Canadian indie artist Joe Lapinski has something much more critical to offer honesty. His new single "Set Free," the emotional core of his latest album, "New Day," is a gripping, gorgeously layered plea for freedom from addiction, from self-sabotage, from the haunted shackles of the past. On "Set Free," Lapinski grapples, he pleads, and, at the end of it, he rises. The track winds out like a slow-burning duet as if two voices, actual or internal, are trying to track each other down through the wreckage of lived pain.
As theatrical as it is tender, it mines the swagger of glam rock with the bruised honesty of indie folk. It's a Grand Canyon story, with early Bowie meeting the warmth and grit of the Bahamas, and this is a song as dramatic as it's disarmingly down-to-earth. Lapinski's trademark style, a progressive blend of Canadian folk and rock, explores brave new territory here. You also sense his depth of experience, not just as a solo artist but through his work with a variety of Canadian ensembles. That communal heartbeat pumps through "Set Free," lending it the feel of a communal catharsis as if the song weren't written for one person's healing but for all of us who have been reaching for love, wholeness, and our way back to it.
"Set Free" doesn't flinch at emotional messiness and considers what it really requires to unlearn patterns of harm. It's the type of song that grabs you in mid-thought, causing you to stop and process. The vocals ache and soar, supported by spare but raw instrumentation that swells but does not drown waves of emotion barely contained. For anyone navigating the challenging terrain of identity, heartbreak, or personal renewal, "Set Free" offers a hand to hold. It does not provide easy answers, but it does welcome listeners into a world of courage and hope. Joe Lapinski has created a moment. And in that moment, there is freedom.
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