Press release –
TORONTO ON — On her latest single, “Sturgeon Moon,” Canadian singer/songwriter Drea Lake perfectly conveys late summer vibes through the lens of one of the season’s natural wonders.
“Sometimes the bitterness makes things all the more sweet, and August is the time of year in Canada when I feel that the most,” Drea says. “I had mentioned to my friend and co-writer James Maltese that I wanted to write a song to capture this time of year when feeling the edges of fall creeping in make you appreciate summer even more. Wistfulness goes into each bite of fresh peach.
“I had done a show in honour of the ‘last moon of summer when you can almost taste the summer passing.’ James informed me that the moon in August is called the Sturgeon Moon because this is the best time for fishermen to catch this often-elusive fish. It occurred to us that the sturgeon is an incredible symbol of strength and resilience, due to its long lifespan. I like to dedicate this song at shows to longtime couples or friends, those who have taken the freshness of early love and journeyed the seasons together. It is also a way to honour this incredible and often endangered species.”
“Sturgeon Moon” comes on the heels of Drea’s previous single, “4U,” which U.K. blog Red Guitar Music praised for its, “clever arrangement and pleasingly unconventional instrumentation choices.” “Sturgeon Moon” follows a similar pattern, drawing inspiration from Indigo Girls, along with Drea’s other primary musical touchstones such as Joni Mitchell. The song also features a memorable lap steel part played by Halifax scene mainstay Phil Sedore (Catherine MacClellan, Amelia Curran, Black Pool).
Both “Sturgeon Moon” and “4U” will be included on Drea’s debut full-length album, A Call From Somewhere Else, set for release in autumn 2025. Co-produced and featuring the renowned Quebecois acoustic guitarist Antoine Dufour, along with a host of other contributors drawn from the worlds of Canadian roots, jazz and classical music, the album’s eight songs fully display Drea’s genre-blending compositional style.
Drea maintains that her connection to nature, something she experiences through splitting her time between rural southern Ontario and areas surrounding Montreal, most often sparks her creativity. “The moods of the songs on this album range from joyous elation, to more quiet, almost soothing, forms of joy, to dreaminess, a sense of mystery and caution, to heartbreak and reflective regret. In most songs there are lessons we learn from the natural world, such as different forms of love, friendship, spirituality and musical camaraderie. Under all of those themes lies nature.”
Although Drea Lake self-effacingly describes herself as a “perennial beginner” in terms of her musical evolution, the focus she has put into her craft has set her apart from some of her contemporaries within the folk music field, despite the handful of singles she has released to date. But that’s all about to change with the arrival of A Call From Somewhere Else, which for all intents and purposes will be her formal introduction to the wider music world.
Drea Lake will also be heading across Canada as part of VIA Rail’s Artist On Board program, going west from Toronto to Vancouver August 24-28 and returning east from Vancouver to Toronto Sept. 5 -9. Go to viarail.ca for schedules.
For more information, visit https://drealake.com.
