Somehow, the fabric of spacetime snuck into Elisa Thorn’s creative process. To say the experimental harpist time-traveled to inspire a 26-minute song would fall short a few dimensions. The result is The Years In Between, a haunting, unabashed exploration of Thorn’s relationship with her mother.
“Most of my music in the past has been abstract or instrumental,” Thorn says over a Zoom call from her Vancouver home. “This definitely was a bit of a leap in terms of being vulnerable.”
The song has been performed only once, ever, at the Women From Space Festival on March 5, 2020—Thorn’s last live performance before the pandemic shut down social gatherings indefinitely. “I was in a long conversation project with my therapist about my relationship with my mom,” Thorn says, tucking a chunk of hot pink hair behind her ear.
“She, um, pointed out to me that my relationship to my relationship with my mom—I was relating to it like a kid still. Okay, so how do I transition into a different mode of relating to this relationship? Something she and I did together was go back in time and access Baby Elisa. I’m really into this idea that all of me exists right now, like I can easily access any Past Me.”
When I ask what she considers the nearly half-hour piece to be—a song? album?—Thorn offers a few options. A collage, she says, because “there are all these motifs that come in and out”; an object “with different parts”; a symphony that is composed with thematic material throughout.
Aside from audio mixing by Chris Gestrin, the project is a home-recorded solo venture featuring Thorn’s Camac DHC and Lyon & Healy Style 85 harps, a looping pedal, and Garageband. Layers of Thorn’s vocals float in and out, echoing each other (perhaps giving life to many Past Elisas). The sonic collage transitions from dark, electronic tones to bright harp strings; crescendos and downswings are both subtle and moving, following an exploratory continuum of depth and hope.
On my computer screen, a statuesque harp stands behind Thorn. Plants hang from the ceiling. She doesn’t know if The Space Between Things would have been immortalized into a digital recording had it not been for the pandemic; the song was written specifically to be performed live.
“It makes sense to have a 26-minute long thing for a performance, but for a recording? I don’t know. I still don’t know,” she muses.
But Thorn has a vision. “My hope is people will put their screens away and have half an hour of ‘deep listening.’” Each performance will begin with a live streamed introduction. Thorn will offer suggestions for best listening practices—use headphones, turn up the volume, put the screen away, and close your eyes. The performance is audio only, followed by a Q & A.
“A lot of live music that I would normally be seeing is more ‘active listening’ time,” Thorn explains, who attended shows five nights a week pre-COVID.
“For me, that is such a meditative experience. That was always time for me to have a weird thought train—the shit that comes up when you’re doing that is often quite surprising.”
She compares it to the previous weekend, when she spent twenty minutes meditating with her boyfriend (who refers to Thorn as a “harp liberator”).
“You’re supposed to not attach yourself to your thoughts. I was like, ‘Man, I’m doing this wrong!’ But the things that come up and the things that are related to each other are so interesting. You’re supposed to watch the train go by, but I’m gonna hop on it!”
The Years In Between will be performed daily for one week with varying showtimes, beginning March 5 (Thorn’s last live performance anniversary) and March 11 (the anniversary of COVID shutdowns). The piece will be available on cassette by the nascent Toronto label Dark Matter later this spring. Thorn hopes these alternative ways of releasing music will prompt audiences to question their modes of listening.
Since its 2006 inception, a certain high-profile music streaming company from Sweden has changed the way people consume music (and been heavily criticized for its inequitable artist compensation practices). But the harpist has realized that the AI-curated soundtracks it generates are subliminally diabolical.
“I don’t like how it makes me super passive about what I’m listening to because the algorithm is addicting.” Thorn’s hands agitate through the air. “When I actually want to sit down and listen to an album, I’m like, ‘Uhh, I dunno. What do I wanna hear? Who are my favourite artists right now?’ The playlist thing really fucks with me.”
Her own preference for active listening—a subversion in the era of distraction—could give rise to the popularity of destination spacetime (no lockdowns there). “I hope that people just get time and space to reflect on what is in the pot for them right now.” Thorn adjusts her headphones. “Or to actually think about this concept of time traveling within yourself.”
The Years In Between, presented in collaboration with Vancouver New Music, has been something of a life changer for Thorn. “Through the project, I finished the personal project. I feel like I did transition to a different way of relating to my relationship with my mom.” And now? “I’m working on accessing Future Me.” Thorn leans against the wall and smiles. “That’s my current project.”
Tickets for The Years In Between are available here. You can learn more about Elisa Thorn on her website.
Showtimes are in PST and the schedule is as follows:
Friday March 5 – 8pm
Saturday March 6 – 9pm
Sunday March 7 – 3pm
Monday March 8 – 9pm
Tuesday March 9 – 4pm
Wednesday March 10 – 10am
Thursday March 11 – 8pm
$10 suggested price
Feature photo by Sewari Campillo
