Yael Wand is adrift in troubled romantic waters in her new single and video Navigate By Stars — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Fashioned from fingerpicked ukulele chords, warm cellos and a heartbeat bassline — all gracefully topped by Wand’s bittersweet, richly layered vocals and poetic, confessional lyrics awash in maritime metaphors — the tenderly yearning indie-folk ballad serves as a fitting first single from the B.C. singer-songwriter’s long-overdue fourth album Saltwater Heartwood, which arrives July 22.
A deep dive into Yael’s life via a myriad of transitions which saw her through motherhood, various moves, and a creative hiatus, her new album is a testament to her drive, passion and incredible musicality. Staying true to her roots, Yael (pronounced Yah-Elle) continues to compose songs that showcase her effortless sensibility when it comes to blending the worlds of folk, jazz, roots and blues. The intensely personal and heartfelt subject of the new music, builds upon that and brings the listener into a sonic world of honesty and understanding.
“My original intention for this record was to record these songs as a bookmark of the transitions that I underwent over the past 10 years. Transitions of home and community, my role in life, my relationships, even my age,” says Wand. “In late 2019, I enlisted musicians and friends Alan Kerr (bass) and Christina Zaenker (cello) to help me. We drove up to Corwin Fox’s Hidden Well Studio in Cumberland, B.C. with the intent of creating a more or less live-off-the-floor album — quick, raw, rustic and authentic.”
Originally emerging on the Canadian folk scene in 2004, the BC Interior Music Award nominee established herself through repeat tours in western Canada and across Ontario, garnering both national and regional media attention. From her base at the time in Wells B.C., she established her reputation one show at a time, and had audiences connecting to her stories of far off places, songs of life in the slow lane, and lulled by the effortless beauty of her voice. At Your Door, Wand’s 2007 release, garnered her radio play from coast to coast and press across the country and her third solo album, Good Stitch Gone (2009), also produced by Fox, placed her squarely in the Americana genre without compromising either her free-spirited sound or her worldly sophistication. With her first new music in more than a decade finally on the horizon, Wand has her sights on reconnecting with fans in the communities she once frequented and igniting a renewed interest in her music through digital means.
Watch Navigate By Stars above, hear more from Yael Wand below, and navigate your way to her website, Facebook and Instagram.
