Just over half-way through her current cross-country tour, award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter Christina Martin has released her newest single and video for “Tonight Will Be Fine” — available now!
Martin’s take on the Leonard Cohen classic is the latest from her seventh album, Wonderful Lie.
“I didn’t really follow Cohen’s poetry or music when I was younger… With the exception of ‘Closing Time,’” she says, crediting the video’s heavy rotation on MUCH Music throughout the early 1990s. “Then came this intentional afternoon where I spent time sifting through his songs online, curious if I would connect with his lyrics, or a melody.
“I was on the hunt, and stumbled across Teddy Thompson’s version,” she continues on her unearthing of “Tonight Will Be Fine.” “The way Leonard Cohen sang the song on Songs From A Room wouldn’t have caught my attention, but Teddy’s version drew me in and made me listen to every word.”
Taking on a Cohen song is a daring move, however Martin pulls it off. She nails the track with seeming ease, making a refined, thoughtful arrangement sound like the first take.
With long-time lead guitarist, producer and partner Dale Murray, it’s arguable no song so deftly demonstrates just how perfectly and creatively matched the two are; Murray’s tasteful solo lends weight to the song — yet it’s light as a feather, never straying far from the melody. Beyond technicalities, “Tonight Will Be Fine” translates the love and respect that flows between the two, a feeling that can’t be conjured. They sparkle and they’re having fun; because they’re in love, that authentic connection lifts the song’s delivery to a whole new level.
Long known and lauded for her signature indie pop-to-rock style, Wonderful Lie sees Martin wading effortlessly beyond the Cohen classic and into the roots rock and Americana sound pool. Among the album’s 10 songs, four stand stellar as original compositions.
“This year felt like the right time to explore our take on six of my favourite songs,” she continues on the breadth of the release. “The tie that binds across this album is that all the songs are mostly very stripped down in nature.”
Wonderful Lie lands amidst Martin’s extensive 49 date cross-country tour — from Newfoundland to British Columbia — and ahead of her forthcoming European and UK dates in 2020.
The video for “Tonight Will Be Fine” — shot by Nicole Cecile Holland and edited by Carter Thurber — shows Martin and Murray at home in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia in an intimate performance at The Oxford Capitol Theatre, where she is set to perform a homecoming show this November 23rd.
“I’m someone who is sensitive to my environment and the people I spend time with,” Martin says of the latest single. “‘I choose the rooms that I live in with care’ was a great line in Cohen’s song that I related to immediately.
“And ‘tonight will be fine, will be fine, will be fine, for awhile…’ is the bitter-sweet reminder that nothing lasts forever.”
Wonderful Lie and “Tonight Will Be Fine” are available now.
At her Canadian tour dates, Martin partners with The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to promote the work of Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital.
“I lost a brother to an overdose in 2013, and I wish I had more understanding and knowledge to support him when he was alive,” shares Martin. “Improved education, access to treatment, individual and family support… Every ounce of me knows that these things save lives.
“My role as a change agent is to share stories, which have healing power. When we can talk about the tough stuff, we help eliminate stigma and shame surrounding mental illness and addiction, and people are more likely to ask for help.”
Christina Martin Tour Dates
November 4 @ Ironwood, Calgary AB
November 7 @ The Heatly, Vancouver BC
November 8 @ Bez Art Hub, Langley BC
November 9 @ The Dream Cafe, Penticton BC
November 13 @ The Bassment, Saskatoon SK
November 14 @ The Sunset Saloon House Concert, Winnipeg MB
November 15 @ Midtown Stage, Dryden ON
November 16 @ House Concert, Red Lake ON
November 19 @ Hugh’s Room, Toronto ON w/ Crissi Cochrane and Mary Stewart
November 20 @ House Concert, Montreal QC
November 22 @ Tipsy Muse, Fredericton NB
November 23 @ Oxford Capital Theatre, Oxford NS
November 29 @ The Carleton, Halifax NS
