Name: Abigail Lapell
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Abigail Lapell's Lullabies is out via Outside November 17th 2023.

If you enjoyed this Abigail Lapell interview and would like to keep up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I would say I have a very emotional response to music - physiologically, I might feel my eyes might tear up or a heart-in-throat type of feeling.

I’m very moved by melody and vocal performance, and I might close my eyes to feel more immersed in those feelings.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I’m mostly self-taught – I don’t really have formal training as a musician. Mostly I’ve learned through experience. I always loved to sing and pick up whatever instruments were around.

Personally I think of training and study as a way to supplement, enhance or fine-tune those natural instincts. And to gain literacy and fluency in communicating musically with others.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

My experience of music in my early teens was as a way of escaping and coping. Both writing and listening to music to me felt like a safe place to go, to find comfort or deal with big emotions, and to figure out who I was in the world.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

I’m very inspired by the natural world – lakes, forests, mountains, all feature prominently in my lyrics.

I draw from a lot of personal experience and, again, am very focused on emotion and mood (as opposed to an approach rooted in narrative or storytelling).

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Discovered! That’s what it feels like, at least.

The songs I’ve written that I loved the most always feel like a bit of a revelation.  

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

Definitely as a listener I’m more drawn to an overall mood or impression rather than deeply analyzing specific lyrical or musical choices.

I would say I listen first and foremost to the vocal performance, and the success or failure of the song largely revolves around that.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

It’s a simple thing but I was in the woods recently, up in north Ontario, and I was so struck – as I always am – by the riotous sounds of a quiet night: insects, frogs, the wind in the trees, waves against the shore. The symphony of the nighttime.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

As a singer I definitely love the contrast between a ferocious, wailing vocal juxtaposed with a hushed whisper type delivery.

My songs also tend to be pretty spacious – lots of pauses and breathing room, literally and figuratively.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

The album I just released, Lullabies, is a collection of traditional songs from around the world.

It’s my first album of entirely solo acoustic performances, and I spent a long time researching, learning and arranging each piece on guitar and - in some cases - creating layers of vocal harmonies or coming up with lyrical adaptations or translations in English.

The actual recording was spread out over a year or so, which is pretty different approach to my previous projects – I’ve always recorded pretty quickly. For Lullabies, I went in once a month or so to the studio and spent maybe a half-day recording a song or two, or working on overdubs for one of the previous pieces.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Musically, at least at the writing stage, I like to dive into things without a lot of planning and kind of wing it. And then, heading into the studio or rehearsals, I tend to do a ton of planning and try to control the un-controllable as much as possible.

That is probably a decent reflection of my approach to life in general.  

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Personally music kind of takes me to a kind of different plane of existence, and I feel more present and a deeper and more authentic connection to other people and myself through music.

That said, I think someone could have a similar relationship with making a great cup of coffee, or almost anything else. Even something pretty mundane could probably be approached in that spirit.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

Hmm. Anything by the Pixies, maybe – their lyrics are bonkers yet I find the music so moving.