Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Laughter in Summer

The latest album from Canadian singer-songwriter Beverly Glenn-Copeland is a meditation on the two great loves of his life — his music and his wife, Elizabeth. Glenn-Copeland, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2024, began writing these songs as wordless instrumentals, designed for listeners to fill in the gaps. Writer, artist and activist, Elizabeth, was the first listener to do so, crafting the bittersweet lyrics that would become the title track. ‘Laughter in Summer’ is a tribute to their 20-year partnership, a nostalgic and often achingly sad statement on joy, loss, devotion and memory rooted in Glenn-Copeland’s wistful piano compositions. Split between original materials, reworks and covers — including new arrangements from Glenn-Copeland’s own catalogue, and a softly devastating rendition of ‘Shenandoah’ — the record is grief-touched but hope-lit, bookended by the refrain: “let us dance down the road”.