With a new album now available digitally, Canadian indie folk-pop act Good Lovelies are ready to tour Australia.
“Our band started kind of by accident,” one-third of the group, Caroline Brooks says. “All three of us were playing on the scene in Toronto on various projects.
“We sort of all united for one night. And when we started practising for this show, the only way I can describe it is that the hairs on my arms stood up.
“Because the way our voices met and the sound of the harmonies together was so thrilling. So basically within a year of that show, we had quit our day jobs and we were on the road full-time. That was over a decade ago.”
This March and April, Good Lovelies have a number of Australian appearances at both festivals and side shows. “Our last trip was four years ago, and before that it was four years before,” Caroline says.
“So we're really excited to come back and see some of our fans, and we're returning to all three of the festivals we've played before.”
Last month, Good Lovelies released their eighth studio album 'Shapeshifters'. “We worked with a new producer, it was our first time working with Daniel Ledwell.
“As usual we wrote the majority of the record together, the three of us share co-writing credits on everything. And we also did some co-writes with other people, which was a new thing for us.
“In the past we've always been in Toronto, recording at these big studios. And with Dan what we did was two sets of two weeks at his recording studio on the east coast of Canada. So we uprooted ourselves and really immersed ourselves in the music for two weeks.
“In the past when we've been working in these big Toronto studios, you're watching the clock and you know you have to be done by a certain time because you know you're basically burning money.
“Dan gave us the space to play on the record a lot more than we have before. So we played the majority of the instruments on the record, whereas in the past we would have hired session players to just come in and knock it off.”
It's been four years since Good Lovelies last studio record was released. “There's a few new babies in the band, like a couple of us are mums and you can hear that a lot in the lyrics.
“One of us lost our mum too, so you can hear some real grief in some of the songs. We didn't shy away from those really big feelings that we've been having.
“Though I will say, as a band we really have this mantra of positivity. You can hear it in a lot of our music. You can see it on our stage show. We really live with quite a bit of lightness.”
The first single released from 'Shapeshifters' is titled 'I See Gold'. “We wrote that song with a woman called Robyn Dell’Unto. The lyric that's the most telling is: 'You don't get more than you can take'.
“It's about trying to get through the everyday, whether it is a baby that won't go to bed or whether one of your parent's is really sick. Or you just have a job that you really hate that you have to go to everyday to make ends meet.
“Our goal with that song was to make it really universal in that way.”
Good Lovelies Tour Dates
16-18 Mar - Blue Mountains Music FestivalFri 23 Mar - The Manly Fig (Sydney)
24-25 March - Yackandandah Folk Festival (VIC)
29 Mar-1 Apr - National Folk Festival, (Canberra)
Wed 4 Apr - Metropole Hotel (Katoomba)
Thu 5 Apr - Leadbelly (Sydney)
Fri 6 Apr - The Spotted Mallard (Melbourne)
Sat 7 Apr - The Ararat Hotel (VIC)
Sun 8 Apr - Valencia Creek Hall (VIC)
Tue 10 Apr - Victorian Folk Club (Melbourne)
Wed 11 Apr – Caravan Club @ Yarra Yarra Golf Course (Melbourne)
