Jill Barber and Slow Leaves duet on lovely new folk song "Joint Account" (watch the video)

Long-running Canadian singer/songwriter Jill Barber is releasing new album Homemaker on February 10 via Outside Music (pre-order). Jill co-produced it with Erik Nielsen (City and Colour, The Belle Game, Frazey Ford), marking her first time handling production for one of her records, and she says, “These songs are so damn personal, and such a deep reflection of my soul, that I felt an almost maternal instinct to both protect them and produce them for myself. I really feel like I stepped into my own power as a producer on this record, with a lot of generous assistance from engineer/producer Erik Nielsen, who really championed my abilities in the studio.”

The album was inspired by motherhood, marriage, and the struggle to feel at home in one’s own identity, and new single “Joint Account” turns one of the financial aspects of marriage into a love song. Jill co-wrote it with Grant Davidson (aka Slow Leaves), and also sings it as a duet with him, and the video finds the two of them performing it outdoors acoustically. Jill says:

The artist Slow Leaves (Grant Davidson) is one that I have admired for a few years. We had never crossed paths in person, but I found his music very resonant and relatable. During the pandemic I reached out to him about the possibility of us co-writing a song remotely over Zoom, and thankfully he agreed. Together we wrote and recorded the duet Joint Account, Grant from his home studio in Winnipeg, MB and me here in Vancouver, BC. Just recently, we had the chance to finally meet in person, and we thought it would be fun to capture the experience of performing the song together live for the first time. Enjoy!

It’s a gorgeous song, with a somber folk backdrop and close harmonies that feel like an update on early Simon & Garfunkel. Check out the song and its video below. Upcoming tour dates here.