Toronto Artist CLELA ERRINGTON Releases New Single and Video, “FULL MOON DARK TIME”
With a voice timeless and true, Toronto singer/songwriter Clela Errington releases her first single, “FULL MOON DARK TIME,” featuring her daughter Jocelyn Barth. The new single is from the upcoming Walkin’ Each Other Home, Errington’s fifth studio album to date. “Full Moon Dark Time” will be out on all major platforms on Mother’s Day, May 11th, during Mental Health Awareness Month. The accompanying video will be available on YouTube.
The breathtaking harmonies between mother and daughter on Clela Errington’s slow waltz “Full Moon Dark Time” bring a rare depth to this haunting folk ballad. When the two sing together, they create that magical vocal blend that transports the listener.
With its two gorgeous voices, eternal imagery of nature, and beguiling melody, “Full Moon Dark Time” starts with a single image of a moonlit night, then becomes a touching anthem of care and concern.
“It was written as a love letter to a dear friend whose daughter was struggling with mental health,” says Errington, whose own daughter, esteemed jazz vocalist Jocelyn Barth, adds her voice to enhance the song.
With its poignant refrain, “Hold on to dear life,” it offers a message of resilience and connection. The performance video for “Full Moon Dark Time,” is equally simple, but no less engaging.
Errington has been praised for her ability to bring tenderness and emotional honesty to a song, with critics comparing her voice to those of Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray, and Eva Cassidy. Whether performing original material or re-imagining classics, she creates an atmosphere of intimacy and authenticity.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m named after my paternal grandmother, Clela. My name is pronounced like ‘Sheila’.
I grew up in Brockville, Ontario, on the St Lawrence River, in the 1000 Islands region. My mother gave me a guitar when I was 10. I learned to play basic finger picking and strumming patterns from my guitar teacher, John Tapscott.
I played songs I heard on the radio: Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell. John tried to teach me lead lines in a blues scale, but I never picked up on lead playing. I just wanted to sing songs. I learned about harmony singing in my high school choir. We had a fabulous director, Liz Muir from the UK. I went to McGill University in Montreal in 1975 and got into a band. Eventually, I dropped out of university and I hitchhiked to Prince Edward Island with a group of friends, my guitar , and a backpack.
In PEI, my musical education continued with my introduction to Celtic music, country, blues, and fiddle music. I toured the Maritimes with Island vocalist Dawne Fraser and eventually returned to Ontario and settled in Toronto. I didn’t write a song until I was in my mid-forties, when my marriage had broken down.
I released my first record, Lace Curtains, in 1999, and I’m launching my 5th album, Walkin’ Each Other Home, in October 2025. I have a day job in the health and wellness field, and I still travel to PEI to see my friends during the summer months whenever I can.
“Full Moon Dark Time” is such a tender, haunting piece. Can you share what initially inspired you to write it?
The inspiration for Full Moon Dark Time (FMDT) came directly from a friend. FMDT was the subject line in her email, and when I saw those words, the song almost wrote itself. I don’t recall working on rewrites or edits. My friend was describing her daughter’s struggle with mental health and the effect that it was having on her own emotional stability. But it was the title that inspired the song. The visual image of FMDT triggered words that I was able to work into a song.
You’ve described the song as a “love letter” to a friend whose daughter was struggling with mental health. What was it like channeling such a deeply personal subject into your music?
Thankfully, the lyrics themselves don’t reveal anything deeply personal to the listener. In fact, when I played the song for a fellow songwriter, her initial response was, “What does it mean?”. But I do have personal experience with mental health struggles in my family, and as we all know, suicide is an epidemic in some indigenous communities. I wrote the third verse as a plea to ‘hold on to dear life’. Initially, when I sang that 3rd verse, it was difficult for me to get through, but over time, it became easier, and singing with my daughter adds a level of support.
The harmonies between you and your daughter, Jocelyn Barth, are stunning. What was it like working together on this track?
My daughter Jocelyn Barth has been singing with me since she was a girl, so we’ve had the benefit of many years together. Jocelyn is now an acclaimed jazz singer with a beautiful album to her credit entitled “Tell Him I Said Hello”.
Full Moon Dark Time was written in 2014 and recorded in 2015, so I don’t recall much about working together on the song. I asked Jocelyn what she remembers. Jocelyn recalls creating her own harmony lines and arrangements as we practiced the song numerous times. In Jocelyn’s words, “I liked the challenge of exercising breath control on those long, sustained notes. I liked the way my notes stayed the same while my mum’s voice descended. I enjoyed the feeling of the sound vibrations being created by our two voices while singing the song.”
I know what Jocelyn means. Harmony singing feels good, and it is healing.
“Full Moon Dark Time” arrives during Mental Health Awareness Month—what role do you believe music plays in healing and emotional support?
I play music to figure out how I’m feeling, and I write songs to tell a story about those feelings. Singing allows me to express myself freely without judgment. What a gift! Of course, that can change in performance, but practicing and developing muscle memory is my way to achieve a more relaxed performance. Music and healing go hand in hand. Everyone suffers~ but pain can be transformed into something beautiful, and that transformation is healing for the writer, and the resulting creation is healing for the listener. We all feel less alone and more connected. And of course, there are physical health benefits to singing.
What advice would you give to other songwriters who want to write with emotional honesty but aren’t sure how to start?
Whatever resonates deeply will be delivered with emotional honesty, whether doing a cover song or writing an original composition. I didn’t write my own material until I was 42 years old. Around that time, I took a creative writing course called ‘Freefall’, inspired by the Canadian writer W.O. Mitchell. The idea behind’ Freefall’ is to allow ideas to flow freely without a predetermined structure, in an organic and spontaneous way. And to write about subjects that may be uncomfortable. The catch phrase was, “go fearwards” because that’s where the energy lies. In Full Moon Dark Time.
I was addressing mental health and suicide, but in a very quiet way. And listening to music that inspires and then emulating a style that you love can also be effective. When I discovered the music of Cape Verde and vocalist Cesaria Evora, I was so inspired by the simple lyrics about their island home that I decided to write a song about my home on the St. Lawrence River. I tried to create the feeling of wind and water in the music. The result was The River, recorded on my album In The Eddy in 2002. My mother loved this song because she grew up on the river, too.
In my dreams I go back home
To the river where I was born
Cool water and warm stone
And the darkness down below
The sky is open wide
Wheeling birds they cry
Westward wind flies by
Over the rocks and pines
Diving, diving down
Turning, tumbling round
Gliding without a sound
Under a seaweed crown