Cobourg, ON based Lo & the High Road has released “Salem,” the latest single from their sophomore album, Standing Stones.
Written by Lauren Halász and Colin McMahon, “Salem” trades the duo’s usual fantasy and folklore for real history, drawing directly from the Salem Witch Trials and the words of the women who did not survive them.
While researching the trials, Lauren came across a list of last words attributed to the accused and found herself returning again and again to those of Sarah Good, one of the first three women condemned. According to historical accounts, asked to confess by Reverend Nicholas Noyes moments before her execution, Good responded, “I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life, God will give you blood to drink.” Lauren knew immediately that the line belonged in her chorus. “In a way, Sarah Good was my co-writer,” she said.
“Salem” builds outward from that history into something with a longer reach.
The bridge shifts the song’s focus from the past to the present, softening the record’s anger into something closer to a plea.
For Lauren, the song is less about condemning history than recognizing how easily fear of an othered group can still be stoked by those in power, then and now.
Musically, “Salem” pushes further into indie rock territory than most of the duo’s catalogue, built around electric guitar and a full drum kit rather than the band’s usual folk instrumentation. Lauren layered her backing vocalist practically yelling the “God will give you blood to drink” line beneath the lead vocal and worked with Colin to layer the bridge melody directly over the pre-chorus and chorus, a piece of vocal counterpoint she hadn’t planned when writing but that came together once they tried recording it. The track was written and recorded, like the rest of Standing Stones, in the duo’s home studio in Cobourg.
“Salem” was produced by Chris, with lead vocals from Lauren, additional vocals from Christine Dando, mandolin and guitar from Chris, percussion from Martin Gladman and background vocals from Amanda Weatherall. The single’s cover art comes from Abbey Spear.
Standing Stones builds across 14 tracks, pairing four traditional songs with 10 originals drawn from Greek mythology and real historical events. They include previously released singles “The Fawn & the Huntress,” featuring Lunar Bloom, and “Dance of the Dryads.” New songs include the title track, “Salem” and “The Weaver.” Christine Dando, Jordan Baldwin, Saskia Tomkins on nyckelharpa and Steáfán Hannigan on uilleann pipes, bodhrán and Irish flute all join the record.
With “Salem” out now and Standing Stones arriving Friday, Lo & the High Road continues proving that the line between myth and history, and between the past and the present, is thinner than it looks.
