Terra Spencer, one of Atlantic Canada’s most endearing songwriters, is playing to her strengths with her latest single. Well-known her ability to pluck at the heart-strings with her bittersweet tunes, Spencer often tailored her songs to the key of a romance finding its thorn. “Lunenburg Moon,” however, is strictly a love song, albeit a bittersweet one.
In September 2017, Mike Kerr, Ryan Cook and Terra Spencer performed a concert at St. John’s Anglican Church in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The seaside town was curiously catering to a romantic night out, and when the evening came to close Spencer felt that something was conspicuously missing.
“We went out for fish and chips and saw couples everywhere out for dinner,” says Spencer. “At the concert, the church pews were filled with couples out on a date. And when we went back to the B&B where we were billeted, each room was arranged for a romantic couples’ stay, wine glasses and whatnot. The whole stage was set for sweethearts. So at 3 AM, alone in a big beautiful bed, I started writing this song.”
Spencer returned to the same church three years later, along with Luke Fraser and Sarah Frank of Canadian Folk Music Award nominees The Bombadils, and Katy Hopkins of Analog Songs to film their performance.
Complete with a harbourside stroll showcasing a bit of the town’s charm, “Lunenburg Moon” recreates that first evening for the Nova Scotian love song and then drizzles some delicious mandolin and fiddle mix over it. It’s a warm and cozy song that offers a gentle reminder to appreciate what we have.
“[It’s] the kind of love song you write when you’re in a beautiful harbourside bed and breakfast for the night, with everything except the one you love.”
While the video might have been recorded in Lunenburg, the track itself comes from Sonic Temple in Halifax and serves as our introduction to Spencer’s upcoming album Chasing Rabbits, which she describes a collection of winter songs.
Chasing Rabbits is scheduled to be released on November 13, 2020.