Toronto singer/songwriter Lori Cullen adds to an acclaimed catalog with her ninth album “The Thunder and The Bay”. Known for fusing jazz, folk, bossa, and orch-pop flavours into a uniquely personal hybrid, the eleven new songs expand the sonic palette with contemporary electronica. The juxtaposition of EDM oriented beats with Lori’s crystalline voice and her idiosyncratic melodic sensibility results in a refreshingly rich and modern soundscape.

The material was co-written and produced with James de Pinho AKA Beta One whose roots are in the electronic dance music world. Writing and recording the songs simultaneously, Lori and James lived a close collaboration where the pair’s creative synergy took them to musical places they hadn’t gone to before. Adding an organic touch are notable Toronto players Rich Brown on bass, Kevin Fox on cello, Thom Gill and Kurt Swinghammer on guitars, and William Sperandei on trumpet. Lori’s signature stacked harmonies and complex interweaving backing parts create a choir that sings of a trip of self-discovery.

“When you leave your home and what you know, you become yourself in a different way”. She “imagined a trip due North where the further you go the more you want to keep going, where whatever you can dream up could actually happen”.

Inside this trip to the archetypal North of our imaginations you’ll feel an ardent affection for travelling through Ontario’s forests, swimming its waters and imagining its wilds; a founding creative force for both James’ production and Lori’s lyrics and delivery. Inspired by the stunningly dramatic environment of Thunder Bay, Ontario on a recent tour, Lori responded with an album that unexpectedly combines the poetic approach of the singer/songwriter tradition, a harmonic sensibility informed by jazz, and the creative foundation of an electronic pulse, merging together as The Thunder and The Bay.

All songs written by Lori Cullen and James de Pinho
Produced by James de Pinho
Mastering by Slade Templeton
Vocals, acoustic guitar - Lori Cullen

Special Guests
trumpet and extra fun bits #2, #6, #10 - William Sperandei
bass #2, #3 - Rich Brown
cello #4- Kevin Fox
guitar, bass, piano #7- Thom Gill
electric guitar and extra fun bits #3, #8, #9 Kurt Swinghammer
vocals #4- James de Pinho

cover image by Kurt Swinghammer