Purveyors of: Collaborations, psychedelic folk, city ravine systems
File next to: Jennifer Castle, Dorothea Paas, Jessica Pratt
Appearing: Lael Neale + Isla Craig + Guy Blakeslee: September 25, 2025 — Wavelength @ St. Anne’s Parish (651 Dufferin Street)
Isla Craig has created a formidable body of work over the past two decades as a solo artist and active collaborator in the Toronto music scene. With pointed attention towards vocal delivery and melodic play, her latest solo album Echo’s Reach weaves together psychedelic folk, jazz, and R&B. Craig spoke to Wavelength’s Lian McMillan about her atmospheric attachments and what we can expect from her upcoming set.
Welcome back to Wavelength! You’ve played with us throughout the years as Isla Craig, and with various projects (such as Bruce Peninsula and OG Melody). Do you have any standout memories or shows from Wavelength that you can share with us?
I’m at that age in life where these details and happenings have somewhat faded or melded in my memory. What grabs my attention looking back over the years is the beautiful continuity woven through General Chaos’ projection work. I think psych is a way of life and I have deep appreciation for General Chaos’ commitment to the lifestyle and devotion to practice over so many years. My deepest stirrings around musical creation often begin in the mode of the atmospheric, the sensual, a landscape or movement. The container and the conditions for musical presentation matter deeply to me.
You recently went on tour with Jennifer Castle along the West coast of Canada. We would love to know more about the collaborative process, from vocal arrangements on her album Camelot to background vocals on tour!
It’s been a while now that Victoria Cheong and I have been singing with Jenny. We develop things in a myriad of ways, Jenny has ideas, Vic has ideas, I have ideas… we try to find what best suits the spirit of the song. There’s an interesting evolution between a recorded arrangement and what we do live, as we see them as serving different purposes. The recorded versions are more distilled. Live we really lean into the three part harmonies and Jenny’s connection to summoning a Greek chorus / quality in the vocals. I feel very honoured to sing her songs and to do so with such dear friends. The collaborative process is one that is built over years of friendship, trust and a healthy respect for the mysteries of life. Oh, and major laughs. This crew is hilarious.
Your most recent album, Echo’s Reach, was released in 2022. Has your relationship with the album changed as you’ve performed it over the years?
Of course. I think as soon as a record is released the songs have already been through a few incarnations and that process just continues as you do. Certain songs stay closer and others retreat. Some are more jam-able than others. Echo’s Reach is a fall record so I feel her more this time of year, there’s an intimacy and interiority to it.
The Don Valley ravine system was important in the creation of Echo’s Reach – which can be seen on the album cover. What about this spot made you feel so inspired?
To hear from oneself, you need space. The ravine system is a place I walk often and find a return to a very grounded way of being within the city. Echo is the repetition, the question, the space for a thought or an utterance to travel and transform in subtle ways. She is the counterpart to Narcissus, the background. All of my choices in making Echo’s Reach are in the spirit of this receptivity and the valley is the container.
WL: What can we expect from your performance on September 25?
You can expect an electric trio of Alex Lukashevsky, Mike Smith and myself. Folky, bluesy, trance-y moments couched in the form of songs. I’ve been playing music with Mike for so so many years now. He’s so talented and full of vibe and is the most humble player. Alex and I have been playing together over the past few years. I am very inspired by his idiosyncratic relationship to guitar and his beautiful singing. He helps to push things into new territory and is the musical embodiment of playing music. So, we’re all going to play some music for you 🙂
Isla Craig joins Lael Neale and Guy Blakeslee for a transcendent night of tones and drones. A cross-border communion of the L.A. and Toronto indie music scenes, this lineup is tailor-made for deep listeners and lovers of retro-futurist vibes.
Thursday September 25, 2025
Wavelength @ St. Anne’s
651 Dufferin Street
Doors 7pm
Single tix $27.93 ($19.99 adv plus taxes & fees) at DICE.FM
Tickets: bit.ly/laelWL25
ALL AGES / Licensed
Photo by Claire Harvie