
The theme of the album is leaving, and it opens and closes with songs about leaving. It wasn’t necessarily planned, but I had written a ton of songs over the last couple of years so I had a lot of material to choose from. It was actually a bit frustrating trying to do so, trying to decide what to leave on the cutting room floor, so to speak. So envisioning this theme helped solidify some of those choices and ended up anchoring the project.

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​When/where do you do your best writing?
Walking around, mostly. Or biking, and sometimes driving. I think maybe the motion is meditative, and I find those are often the times I get a new, unwritten tune stuck in my head – which for me is the origin of a song.

Do you have any touring tips?
Don’t forget to check local time zones! I’ve gotten burned and been late for shows after failing to factor in a lost hour or two en route westbound. Personally, I’ve also been trying to set stricter limits on daily driving – I think 6 hours max is ideal, if not always. Touring in Canada there’s a lot of road to cover, and often a lot of nothing in between towns. Lately I try to incorporate a bit of time off in the planning stages, too, so I can actually enjoy some of those places along the way.
 
What are your “must have” albums for the road?

• Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
• Van Morrison, Hard Nose the Highway
• The Pixies, Come On Pilgrim

How do you spend the long hours on the road?
Podcasts! I’m addicted to listening to podcasts in the van, and it’s such a comfort zone for me that sometimes I’m a bit sad when the drive is over. I listen to music too of course, but I often crave some quiet, music-free time in between shows. That said, I do a lot of singing and songwriting behind the wheel, too, and work on new tunes -- I find the white noise really conducive to that. And I just got an old camper van so when I’m not driving I am endlessly trying to tidy and spruce it up, or stay on top of minor repairs, which is an endless and impossible task.

Favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended?
My first concert was Simon and Garfunkel at the Skydome in Toronto, at around age 12. They were probably my favourite band growing up, so it was a real thrill, despite the less-than-intimate stadium setting (we were up in the nosebleed section). I’d never heard of the opening act, though – someone by the name of Gordon Lightfoot. 

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