Their music has been described as enchanting and sophisticated, now, the Canadian Folk Music Award nominees The Bombadils, based around the core duo Sarah Frank and Luke Fraser have a new single on the way titled Bicycle (out this Friday, 6th May – pre-save here). We have the pleasure of sharing the accompanying lyric video for this upbeat tune which perfectly encapsulates the euphoria of self-discovery and the pursuit of our dreams. Accompanied by Ellen Gibling on harp and Patrick Reid on bass, the song resonates with genuine heartfelt warmth and charm that is impossible to resist. It’s taken from their new album Dear Friend, set for release in autumn 2022.
Sarah Frank (fiddle and voice), tells Folk Radio UK:
“Bicycle” is about the momentum I felt when I moved across the country at 19 to live in Montreal and make a life in music. Luke (Luke Fraser – guitar, voice) and I connected throughout our 20s over a fiery desire to make a difference in the world, to love in a big way, and to be part of something big and beautiful. We sped along fast, eager and driven. Early in the song, the phrase “I’m not stopping yet” comes from a slightly naive and overly optimistic place of feeling almost invincible – we were youngins’ unaware and at times in denial of our limits. By the end of the song, the meaning of “not stopping yet” shifts and becomes a resolution to not become cynical or jaded, instead to hang on to a sense of the “spark” within our hearts and of all the people around us. To trust that the spark is there even if it is covered, hidden, or waning, and to stay in love with it. It closes with the realization that all we were ever chasing “out there” is right here at home, that the big love we’re after is made up of many little moments of love and beauty. I’m sure we will be reminding ourselves of this and learning what it means more deeply throughout the course of our lives.
The video shows our four-year-old daughter Felicity and her two closest friends – one biking beside her, patiently waiting and motivating her to continue whenever she stops, and the other sprinting in the margins. These kiddos know how to be present and joyful. The puddles they bike through are magic. Yet they have no idea what’s ahead, and their sense of risk and limits is still developing. While we and other people who care about them will guide them as best as we can, at the end of the day we will have to hold our breath and watch them learn some things the hard way just as our parents have watched us (and probably still do)! Sometime soon they will graduate to pedal bikes.
The single is taken from their upcoming album ‘Dear Friend’ (more on below).
Pre-save/Buy/Stream “Bicycle” Here: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/BOM004-02
The accompanying press shares how Dear Friend is The Bombadils’ first full-length album release after having moved to Atlantic Canada and launching straight into the rush of new parenthood, a new city, and a global pandemic. The 11-song album was recorded with engineer Graeme Campbell between lockdowns and daycare pick-ups. It is a series of love letters of a certain kind—to family and friends, to strangers and neighbors, to cities and landscapes, to each other.
“We’ve been a music-making couple for over a decade and we’ve never written a love song until now. We’ve sung love songs written by others, but to write and sing one ourselves has been something we’ve shied away from,” Sarah shares. Luke continues: “This is our first album where we took our time instead of rushing. It’s more stylistically consistent, it’s dynamic, and it feels like the first album to call our own.”
The Bombabils journey has been transformative for Sarah and Luke, their fans, and their close-knit community of friends and fellow musicians from around the world. “Music helps us see others in a more loving way; it reminds us that we’re all a human family and that we’re all together on this walk of life.”
More here: https://thebombadils.com/