Enjoy some darker folk from Lindsey Walker

By Matty Hume, January 18 2018 —

Winnipeg-born Edmonton folk artist Lindsey Walker is playing with Lion Pride and The Torchettes on Jan. 27 at Nite Owl with a new album in hand. Nominated as an ‘Artist to Watch’ at the 2013 Edmonton Music Awards for her debut Our Glory, Walker continues to write songs meant to be shared while still personal in nature.

Her new album, This Desolate Bliss, is a collection of nine songs that reflect a growth in that personal songwriting when compared to Our Glory.

“I’ve been very afraid to express myself truly and honestly about how I feel about certain situations, events or themes,” Walker says. “With [Our Glory], I was just kind of settling into writing my own music. I toured with other groups and have been a part of a writing team, which is wonderful, but I always felt like I was kind of held back a little bit or I couldn’t really fully express myself because I was in a group setting.”

With This Desolate Bliss, Walker says she more thoroughly weaves her own feelings and personal sentiments into the music.

“I usually write from a very personal place and this album is no exception. All the songs are either very deeply personal or things that have affected me in a very intimate way,” Walker says. “I’ve been told that a lot of my writing goes into some darker places even though I’m not necessarily a brooding, dark, artistic soul. I’m happy and bubbly so it’s a weird kind of dichotomy between myself and my music.”

The new album has been described as cinematic and apocalyptic roots and folk. Walker says she doesn’t want to be known as a traditional folk or roots artist because the genres don’t completely encompass her sound.

“It’s hard with genres and putting myself into a genre — at least from my side of it and my perspective — is not a straight-ahead answer,” she says. “[This Desolate Bliss is] dark and brooding but still hopeful.”

In a live setting, Walker makes sure the more brooding aspects of her music don’t take away from a fun atmosphere.

“The music itself is kind of powerful and dark and has a lot of weight to it but once you get out of playing those I usually crack a joke,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not a stand-up comedian by any means but I do try to lighten the mood.”

In addition to her upcoming Calgary show, Walker hopes to tour more this year and devote more time to writing.

“I’m going to be doing some writing retreats, because I find with the day-to-day busyness of life you get caught up in working and writing from a very busy place,” she says. “Being taken away from that and being separated from the world and locked up and having to write is always going to create different perspectives.”

2017 was a big year in music for many people and Walker says she found much to enjoy. A few of her stand-out albums of the past year include The War On Drugs’ A Deeper Understanding and The Barr Brothers’ Queens of the Breakers.

See Lindsey Walker perform at Nite Owl on Jan. 27. Tickets are $10 at the door. Stream This Desolate Bliss on Spotify and Apple Music and watch her video for “Shadows” below.