“Slowly (Home)” – Leon Feldman

On New Years Day, 2012, Vancouver band Glass Kites released a self-titled CD. Its spare, haunting final track, Slowly (Home) was picked up by CBC Radio’s The Signal (with Laurie Brown) and along with tracks by Brasstronaut, Patrick Watson and others it remained in steady rotation during a particularly strong year for alternative Canadian pop music. The song struck me as particularly beautiful and brave in foregrounding such a direct, simple and emotional lyric. And what a great voice! I approached the group’s main songwriter and singer, Leon Feldman, and asked if he’d consider doing an intimate acoustic version for VR Media. Yes! We hit it off and got down to planning. We finally recorded this in December, 2013, in two takes in the piano lounge at Green College at UBC. At just 23, Leon is going to be somebody to watch in the years ahead. Glass Kites will have a new album out later this year.