L CON // The Isolator LP

Pop writer L CON from Toronto, Canada will launch a Toronto pop label in May 2022.A record released on Idée Fixe.

Includes 10 spectacular neo-classical pop songs. Comes with DL code. 

Below is a commentary by the label.

"Having crossed the Atlantic and reached the traditional high mountains of Switzerland, Lisa Conway (aka L CON) began writing and recording 'The Isolator' in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.She composes the music for the German production of the play remotely from her studio in Guelph, Canada, and with a blank calendar, she joins online lessons to establish herself and hone her piano skills. It was made.Encouraged by her teacher to "surrender to what makes her feel good," Conway repeats short sequences on her piano that allow her to exist in her own comfort. I got the idea to pursue records.

"With this album, it's not that I wasn't striving for artistic growth and challenging myself."

The album opens with a dusty tape loop Conway composed for the Alphorn and sets the stage for "The Isolator," a deeply personal and vulnerable exploration of Conway's relationship with dual Swiss citizenship.The title of the lead song "Heimatort" is taken from the phrase "hometown" and "hometown" in the Swiss passport, and the sound design that expresses the mountains on a wide screen and the minimal melody line with comparable density. is in contrast. Through short, circular musical phrases played on the Prophet synthesizer that repeat and reverse, Conway lyrically unravels complex feelings about his inherited homeland.

“My sunflower was a small town in the mountains where I was told if I ever had a problem I could come back and take care of it,” says Conway. “Many of my family members are buried there, but I have no place to stay and no one to call. Can I really feel at home in my hometown?”

A chronicle of the struggle to move between romanticism and the loneliness of navigating the layers of one's identity, "The Isolator" dials in the stories we've internalized about nationality, home, family, and ourselves. spinning.With so many musicians on the album, including Drew Jurecka, Cedric Noel, Karen Ng, Isla Craig, Victoria Cheong, and Morgan Doctor, this kind of introspection wasn't done entirely by myself. is not.

The title track, "The Isolator," evolves from a solitary piano ballad into an epic string ensemble suite, and "What If Heidi Likes the City," inspired by the 19th-century Swiss fairy tale "Heidi" that Conway knew best in his life. ) expresses Swiss exceptionalism by upending the conventional pastoral romance and highlighting the indescribable emptiness one feels when leaving the city to live in the country. On "Big Pile of Nothing," Conway sings over a spiraling piano progression and swollen strings to wrestle with what is concrete and what is true.

An intimate, modernist expression from an idiosyncratic artist who is constantly pushed into the unknown in the field of sound art and composition, 'The Isolator' is enveloped in stunning sounds, rich string arrangements and L CON's astonishing voice. , arrived as a questioning of the resolutely deeply living self. "

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Includes DL code. 12" black vinyl. 

Text essay by the label:

"Reaching across the Atlantic to the lofty mountain ranges of her Swiss heritage, Lisa Conway (aka L CON) began to write and record "The Isolator" during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Composing music for the German production of a theatrical play remotely from her studio in Guelph, Canada and navigating a calendar otherwise wiped blank, she sought to anchor herself and hone her piano chops by enrolling in online lessons. Encouraged by her teacher to lean into what felt comfortable, Conway found herself repeating short sequences on the piano when it occurred to her to pursue a record that would allow her to exist in her comforts.

“Not that I wasn't striving towards artistic growth and challenging myself on this record,” Conway clarifies, “but I finally gave myself permission to fully live in sound worlds and lean into writing tendencies that are very instinctual and restorative to me.”

The album opens with dusty tape loops of Conway's compositions for alphorns, traditional wooden horns originally used as a means of alpine communication, and sets the scene for The Isolator as a deeply personal and vulnerable exploration of Conway's relationship to her dual citizenship with Switzerland. its title from a line on her Swiss passport that indicates one's “home place” or “place of origin,” lead track "Heimatort" contrasts widescreen, mountainous expanses of sound design with comparably dense minimalist melody lines. While a short, circular musical phrase played on a Prophet synthesizer repeats and inverts, Conway lyrically untangles complex layers of feelings towards her inherited hometown.

“When you're told stories as a child, you create a mythology about a place — my heimatort is a little town in the mountains I was told I could return to if I was ever in trouble and needed to be taken care of,” Conway says. “As an adult, I'm faced with the practical reality of what that would actually look like — many of my family members are buried there, but I don't have a place to stay, or someone to call, and the rest of my family lives in other areas. How at home do I really feel in my 'home place'?”

A conflicted record bouncing between romanticism and the loneliness of navigating the layers of your identity, "The Isolator" dials into the stories we've internalized about nationality, home, our families, and ourselves. Thankfully, this sort of reflective work was not done entirely alone: ​​the album features an array of contributions from musicians including Drew Jurecka, Cedric Noel, Karen Ng, Isla Craig, Victoria Cheong, Morgan Doctor, and more.

Holding Swiss exceptionalism to task, title-track "The Isolator" blossoms from a lonely piano ballad to a sweeping string ensemble suite, while "What If Heidi Likes the City" (a riff on Heidi, the popular and frequently adapted 19th-century Swiss children's story Conway has known most of her life) flips the script on the traditional pastoral romance to underline an inexpressible emptiness that can be felt after leaving city life for a rural existence. what's concrete and questions what she can really hold true, singing over a spiraling piano swelling and strings.

An intimate, modernist expression from a singular artist whose work in sound art and composition continually pushes her into the unfamiliar, The Isolator arrives as a resolute and deeply lived interrogation of self, wrapped in stunning sonics, lush string arrangements and L CON's remarkable voice. "

Artist: LCON

Label: Label: Idee Fixe Records