SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ABIGAIL LAPELL – STOLEN TIME

Abigail Lapell
Stolen Time
Outside Music

What do you usually expect from a subdued singer-songwriter album?

A voice and a single instrument? An interesting track or two and a bit of monotony? Sure, that is a problem many singer-songwriters face and find a solution for, well, not so very often.

It seems that with her third and latest album, Stolen Time, Toronto songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Abigail Lapell has found a solution to that problem.

She based both the music and the lyrics of the album, as her press release goes, “about becoming sober or coping with a partner’s sudden illness, exploring the cycle of relapse and rehabilitation.” Hence, the subdued, almost melancholic songwriting, which still retains an element of both musical, lyrical and emotional clarity.

While Lapell resorts to subtle arrangements throughout, there is an essential musical variation that takes her from the basic setup like on the opener “Land of Plenty” to sounding like she is fronting The Band like on “I See Music”, as elsewhere on the album. Throughout, the accent is on Lapell’s intriguing and above all pleasing voice and excellent lyrics.

This concept often sounds quite timeless, as if all the songs could have been recorded yesterday or decades ago, possibly in the heyday of this sound in the 70s. There is an excellent chance that Stolen Time will keep cropping up on your turntable or playlist, actually filling that ‘stolen’ time with true musical content.

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