Rebecca Lappa
Canadian pop singer-songwriter Rebecca Lappa released her Tonic/Fontana debut, Tales of a Taurus, on May 5th, 2023. Produced by acclaimed recording artist Louise Burns, the 6-song EP was preceded by the romantic-with-a-hint-of-manic single “Blue Lips,” followed by the seductive power of “Lolita” and the clear plea of “Your One.”
“Tales of a Taurus, funded by a FACTOR Juried Sound Recording grant, takes the concept of the wounded healer to new heights, sharing the pain and struggles of women in their 20s with the courage to find healing within and hope for the future,” the 26-year-old said.
Lappa debuted the EP live at the Great Escape Festival in London and Brighton. She also to a packed room at The Cameron House, Toronto during Canadian Music Week 2023.
Rebecca’s life is all about using music as a therapeutic tool. Last year, she completed her Bachelor of Music Therapy at Capilano University in BC and in April will complete her internship at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. “I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery and there are a number of songs on the EP about healing and change,” she said.
With a strong sense of melody and ability to write stick-in-your-head hooks, the artist often compared to Maggie Rogers and Charlotte Cardin, also demonstrates an insight beyond her years, noted on the metaphorical “Forecast” about a relationship that’s falling apart and “Underneath Me” about missing someone that’s far away, her fiancé.
“Blue Lips,” the introductory single, has an opening nod to 80s new wave Brit-pop. “It’s the story of a friend who had been in a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship,” she said. “I used the ice and snow imagery to show the lack of care from the one person and how the other is hoping it turns into something more, but deep down knows it’s not.”
The next two singles are more personal. “Lolita” looks at the perception of women in contemporary society and “Your One” is about trying to get somebody to see the version of themselves that you see and progress into a relationship with that person.
“One thread through the music I put out has always been about stories that were important to me,” she said. “That has carried through the different genres and music that I’ve experimented with over the years.”
Born in San Francisco but raised in Edmonton from three months old, Rebecca has been singing since childhood and plays piano, guitar, banjo and a bit of ukulele. She wrote her first song at age 9, won awards at age 12 and started playing shows at 13. A competitive
gymnast at the time too, it wasn’t until her parents took her to see then rising star Taylor Swift open for Brad Paisley that she decided “That’s like me. I want to do that.”
How she would get there was another story. “I was a Northern Alberta girl working and hustling in the industry, with no connections, for 10 years, trying to make it,” she mused. Among her indie releases were 2011’s Not In Neverland, 2015’s Tattered Rose, 2016’s Reckless Heart, 2017’s Spirit EP and 2019’s Unfiltered EP.
In 2022, with new songs in the can, her new manager linked her up with Louise Burns, where they went into 604 Studios to record Tales From A Taurus.
“She was able to help me actualize, sonically, the stories that I was trying to tell and the vision I had for each song,” said Rebecca. “She really listened to the influences that I wanted in the songs, especially Zella Day, Kasey Musgraves, Bishop Briggs and Charlotte Cardin. We listened to those people’s music and we pulled out the various synths and sounds that we thought resonated with the stories I wanted to tell.
“Hopefully, people will connect with them and my music will impact them.”
