On Our Radar: Leah Abramson's "Skana" is so enchanting we don't care it doesn't have a video

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      Normally we use On Our Radar to highlight the fine video work of our local bands and singer-songwriters. Today we’re going to mix it up a bit, partly because, well, Vancouver’s consistently wonderful Leah Abramson doesn’t have a clip for her enchanting new single “Skana”.

      That doesn’t make the track any less important. The song is from Abramson’s fourth full-length, Songs For a Lost Pod, which was released last Friday on Headless Owl Records. The local veteran—who first surfaced with the Abramson Singers—started the project by decaming to Alaska to gather field recordings of local Orcas. Working closely with Hayden collaborator J.J. Ipsen she then began crafting songs combining scientific research, whale vocalizations, and marine mammal history.

      Abramsom sums up Songs For a Lost Pod like this on her website: “Told from the perspective of various whale species, the songs explore themes of inter-species communication, intergenerational trauma, and grief for a polluted planet. Songs For a Lost Pod highlights separation—both animal and human—to one another and to the natural world, with the goal of reconnection through musical communication.”

      For those interested in a truly immersive experience, the album also comes with a graphic novel where artist Taylor Brown-Evans bringing Abramsom’s song and lyrics to the printed page.

      Listen to “Skana”, which starts out as a beautifully droning lullabye and then blossoms into an ethereal exercise in chamber pop, below. You can buy Songs For a Lost Pod, and its graphic novel, here

       

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