Toronto singer-songwriter and Exclaim! New Faves alum Bells Larsen has announced his forthcoming sophomore album, previewed today by new single "514-415."
Blurring Time — the follow-up to 2022's Good Grief and the 2023 EP If I Was, I Am — arrives on April 25 via Royal Mountain Records. The record was designed to align with the timeline of the artist's transition, having initially recorded instrumentation and his original "high" voice in 2022 before having frequent collaborator and friend Georgia Harmer write vocal arrangements for his new "low" voice after beginning testosterone so he could harmonize with himself.
"Many coming-of-age stories are furnished with dichotomies of the before and the after, without the two ever merging," Larsen said in a statement. "For the purposes of Blurring Time, I didn't want to have to choose between showcasing my past or present. Through the creation of this album — and of myself, I suppose — I wanted to change 'or' to 'and' with the hopes of extending a hand to older versions of myself, carrying them with me as I grow."
Of the drawling, drifty lead single, he added, "'514-415' is about the kind of long-distance relationship where you have an inkling that circumstance will prevent things from working out, but you still care deeply for the person nonetheless. It's quite special to be with someone through many chapters of their life and them through yours, especially when those chapters are furnished with so much change — be that moving cities or transitioning (this song references both)."
Watch the "514-415" video — directed by Ryan Faist (a.k.a. boy wonder) — below, where you'll also find the album tracklist details.
Blurring Time:
1. Blurring Time
2. 514-415
3. The Way the Wind Blows
4. Calme Incertain
5. Questions
6. My Brother & Me
7. Composured Veneer
8. 143
9. Might