LINDY VOPNFJÖRÐ

STANDING AT MY DOOR 

A friend of mine sent me a flurry of text messages. Saying, "OMG remember that guy I told you about?" And, "You're never gonna believe what he did." She also said, "Don't tell anyone."  So I quickly wrote this song and then recorded it on my phone and sent it to her as my response. 

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Stripped-down bare and set to the Wurlitzer piano, Vopnfjord reaches the high ground in both vocal pitch and as a response to the uninvited lover on the doorstep. He’s telling us the story of an unprecedentedly mutually crushing low for someone turning up looking for something you never had on offer. You could say Bob Dylan’s window lover had it worse, while Vopnfjord’s character at least understands why the Lover came: “I didn’t mean to lead you on / maybe I should have said good bye / all my words came out wrong / and now they’re standing at my door tonight.” Acknowledgement toward the surprise visit is marked honestly in shakey vocals: “Now I see what brought you here tonight / and all the miles you had to fly,” and the apology delivered sensibly with, “So I’m sorry, sorry that I let you down / but I’m not the one who took that flight / and I know you were hoping for the best night of your life.” Who hasn’t experienced this first hand or through the myriad stories of modern-day virtual relationships? The disconnect is epic in Vopnfjord’s lyric: “didn’t mean to lead you here / where all your stars have aligned.” Bruised egos, dashed hopes and unrequited love are the subject of many a pop song, sure. But only the more talented artists are able to distill the essence of rejection in so sensitive a way that it doesn’t come off as trite country-music loss, generic blues misery or easy fodder for ‘just another’ folk song. This is Vopnfjord’s response to a friend who endured misconstrued realities easily invented with someone, which bridge distances so falsely.

Lindy Vopnfjord
Acoustic Guitar and Vocals, Wurlitzer Piano on track 4

Rick May
Bass Guitar, Engineered by Garnett Betts at Coast Road Recording, Victoria, BC

Örn Eldjárn
Electric Guitar on track 2, engineered by Snorri Helgason at Snossgæti, Reykjavik, Iceland

Bob Egan
Pedal Steel Guitar

Ian LeFeuvre
Electric Guitar on track 2, Percussion and Drums on track 2, Violele on track 12

Stephen Krecklo
Lap Steel Guitar on tracks 6 & 7

Simon Miminis
Drums and Percussion

Luke Doucet
Electric Guitar on tracks 5 & 11

Todor Kobakov
Vibraphone, Rhodes Piano, Percussion and Drums on tracks 5, 6 & 9


Engineered by Jeremy Darby and Julian De Corte at Canterbury Music Company Toronto

Engineered by Todor Kobakov at Kobakov Sound Toronto

Mixed by Todor Kobakov at Kobakov Sound Toronto

Mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling NYC

Produced by Todor Kobakov