Mother’s death inspires N.L. songwriter
ST. JOHN’S — Everyone deals with grief in different ways — Selina Boland dealt with hers by writing songs.
The tunes she composed for her third album, The Cold, drew inspiration from the grief she felt when her mother — Laverne Squires — died in 2016. Squires was known to most Newfoundlanders as the lead singer for Lukey’s Boat.
“It is a raw, genuine album that came from a dark place, but it offers hope in its message,’’ Boland said.
“There are six tracks on this album, all recorded at my old Victorian house downtown (St. John’s). It was recorded in the month of December during snowstorms, snow squalls and sideways snow showers that only Newfoundland natives could possibly understand,” she laughed.
Boland said, the wind from the storm could be heard outside the windows of the studio that she set up in her apartment. She was tempted to keep the sounds but decided against it because there was a siren in the background that proved too distracting.
The album is set for release Friday and will be available online at selinatunes.com. Other online sources will be available early next week.
In addition, physical copies will be available at a later date. Once details are known of when they will arrive, Boland will provide that information on her Facebook page.
“This is a great accomplishment for me. I am happy to have it completed and ready for everyone to hear. It was like a journal for me, getting a chance to write down and record how I was feeling about the loss. I went through some dark times, but this was therapeutic for me.’’
Boland’s life is about to get a whole lot busier. She has booked a number of shows in support of The Cold.
That will kickstart a big week for Boland, who is hosting a CD release party March 8.
“I decided to do this at a friend’s house. I think it will be a more intimate place to debut it,’’ she said.
She has a number of shows coming up in the St. John’s area.
Boland will also make a return trip to Europe this summer, where she will play in Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands in July.
She was in Sweden in 2018, playing at the Live at Heart festival in September.
“It will be nice to take this new album to Europe this year. I wish I had new music for Sweden,’’ she said.
Her first two albums were 2011’s EP Defined is Confined and the 2015 release Second Chances. She has also released several singles.
Boland describes her music as “folk-pop with a touch of the Atlantic Ocean breeze.”
Justin Merdsoy mixed and mastered The Cold, Tessa Graham was credited with the graphic design of the album and Tobias Brueckner did all the album photography.