Singer-songwriter Lindsay Ferguson explores new musical directions

In the four years since Lindsay Ferguson released her previous album, the Bermuda-born, Ontario-raised singer-songwriter has settled into what sounds like an idyllic transatlantic lifestyle with her Swiss husband. The couple divide their time between the wilds of west Quebec and the mountains of Switzerland.

But Ferguson’s new album, Chameleon, is no sunny tale about falling in love and living happily ever after. Instead, it chronicles the spectrum of human relationships, including the messy bits, honing it with the rhythmic edge of tracks created by musical collaborator and producer, Brock Zeman, in his Lanark County studio.

“The way I see it, everybody’s been through both sides of it all,” explains Ferguson, who’s back in Canada after spending the winter in Switzerland. “I write the music and I take it from my own experiences, but these particular experiences were happening in my friends’ lives. Of course, I’ve been through it so I understand the crazy break-up, gotta-start-over songs.”

Also included on the new album are love songs such as Ships, co-written with Zeman for a friend’s wedding, a spine-tingling version of the Irish traditional, Donegal, and a track with a hiphop flavour, of all things. The song, Two Minds, which features Halifax rapper Jofo, represents a bold step for Ferguson, who’s known for her powerful, opera-trained voice and rootsy folk-pop melodies.

Turns out she’s had a soft spot spot for collaborations between singer-songwriters and hiphop artists ever since Dido teamed up with Eminem. “I always thought it sounded cool,” she says. “They’re two totally different genres but they really meld well together.”

Ferguson counted on Zeman, a prolific recording artist and talented producer, to stitch the pieces together. She’s been a fan of his songwriting and musical abilities for years, and when it came time to record, felt she could trust him with her songs. In an unusual move, she gave Zeman carte blanche in fleshing out the instrumentation and arrangements.

Play Lindsay Ferguson’s song Two Minds:

“I knew I wanted to work with Brock and I knew I wanted him to take on the project in a different kind of way, if he could add the orchestration around the bare bones of the songs. I gave him complete trust and faith that he would put together amazing stuff,” Ferguson says.

“I wasn’t in the studio when he made the tracks. He put them together with his musicians. I went in with the bare bones and just waited for the tracks to come. And I really liked what he was sending me. So it was a lot of music and soul from Brock that came into this record; that’s why it has a different sound: it’s partly him.”

Zeman, along with Blair Hogan, Steve Foley and bassist Chris Hopkins, will make up Ferguson’s band at the CD-release party on Saturday, May 23 at the Black Sheep Inn. Then she begins a tour that will take her to British Columbia. A European tour is in the works for fall.

In addition to the expanded touring opportunities, Ferguson has found that living in Europe is great for working on music. Without her usual crew of Canadian merrymakers, there seems to be more time and fewer distractions.

“Living two different lives gives double the amount of song inspiration,” she says. “I’ve got stories from that many more people to draw from, I’ve got nature, and different food. And I have a bit more discipline in Switzerland. I spend more time practicing, and working on songs and playing my guitar. I’m a bit more loosey-goosey in Canada.”