The time has come and folk-Americana duo Last Birds, comprised of Lindsay Arnold and Mike Davis of North Portal, is releasing their debut self-titled EP on April 16.
The Mercury spoke to the local artists about the new product and future plans.
The new project follows Arnold’s and Davis' success with the folk group Hook & Nail, which includes a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for New/Emerging Artist of the Year in 2020, and reaching No. 4 on the SaskMusic Best Saskatchewan Albums of 2018 list.
Over the past two years, Davis and Arnold have been writing songs that focus on tight vocal harmonies and interwoven acoustic guitars, a sound based on the musical closeness possible in a husband and wife duo.
"I think the songs are coming from the point of view of life after the fairy tale … Our perspective now reflects our own … As older musicians, we've been around the block a couple of times, and you start seeing love in a different way. Love ages and takes on a certain maturity. And I think that's where the songs come from," Arnold said.
Keeping the instrumentation minimal, their songs hearken to the early days of country folk music while exploring dilemmas of the modern world. The first few songs of the new EP were released late last year and early this year, and have caught some attention.
The first single from the EP, Worry About It, holds a mirror to current events and follows a troubled mind through a 24-hour period. With great empathy for the human condition, the song touches on growing anxieties that plague musicians' personal and world views.
The second single, Wedding Day, is a thumping number that takes inspiration from a Victorian rhyme that predicted the success of a marriage based on the colour of a bride's dress.
The lead track, Carve Your Name, tenderly remembers and then mourns the loss of a childhood friend. The album's bittersweet songs reflect on life after the innocence of youth is lost and love starts to show its age.
Last Birds was able to complete their EP despite COVID-19 setbacks in 2020.
"It was an uncertain approach, just because we weren't sure how it was all going to come together. We got halted in the recording process last winter and we couldn't finish recording the vocals until June of 2020," Arnold said.
Working with producer Brad Prosko and percussionist Jayson Brinkworth, they had the guitar and percussion tracks recorded at Touchwood Studios in Regina before the pandemic hit North America. Unable to return to the studio due to pandemic protocols, the duo had to find a different way to complete the process.
"We weren't sure what was going to happen, we're kind of on hold. And then we were able to have our studio engineer come down and bring a mobile recording unit set up in one (hotel) room, and then run the cords and everything to the other room where we were able to sing our vocal parts like that. You have to do what you have to do," Davis said.
"It was at the Days Inn in Estevan, so it was nice that we ended up recording locally," Arnold added.
Last Birds formed in November 2019 and have already met some career goals, including a Breakout West Spotlight Showcase at Folk Alliance's virtual conference in February 2021.
"That was a completely different thing to be trying to promote yourself and your music in the virtual world," Arnold said.
"I'm not sure how many people attend that, but there are hundreds and hundreds of artists and probably thousands of industry people that are taking part. So you're trying to network and basically, it was like a week of Zoom meetings and talking to people online. And we can't wait to go back to real life. But it was really good to be part of even though it was virtual," Davis added.
The duo also recorded a full-length concert for SaskTel Max Local on Demand which aired in September 2020, and numerous live performance videos in conjunction with Creative City Centre in Regina and SaskMusic. The videos will be released in the spring and summer of 2021.
Last Birds is scheduled to perform at the award-winning venue, The Happy Nun in Forget, on April 24. While the pandemic still can change the plans, Davis and Arnold are really looking forward to live performances, be it in spring or summer.
"It'll be over a year, since we played our last live event in front of a real audience, so we're looking forward to that," Davis said.
In the meantime, just recently Arnold sent about 200 emails to radio stations across North America and Europe.
"We've got some really great responses from DJs across the globe that are going to play our music. Extremely exciting," Davis said. "And a lot of the … community radio stations want an actual physical copy of the CD. So most of those are in the mail now, and once they get them … hopefully, they'll play them."
Songs released earlier have already been picked up by quite a few community radio stations, the CBC, as well as a UK radio show.
Starting April 16, Last Birds will be available for digital distribution on iTunes, Spotify and other major online outlets. The physical copy of a new CD can be purchased at lastbirds.com.
