Helena Deland Shares Heartbreaking New Single, “Swimmer”

Montreal singer/songwriter, Hildegard member and Paste Best of What’s Next pick Helena Deland has shared the video for new single “Swimmer,” her first solo release since her acclaimed 2020 debut album Someone New. The stunning track arrives ahead of Deland’s extensive 2022 tour, which includes dates supporting The Weather Station and Andy Shauf.

“Swimmer” is dedicated to the memory of Deland’s mother, who passed away last year. Its instrumentation is as spare as its emotions are abundant: Deland’s porcelain vocals rest on a bed of fingerpicked acoustic guitar and atmospheric synth accents, foregrounding lyrics (inspired by poet Mary Oliver’s “Clamming”) that are both heartbreaking and beautiful. “If I could make this last / Take more of this moment, trade in some of my past,” she wishes, clinging to an irreplaceable time she knows is fleeting.

Deland recalls the song’s tragic origins in a statement:

A little while after finding out that my mother was sick and that our days together were numbered, I went through a fundamental change, faced as I was with the need to reconsider things I had taken for granted. Growing older with her was now an impossible scenario, but I was being offered a suspension, some time to understand and try to change patterns that had been detrimental to our relationship, and to love her how I wished for her to be loved. I feel that we are in a similar predicament with the world, faced with the climate crisis.

Some losses are too big to wrap our minds around. Here, I am on the beach, watching my mother swim, faced with the immensity of the ocean, of our fragility, riding the troughs of magical thinking and crests of acceptance.

Deland’s self-filmed and -directed “Swimmer” video only underscores the song’s chilly tones and ineffable grandeur. She captured the footage from a helicopter while flying over the St. Lawrence River, which flows through northeastern Canada (including Montreal).

Deland’s tour kicks off in Los Angeles on Feb. 17, followed by a handful of U.S. dates supporting The Weather Station. She then picks up supporting Shauf in mid-March, hitting the U.S., E.U. and U.K. on a tour that will run through mid-May. Find ticket info here.

Watch the “Swimmer” video and see Deland’s tour itinerary below.

Helena Deland 2022 Tour Dates:

February
17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
21 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall *
23 – Minneapolis,MN @ Turf Club *
24 – Madison, WI @ High Noon *
25 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
26 – Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall

March
01 – Quebec, QC @ Le Pantoum
03 – Montreal, QC @ Le National
05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
13 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club ™
15 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre ™
16 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater ™
25 – University City, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room ™
26 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar ™
29 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall ™
30 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat ™
31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union transfer ™

April
18 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn ™
19 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne ™
20 – Bordeaux, FR @ Krakatoa ™
21 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon ™
22 – Rouen, FR @ Le 106 ™
23 – Luxembourg, LU @ Kulturfabrik ™
24 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg ™
25 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown ™
26 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje ™
28 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen ™
29 – Oslo, NO @ Ingensteds ™
30 – Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Klubb ™

May
02 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust ™
03 – Berlin, DE @ Silent Green ™
05 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique ™
06 – Cologne, DE @ Luxor ™
07 – Genk, BE @ Little Waves Festival ™
09 – Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon ™
10 – Edinburgh, UK @ Summerhall ™
11 – Glasgow, UK @ Drygate ™
12 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla ™
13 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social ™
14 – Bristol, UK @ Fiddlers ™
15 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk ™
16 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire ™
18 – Belfast, UK @ Empire ™
19 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory ™

(* Supporting The Weather Station)
(™ Supporting Andy Shauf)