After sharing a personal look into her healing journey with the release of her 2024 EP, love myself, Lindsay Ell is moving forward with newfound confidence and a little “magic,” the title of her new single, out today, featured on her upcoming EP, fence sitter.
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The upbeat tune, about following your dreams, finds Ell at her best, demonstrating a confidence that embodies both her strength and resilience. “magic” reminds us that even when your dreams change, the moments of clarity are what keep us moving forward.
I’ll give it all up to get back to win. I didn’t think about what would happen next, I’d give it all up to get it back again. I still believe, I still believe in magic. I still believe, I still believe in magic, she sings in the chorus.
In 2023, the Calgary, Alberta, native left the label and took full creative control of her career. As she continues her healing, Ell returns to tour with Shania Twain, feeling “stronger, more herself, and more focused on what she wants to do.” Radiating authenticity and vulnerability, Ell is someone who has gone through a lot only to come out the other side with a clearer sense of who she is.
American Songwriter talked to Ell about the new single, “magic” and what to expect from the upcoming EP.
American Songwriter: What is the story behind “magic”? How did it come about?
Lindsay Ell: “magic” is about the road it takes to follow your dream. This road is often not as smooth as you’d like it to be, and usually ends up looking like something different than what you’ve imagined. Sometimes it requires more hard work and resilience than you’ve ever thought possible, and sometimes it can even make you lose sight of why you had this dream in the first place. However, the road is also full of bursts of inspiration and quiet victories that remind you why you started. “magic” is about all of these little moments of clarity that continue to help you move forward step by step.
AS: What is the message you want listeners to take away after listening to the song?
LE: After listening to magic, I hope that listeners feel inspired to continue striving toward the dreams they have in life, knowing that it won’t necessarily be easy, but that the real dream is not only the destination you get to, but also the person you become in getting there.
AS: Did writing “magic” reveal anything to you about yourself that you hadn’t realized before?”
LE: Writing magic surprised me when I realized how much chasing the dream can make you lose sight of the real reason why you started. The line I’d give it all up to get back to when I didn’t think about what would happen next is all about being so focused on reaching No. 1s, getting good streaming numbers, and having good data stats. There was a point in my career where I was working so hard to ‘ring the bell’ as we say on music row, that for a short time, I forgot what is most important to be more than anything else in the world—making real art. It’s usually a trade that most artists need to make: how much do you want to lean into your true artistry vs. how much do you care about commercialism? If you’re smart, you find a way to mix the two, and if you’re lucky, you learn how to try to maintain that balance, but it’s a shaky teeter-totter that pulls heavily to each side.
I feel that the past two years of my career have been about me taking charge of this balance again, making sure that my authenticity doesn’t get passed by my desire to have commercial success, and maybe, just maybe, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll find that magical balance in the middle.
AS: When you listen back to “magic” now, is there a moment in the song that still hits you hardest — musically or lyrically?
LE: The moment that hits me the hardest is probably the drop of the first chorus. That first lyric— I’d give it all up to get back to when I didn’t think about what would happen next—summarizes what this song is about to me so much that it was really important for the first chorus to focus on the lyrics here. The fact that the production hollows out here so you can really feel the lyrics was hugely important to me.
The funny thing about magic, when we wrote it, was that we essentially had two choruses, or you could even say two pre-choruses. I remember the day we wrote this song, and it was as if each lyric and melodic structure fell out. When we were trying to edit it to see what would be THE CHORUS, nothing made sense to us at the time, so we just left it as this long structure between verse-pre-chorus-chorus 1-chorus 2. Thankfully, in working with my producer, Doug Schadt, we were able to figure out the perfect arrangement. (Chorus 2 ended up being sculpted into the bridge. (laughs)
AS: Is this a taste of what’s to come from the EP? What can you tell us about it?
LE: Yes! “magic” is a great taste of what’s to come from the rest of the EP. This EP is a lot about authenticity, vulnerability, and confidence. I feel like when you can get to the place where you can be really honest with yourself, you can then step into a whole newfound confidence that you were never able to access before. The rest of the fence sitter EP will jump into these spaces of confidence and vulnerability that I never had before.
Lindsay Ell Tour Dates:
- 08/03/2025 – Big Valley Jamboree – Camrose, AB
- 08/16/2025 – Country Thunder Alberta – Calgary, AB
Dates as Lead Guitarist with Shania Twain: - 07/02/2025 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium
- 07/05/2025 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Stampede – Scotiabank Saddledome
- 07/07/2025 – Moose Jaw, SK – Moose Jaw Events Centre
- 07/10/2025 – Cavendish, PEI – Cavendish Beach Music Festival
- 07/12/2025 – Quebec City, QC – Festival D’Été de Québec
- 07/13/2025 – Ottawa, ON – Ottawa Bluesfest
- 07/15/2025 – Toronto, ON – Theater at The Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto
- 07/16/2025 – Toronto, ON – Theater at The Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto
- 07/19/2025 – Darien Lake, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
- 07/20/2025 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC
- 07/22/2025 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater
- 07/24/2025 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion
- 07/26/2025 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
- 07/29/2025 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
- 07/30/2025 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
- 08/01/2025 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
- 08/02/2025 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
Photo by Alyssa Lancaster
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