Helena Deland has shared a new single called ‘Swimmer’. It marks the Montreal singer-songwriter’s first solo release since her 2020 debut album Someone New. Check out its self-directed video below.
‘Swimmer’ is dedicated to Deland’s mother, who passed away last year. In a statement, Deland wrote:
A little while after finding out that my mother was sick and that our days together were numbered, I went through a fundamental change, faced as I was with the need to reconsider things I had taken for granted. Growing older with her was now an impossible scenario, but I was being offered a suspension, some time to understand and try to change patterns that had been detrimental to our relationship, and to love her how I wished for her to be loved.
I feel that we are in a similar predicament with the world, faced with the climate crisis.
Some losses are too big to wrap our minds around. Here, I am on the beach, watching my mother swim, faced with the immensity of the ocean, of our fragility, riding the troughs of magical thinking and crests of acceptance.
“How detailed and hopeful,
how exact
everything is in the light
on the rippling sand,
at the edge of the turning tide —
its upheaval —
its stunning proposal —
its black, anonymous roar.”
– Mary Oliver, “Clamming”, Dream Work
‘Swimmer’ arrives ahead of Deland’s 2022 tour, which includes dates supporting The Weather Station and Andy Shauf. Last year, she released Hildegard, a collaboration with Ouri. Read our Artist Spotlight interview with Hildegard.
