Up upon a mountain side
A stare down with the sun
Alone
At bay
Time fades away
You woke up
Mind for change
You search around
Both high and low
You’re gonna break the mold when it’s all told

Put down what you may know 
And hold on for a world of fun 
It’s no lie 
You’re a lucky one 

You’ve been lost 
You’ve been hurt 
You’ve been left with your face in the dirt 
But I’m still alive 
I, I’m still alive 
I, I’m gonna fly 
I, I’m gonna fly 
How wonderful 

Tune your heart to four four zero
Sound off from the soul
Let go 
Set sail 
Time will tell 
Look up
Bound for land 
You wander around 
Both high and low 
You’re gonna break the mold when it’s all told

Put down what you may know 
And hold on for a world of fun 
It’s no lie
You’re a lucky one 

You’ve been lost 
You’ve been hurt 
You’ve been left with your face in the dirt 
But I’m still alive 
I, I’m still alive 
I, I’m gonna fly 
I, I’m gonna fly 
How wonderful 

Float down from above the weight
All absurd
So sensible
You come apart
Pull tight at the seams
Through the door
You walk
You wake
You’re all but the same

You’ve been lost 
You’ve been hurt 
You’ve been left with your face in the dirt 
But I’m still alive 
I, I’m still alive 
I, I’m gonna fly 
I, I’m gonna fly 
How wonderful

(How wonderful)
You’re alive
You’re a lucky one
You’re alive
How wonderful
So alive
You’re alive
You’re a lucky one
You’re alive
You’re a lucky one
So alive
How wonderful
How wonderful
You’re alive
(How wonderful)




© Good Days 2021

Wonderful

Lonely as the Sun

Autopilot Paradise

Control Your Mind

Colorblind

To find oneself in a strange paradise means to explore the depth of feelings between wild abandon and poignant despair—you might call them peaks and valleys, or ups and downs, or ebb and flow. Another word for it? Love. 

On Strange Paradise, Halifax indie-folk upstart Braden Lam explores a relationship in its entirety, an independent redemption story that takes his lived experience and expands it into a fictional narrative that traces the early blush of infatuation to the hard-won moment of acceptance that it’s over. After multiple singles with Colin Buchanan, on this project Lam has added producers Daniel Ledwell and Joshua Van Tassel, and co-writers Adelle Elwood (aka Keeper E.), Blanche Israël (Jeremy Dutcher), and Jordan Coaker (of Quote the Raven) to the team. While too many cooks can make a record sound disjointed and wandering, here Lam pulls his collaborators into a cohesive album that keeps his lyrical prowess, honey vocals, and catchy melodies as its center, while nudging out toward the margins with lush arrangements and surprising darkness. Much like the record's theme, this approach strikes a unique balance between experimental naivete and the ever-familiar comfort sounds of Canadian folk and rock. 

At less than two minutes, “Offering” sets up the EP’s six-song arc with the proverbial meeting of two bodies. “Second Wind” considers how this could be a new start, Lam repeating “I’m ready / I’m ready” until it stretches his voice out high and furtive. “Don’t Let Go” covers the insecurity of not knowing where you stand with someone: “How many heart attacks,” he sings on the foot-stomping bridge, “do I need to fake?” The one-two punch of “White Dress”—contemplative and melancholy, as the narrator watches their love get married—and “Death Threat”—an encounter between the same two people who were no longer available (“and the way you grabbed my thigh/I knew hearts would get hurt that night”)—exhibit Lam’s maturation as a writer, revealing regret and jadedness that only come with the earned wisdom of time.

The album closes out with the gentle lullaby “Linen Sheets,” written and sung with his wife Faith over a plaintive pedal steel, as they drift off after an exhausting day, preparing to start all over again the next. With Strange Paradise, Braden Lam has written, performed, and released three EPs, including Inside Four Walls (2020), and Driftwood People (2018), using each as an exploration of his voice and sound, honing in on his musical identity, working toward a full-length debut. He’s been nominated for multiple East Coast Music and Music Nova Scotia Awards, endorsed by RBCxMusic and Harmony Guitars, and awarded a SOCAN Foundation Award for Young Canadian Songwriters. Lam has showcased and toured around the world including at FOCUS Wales and Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival, in Ireland and across Canada. After his Strange Paradise release shows in April, he’ll showcase at the ECMAs, The Great Escape festival in England, and tour Europe with Pillow Fite.

Loving For A Season

mcclendon

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