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May 30, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Monse Muro

Montreal-based singer/songwriter Bells Larsen debuted last year with Good Grief, introducing his artful songwriting voice and intimate style of indie folk. That record grappled deeply with restoration, loss, and grief. In contrast, his forthcoming EP, If I Was, I Am, contends with the aftermath of pain, exploring stories of change and homecoming and speaking to Larsen’s life as a queer and trans person. Instrumentally, the EP is slight and familiar, bringing forth the unvarnished honesty and worn charm of a bedroom recording while retaining a sense of immaculate beauty.

The full EP is out July 28th via Next Door Records, and accompanying the announcement Larsen has shared the record’s lead single, “Ten Hands,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Ten Hands” offers a warm reintroduction to Larsen and his music, placing his newly baritone vocals front and center among pastoral acoustic guitar tones and some keening pedal steel. The results are both lovingly written and achingly sincere, with Larsen’s lyrics evoking the easy familiarity of enduring love. The track itself is about that same sense of familiarity, the moments when the walls fall down and you are able to be truly open with a loved one: “Baby, when we first met / I made myself small / With so much on my chest / After it was all gone / You pressed your head to my heart / And heard this song.”

Larsen says of the track, “‘Ten Hands’ is about being seen. For a long time, I figured that I had to choose between being myself and being loved. This song is a testament to the fact that I can choose both.”

Check out the song and video below. If I Was, I Am is out July 28th via Next Door Records.