Juno award-winning Canadian folk supergroup, The Fretless has released their 8th single, “Let It Lie“, from their soon to be released album, Open House. The track features The Bros. Landreth on vocals.

The song was written by Alexa Dirks, David Landreth, Joseph Sydney Landreth, Ryan Voth, produced by Joby Baker and The Fretless, and mixed and mastered by Joby Baker. The song features both Karrnnel Sawitsky and Ben Plotnick on fiddle, Trent Freeman on viola, and Eric Wright on cello.

The combination of The Fretless with The Bros. Landreth is nothing short of magical. The strings soar and add a dimension we didn’t know we needed.

The Fretless with The Bros. Landreth – Let It Lie (Official Video)

Open House is set for release on October 22nd via Birthday Cake Media. It’s a ten-song, vocal collaboration. The band has been releasing monthly singles since April. In addition to “Let It Lie“, they’ve released:

• Maggie Rogers’ version of “Alaska” featuring Taylor Ashton
• James Blake’s version of “Retrograde” featuring Ruth Moody
• Dan Mangan and worked their magic on his single “Troubled Mind“
• Celeigh Cardinal on William Prince’s “Earthly Days“
• Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” with Freddy & Francine
• Rachel Sermanni on Feist’s “My Moon My Man“
• Nuela Charles on Alessia Cara’s “Stay“.

For this arrangement, The Fretless focused on trying to create a different musical pallet (strings) to deliver the strong colours and emotions this song foundationally breathes. [Press Release]

Stay tuned for more leading up to the October 22nd album release date.

Photo By Matthew Burditt

“Karrnnel and Joey played in a country band together way back in the day and have kept in touch over the years, even collaborating on some other music since the country music days. Ever since they released Let It Lie, the Fretless have been huge fans of all the music that The Bros. Landreth release and Joey even joined the band for a song at a Toronto show a few years back.” says The Fretless. “The groove, the tones, the harmonies, the musical intricacies – their music is gold and we wanted to do a Fretless take on the track that began our Bros fandom.” – The Fretless

Photo Credit Buio Assis

“We’ve been connected with The Fretless for nearly a decade now, in one way or another. When they reached out about this collaboration we were really humbled and the track came together even better than we imagined. It was really fun to dust off an old tune and breathe some new life into it. As it turned out, we liked the project so much that we insisted on signing them to our new record label!” – The Bros. Landreth

“Outreach and inspiring the next generation of string players is very much a part of The Fretless’ ethos. They continue to support numerous fiddle camps, masterclass’ and workshops around the world, not only as instructors but as mentors. Over the past few years, they have connected with notable organizations such as the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the Luxembourg Youth Orchestra, creating and performing full orchestral arrangements of Fretless tunes, as well as working toward a series of professional symphony presentations.” [Press release]

Let It Lie Lyrics

You get the summons, I’ll pay the fine
I know my place you can take your time
You take the high road and I’ll take the blame Or take me in your arms ‘cause it’s all the same

I may never see dear
Or say the words you want to hear
I can’t always be the one to swallow my pride But if you let your walls down
Maybe you would know how
To leave this alone, and let it lie
Let it lie

I wanted less, you needed more
I shuffled my feet but you slammed the door I was just happy to sit and sing
Oh my darling, you wanted everything (ohh)

I may never see dear
Or say the words you want to hear
I can’t always be the one to swallow my pride But if you let your walls down
Maybe you would know how
To leave this alone, and let it lie
Let it lie

You say I’m selfish, that may be right
And that my songs can keep me warm at night You go your way and I’ll go mine
I know you’re hurtin’ but you’ll be just fine (Ohh)

I may never see dear
Or say the words you want to hear
I can’t always be the one to swallow my pride If you let your walls down
Maybe you would know how
To leave this alone, and let it lie
Let it lie
Let it lie
Let it lie
(Mmm)
Let it lie

© 2021 The Fretless Music Inc. under exclusive licence to Birthday Cake Media Inc. All rights reserved.

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Trish Cassling

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Toronto Music Blogger