Many images and emotions come to mind when listening to Toronto singer/songwriter Dorothea Paas’s album Think Of Mist, including waves, a boat sailing through the river, a flower garden, a lush landscape, and a painting filled with bright and vibrant colours. Paas’s serene vocals, backed by delicate harmonies, evoke feelings of peace and relaxation. These warm harmonies are heard throughout the record, adding to the relaxing mood. There is also a lot of detail in the instrumentation and arrangements of each song heard both in the original album as well as the recent release, Think of Mist – Instrumentals, which includes instrumental versions of each track. There is a natural flow throughout the record, as the transitions are seamless.
When I listened to the album, I was intrigued by the recurring themes of nature and water. I got the opportunity to chat with Paas, who expressed that she loves the idea of mist and waterfalls, as visiting Niagara Falls sparked the idea for the record. In the song “Made Of Mist,” the sound of the falls is heard in the background.
Another one of my favourite tracks is “Autumn Roses” because of the detailed arrangement and creative lyrics. During our conversation Paas broke down how this song came to life. It started off with Paas playing a simple chord progression on the guitar, which at first she felt satisfied with. However, she decided she wanted to make the chords feel a little more complex. She explained her solution to achieve this goal. “I changed the tuning of the bottom strings that were open, so it came to that kinda of complex open-tuning that the song works in, and then that led me towards this middle section of the song which uses that tuning to open up into a new chord world. So it started out with just that simple verse/chorus structure and then it morphed into that open middle section as well that uses the tuning more completely.”
To really understand this concept I recommend listening to the instrumental version of “Autumn Roses” as you can focus on the guitar part and how it is simple at first and then builds up. My favourite part is the key change in the bridge as it adds a new texture to the song. There is also minimal instrumentation during the bridge which enables it to shine. The theme of water and waves is demonstrated as the arrangement is free flowing.
The bridge also stands out in the original version. The song is about failed relationships, which Paas dives deeper into during the bridge. Paas reflects, “The bridge for me was thinking about how to basically go deeper into the question of love being a frightening thing; what does it take to enter a relationship?” Thus the line, “Are you ready to come into my world” suggests that Paas is asking that question to the other person in the relationship as well as to herself. She asks if they are ready for a relationship when they are clearly not, which led to a bad experience. However, she also asks herself if she is ready to let someone in romantically.
Reflecting on the lyrics for “Worthy of Choice,” Paas says, “Thinking about having a choice was very freeing for me, where I felt for a long time I didn’t have a choice, so I just accepted something bad.” She adds, “They are two sides of the same coin because on one hand we don’t deserve choice, we also feel that when we do get the choice, another form of worthlessness kicks in where you are like, ‘well I don’t even know what I want, so I am a failure.’ So both the choice and the confusion are two parts of love that when you don’t feel worthy you give up those two options. So I think that finding a way into a meaningful love requires this unknown which is confusion and choice.” She mentioned how this song, and the album as a whole, is about giving into the unknown and that is how love works.
Some other highlights on this record are Eliza Niemi’s cello arrangement on “Diver” as it mimics the feeling of being underwater. I also love how the lyrics in “Night Picture” are descriptive and poetic. For example, “And the night covers all colours and all shapes concealing the lake / Except for the moonlight / Delineating the place where air and water meet / And the water runs deep.”
The track “Whatever That Means” is reminiscent of a film score, and I also enjoy the haunting feeling in the production of the song “Locked” as it evokes the feeling of being trapped.
Both the regular and instrumental versions of the album are 10/10. I love the attention to detail and how Paas came into the studio with a clear vision for the record, while enabling her collaborators to be creative with their parts of the arrangements. I hope to see Paas preform when she plays at The Danforth Music Hall on October 10. Paas also encourages people to sample the instrumental tracks from her album.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.