Vancouver singer-songwriter Leah Abramson and her band The Abramson Singers are gearing up for the release of their sophomore album, Late Riser on May 14. Produced by Colin Stewart (Dan Mangan, Brasstronaut), this album finds the Singers with lush band arrangements, relatively upbeat tempos, retro organs and catchy melodies.

What began at the Banff Centre Indie Band Residency with Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire), Tony Berg (Jakob Dylan) and Shawn Everett (Weezer), Late Riser explores new pop and indie rock sensibilities, but not without a firm grounding in folk songwriting.

It is this innovative take on the songwriting process that sets The Abramson Singers apart from other indie-folk bands. A newly minted professor at UBC, Leah has been teaching undergraduate songwriting courses using her knack for finding the emotional resonance of a topic through melody, harmony and unusual time signatures. Her love of bringing the unique character voices alive through song is something that she both teaches and expresses in her songwriting.

Thematically Late Riser is a continuation on the subject matter of their previous self-titled album (2010), with songs of longing, loss and heartbreak alongside historically inspired songs about the Métis rebel Louis Riel (the French-English hybrid, ‘Marguerite,’ and beautifully somber ‘Red River Valley’).  Many of the stories behind the songs take on classic themes, such as the no-good, unreliable man (‘Jack of Diamonds’ and ‘Drowning Man’), and the grim finality of death (‘Skull & Crossbones’ and ‘Red River Valley’). Using lyric symbolism and archetypal imagery updated for modern times, the band also explores modern topics such as stage fright (‘Fight or Flight’) and moving on after a romance (the a cappella ‘Liftoff Canon’). These songs are given more of an abstract treatment, but still find themselves drawing from both the sparse folk and lush arrangements that characterize this album.

Along with her talented band (including members of Dan Mangan’s band, Petunia & The Vipers and Snowblink), and special guests (Sam Parton of The Be Good Tanyas, Old-time fiddler/singer-songwriter Rayna Gellert, Jesse Zubot, and Josh Grange of KD Lang’s band), The Abramson singers have put together an album of extraordinary beauty not soon to be forgotten.

“We’re talking six, seven and eight-part harmony. We’re talking a cappella harmony. And it’s gloriously uplifting,” stated Carla Gillis of Now Magazine.

“My pick for best album of the year goes to The Abramson Singers. Leah Abramson creates gorgeous music, smart, eccentric original songs. Take a Camera, and Trucker’s Prayer compare with Joni Mitchell and Kyrie Kristmanson’s best. Every time I see this title in my iTunes menu, I play it,” adds Denis Armstrong of the Ottawa Sun.

They are playing The Arts Station in Fernie on Wednesday, May 22 at 8 p.m.

Lead image: Banffcentre.org

The Arts Station

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