True Mountain Laurel Finds Harmony In Friendship
Photo Credit : Mikaela Kautzky
For Haley Blais and Sam Lynch, the chemistry behind True Mountain Laurel is hard to explain even though it's easy to hear. The Vancouverite songwriters and longtime friends form a creative partnership that lets their personalities, instincts, and voices blend into something neither could manage alone.
“I’m very lucky to have a biological sister, and it feels similar in that it’s a friend you just have this level of understanding with,” Lynch says. “There’s an unnameable quality where you’re just like, you get it, or you see things in a similar way.”
This level of understanding developed long before TML became the supergroup listeners know today. They met through Vancouver’s music scene, and their friendship grew through songwriting and touring together. When they finally began writing songs as a duo just over a year ago, the collaboration felt surprisingly effortless.
“It felt really easy in a way that things haven’t in the past when I’ve worked with other people,” Lynch says. “Those relationships have required a lot more explanation or clarification.”
Rather than trying to suit themselves to each other's individual styles, the pair let the songs develop naturally. After just a few songwriting sessions together, they realized the material sat outside both of their individual bodies of work. It occupied its own space, free from expectations and born with a new sense of freedom and fun.
The ease and comfortability between them also create room to take risks. Lynch admires Blais’ ability to weave humour into her lyrics; meanwhile, Blais says Lynch’s voice encourages her to lean into more heartfelt, serious lyrics.
“Writing with her allows me to feel more confident in those ideas and carry them through to their final form,” Lynch says. “I don’t know if I would have been able to access that without her.”
For Blais, the exchange works both ways. “Why shy away from the truth and honesty of it?” she says of the earnest lines Lynch brings to their songs.
The result is an earnest record shaped by two distinct sensibilities, with each songwriter helping the other explore unfamiliar territory. That balance shows up in their voices. Angel So Bad is filled with swoon-worthy harmonies, one of the duo’s defining qualities.
True Mountain Laurel’s sound draws on folk and country influences, pairing acoustic instrumentation with rich vocal harmonies. Piano and pedal steel add texture to the arrangements, while Haley Blais and Sam Lynch’s lyrics keep the songs from settling into straightforward sweetness. Their writing shifts between emotional honesty and playful irreverence, giving the music a complexity that extends beyond its gentle surface.
“People always talk about our blend and how, when we sing in unison, it’s almost impossible to distinguish our voices from one another,” Blais says.
This vocal feature perfectly captures what makes True Mountain Laurel so special. Their voices merge so closely that the distinction between Blais and Lynch disappears, yet the record depends on the different aspects each brings. Together they create a shared language without erasing either of their individual nuances.
“There’s a nice balance in these songs between both of our tendencies and the things we might normally shy away from or feel nervous about,” Blais says.
For True Mountain Laurel, harmony is more than vocal technique. It is the sound of close friends trusting each other and discovering the range of what they can accomplish together.
True Mountain Laurel will be playing live at Modern Love in Calgary, AB on November 3, 2026. Find tickets here.