The Debut Album from Louisa Stancioff
Release Date: April 12, 2024
Timeline
January 16th - When We Were Looking Album Announce | Pre-orders live | “Gold” single release + Official Video
February 13th - “Nobody’s Watching” single release
March 12th - “Cigarette” single release + Official Video
April 9th - “Alice” single release
April 12th - When We Were Looking album street date
“There are times in life when you’re so present, so fully immersed in the moment that you can catch a glimpse of another universe, of a realm beyond our own,” says Louisa Stancioff. “It might last for a second or an hour, it might come in the midst of bliss or sadness, you might be alone or with a lover, but when it happens, there’s nothing quite like it.”
When We Were Looking, Stancioff’s stunning Yep Roc debut, is full of those moments. Written and recorded through a period of deep heartbreak and uncertainty, the collection is the raw and unflinching work of a nomadic soul who spent stints living in Alaska, California, New York, and North Carolina before returning home to her native Maine, one that holds nothing back in its bittersweet reckonings with pain, healing, acceptance, and growth. Stancioff writes with a cinematic eye here, conjuring up richly detailed stagings for her emotionally-charged character studies, and the guitar-and-synth-focused arrangements are immersive and nuanced to match, thanks in part to the evocative sonic landscaping of producer/keyboardist Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Craig Finn), who proves to be an ideal creative foil on the record. Add it all up and you’ve got a dreamy, nostalgic Polaroid of an album that blurs the lines between indie stoicism and folk sincerity, a lush, cathartic work that hints at everything from Phoebe Bridgers and Arlo Parks to Big Thief and Waxahatchee as it learns to find the beauty in grief and rebirth.
Highlights
“Louisa Stancioff is a powerful & promising songbird in our generation that we can all get behind & relate with. Louisa is such a wonderful, genuine person & a next level musician the universe will soon know about & be totally obsessed with. Her song craft, lyrics , musicianship and beautiful & perfect voice is deeply captivating & recording music with her is the most rewarding & effortless experience. I’m so grateful I get to the existence in a time where Louisa’s music is a huge part of the soundtrack to my life.” —Ben Yurco (Grace Potter / Micheal Nau / Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING / Producer / Multi-instrumentalist / Little Jamaica Recording Studio)
“Louisa’s songs at once have a unique point of view and instant relatability. I hear every color of the emotional rainbow in every note she sings. It's all there with a strange effortless depth.”—Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter / Producer / Multi-instrumentalist / Great North Sound Society Studio)
“Making it through the four-minute dream-folk ditty [Gold] without humming along requires some restraint. Stancioff’s soft-as-a-feather falsetto, drizzled in reverb, slides like a streamlet over a bed of acoustic strumming (with harmony, on this track, from her sister, Elisabeth). The melodic, moony vibe will be familiar to fans of Iron & Wine, Feist, or Nick Drake.”—Down East Best of Maine, New Maine Music: 4 Artists to Watch
Tour
2023
12/1: The Burl : Lexington, KY*
12/2: Thunderbird Café & Music Hall : Pittsburgh, PA*
12/3: Beachland Ballroom & Tavern : Cleveland, OH*
12/5: Rams Head On Stage : Annapolis, MD*
12/6: Sellersville Theater : Sellersville, PA*
12/7: Space Ballroom : Hamden, CT*
12/8: Narrows Center For The Arts : Fall River, MA*
12/9: Portland House of Music and Events : Portland, ME*
12/10: Waldo Theatre : Waldoboro, ME*
2024
2/14 Northampton, MA - Parlor Room^
2/15 Boston, MA - Lizard Lounge^
2/16 Albany, NY - Secret Venue^
2/17 Portland, ME - One Longfellow Square^
2/18 Philly, PA - City Winery^
2/21-2/24 Folk Alliance International Conference
4/12 Rockland ME - Triangle Art Gallery
4/13 Portland ME – Oxbow Brewing
4/18 Cambridge MA – Club Passim
4/19 Northampton MA – The Parlor Room
4/20 Warren RI – Galactic Theatre
4/21 Queens NY – Sundown
5/03 Unity ME – Clifford Arts & Student Center
7/3 Crested Butte, CO - Center for the Arts**
7/5 Silverthorne, CO - Rainbow Park**
7/6 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater**
7/7 Grand Junction, CO - Mesa Theater**
7/9 Park City, UT - Big Stars Bright Nights**
7/11 Bozeman, MT - The Elm**
7/12 Missoula, MT – The Wilma**
7/13 Spokane, WA – The District Bar**
7/20 Vinalhaven ME – Skal
7/26 Ellsworth ME – Fogtown Brewing Company
8/30 Farmington ME – Under The Oaks Music Festival
* With Pokey LaFarge ^ With Eliza Edens & Molly Parden **with Blitzen Trapper
RADIO
North Country Public Radio, First Person: Connecting the dots in North Country medicine; reconsidering Benedict Arnold; and a “really kind of magical” EP