Lily Frost to celebrate her 10th album, Decompression, at The Paradise Theatre on October 6
Toronto singer/songwriter Lily Frost has released her 10th full-length album, Decompression. Preceded by the singles “Changes In The Air” and “Seagull,” the album’s latest single, “Drive All Night,” displays a powerful heartland rock approach.
Decompression was produced by Aaron Goldstein (Daniel Romano, Le Ren, Lee Harvey Osmond), who brought Lily fully into the Americana realm for the first time, infusing her songs with touches of folk, soul, blues, and country with the help of some of Canada’s most respected session players, including drummers Dani Nash and Nick McKinley, along with bassists Anna Ruddick and Darcy Yates. Mixing was handled by Marty Kinack (Sarah Harmer, Broken Social Scene), and artwork was done by Carleigh Aikins, also a respected singer and co-founder of Bahamas.
“Aaron had a vision for my next record,” Lily explains. “Something real with a focus on the songwriting, live and not overproduced, like Carole King. That spoke to me. Overall, it’s quite melancholic and earnest. The songs deal with change, self-love, desire, loss, and more. I’m on a path to deep healing and awareness and music has always been my way to process and transmute difficult times into something of strength.”
Lily will be launching Decompression at her show at The Paradise Theatre on October 6, 2022. Get your tickets here.
Watch the video for “Drive All Night” below, and learn more about Lily Frost via our interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hey there, my name is Lily Frost. I’m a singer/songwriter living in Toronto. I love songwriting and putting words to music and transmutating sonic energy as a way to connect to the deep self and that part of others. It is a magical transformative medium.
You have just unveiled your album, Decompression. What can you tell us about the writing process behind the album?
Where would I begin? Not sure how long I can write for..ha!
Um..well, when one compiles a few songs to release a body of work, they should coalesce in some way. I scavenged my voice memos from 2015 till now as well as writing solo and in a group to create this particular grouping of songs. A seed is all it takes. I can tell when the seed is good. If it resonates especially over time, then it is worth working on. It has the energy to grow.
I work like that. Always capturing ideas from dreams, films, books, poems, emotions, distress, and confusion. If an idea wakes me up at night, it is my duty to record it. It could be the next single on an album or a soundtrack to a film. I am a vessel. But also a servant. I love this work. I love doing it alone and with others. But they have to be particular to others. Open-minded and hearted creatives with respect for the higher purpose and each other.
You worked with Aaron Goldstein on the album. How was that experience?
Aaron is an amazing pedal steel player. He lives in my neighbourhood and we connected for coffee. He liked my single “You’re Not Alone” and wanted to hear me to an album in this vein, a singer/songwriter album, raw, live, real, and not overproduced. He has a great feel and helped me get over my mute covid phase, get out of my shell and funk and get back to work. We did the beds and the mix, and then I produced and mixed the rest of the album with Jay Ball, Mary Kinack, and Dave Newfeld.
You released a slew of singles from the album, “Changes In The Air,” “Seagull,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” Other than these tracks, what song would you recommend a new listener checks out?
I recommend listening to “Never Looking Back” and “Open Highway.” We just got back from shooting a video on the Amalfi Coast in Italy for “Open Highway.” It’s a song about escapism, duality, and fantasy vs. reality. We need time to edit, but I am excited to share this video. We shot underwater in the Terranean Sea and were drawing from Antonioni, Sergio Leone, and Fellini for our inspiration:)
You wrote your single, “Changes In The Air,” over ZOOM with Chris Bartos, Rob Joy, and Denielle Bassels, during the pandemic. Care to explain that experience?
Sure. We used to have a monthly potluck songwriting jam, but when that got shut down, we took it to Zoom. We started doing weekly meet-ups and were quite prolific.
Two of those group songs are on Decompression. Rob came up with the chorus of “Changes,” and I came up with the melody and first verse, and then the group fleshed out the rest. Rob is a very old friend (we crossed Canada together busking when we were 19), and he’s got a Beatlesque sensibility, Denielle is younger and hipper and more soulful, Chris is a virtuoso on most instruments, and I’m more melodic, conceptual and lyric-based, so our group worked because we all brought something different to the table. The second song on Decompression from that group is “Wild Again.”
While the Pandemic was taking over our lives, how did you stay up to date with your fans?
Oh gosh, I didn’t, really. Maybe Instagram a bit. But while everyone seemed to be performing online, I just didn’t feel it at all. I started volunteering at the food bank and brought music to that situation, Rob actually was singing with his Uke, and I was handing out food to locals in my hood. That was a similar feeling to live music in the sense that I was giving people something they needed. There was energy exchange. Providing a healing service. It transformed me in a good way. I see people differently. I see more. It made me more aware and less judgemental. It was exhausting at first, but I learned some boundaries and also that I’m just a link in the chain. I don’t buy the food or create it. I just handed it out. It’s humbling and very rewarding.
Where do you tend to pull influence from when songwriting?
I guess I may have answered that above: dreams, periods in life where I feel stumped, confused, stuck. Music and poems allow me to express in an abstract way what’s going on inside and then make sense of it, share it and release it and connect to others. It has always been a spiritual experience for me. Spiritual in a cosmic way, not religious. Sometimes hormones and emotions can be overwhelming, life can. I am oversensitive. But music is the cushion, the comfort, the solace, and the lifeboat.
If you could collaborate with any Canadian artist, who would you choose, and why?
Daniel Lanois to produce and play pedal steel.
What is your favourite thing about the music scene in Toronto, ON?
The quality and variety.
What can we expect from you for the remainder of 2022?
I’m going to focus on my radio hosting and writing my book.
The “Open Highway” video will come out in a couple of months. I’m open to playing gigs if there are proper offers, but I’m not hustling anymore. I may take a break from music for a while unless some magical things come of Decompression. I feel it was a big, vulnerable offering, and I don’t have much more to give at this point. I may go to an ashram for a while, do a vipassana retreat, work to make money to visit my brother in California, hit some hot springs, and spend time with my kids. That’s what’s on my plate. Fires, hot tubs, love, and decompression. 🙂