Henry Lees and Joanna Butler Release THAT LAST GOODBYE

Sometimes, there's no good goodbyes, especially when it's final. Grief is a traumatic emotion we all face and often, the hits can keep coming. After three of his siblings died in less than a year, award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Henry Lees knows this all too well. He turned to the powerful medicine of music to help heal from his overwhelming losses and collaborated with notable Nova Scotia songwriter Joanna Butler and accomplished Ontario songwriter and producer Allister Bradley to create the poignant new single 'That Last Goodbye', available now.

'How do I say that last goodbye? Admit that you're gone and not coming home.'

'This is something I thought I would never have the courage to write about,' says Lees. 'I thought it would be too painful and close to the bone but thanks to two wonderfully supportive and insightful collaborators, the time finally felt right to go there. I'm so grateful we did.'

Between late 2022 and mid-2023, Lees' sisters Lawna, Laura and Linda passed away from forms of dementia including early onset Alzheimer's and Primary Progressive Aphasia. All were aged 70 and under. Lees had already lost his youngest sister Lila from cancer in 2009 and his parents in 2003 and 2011.

'When my sisters died in such rapid succession, I felt like I had been totally cut adrift,' he recalls. 'I had landed on a desert island by myself with nothing but the sound of the waves and the wind and my own thoughts.'

Two years later, Lees decided to channel that grief into a heartfelt, first-time co-writing session with Joanna Butler during a SongStudio songwriting workshop. It was the cathartic ticket off that lonely island because both Lees and Butler could draw from shared experience.

'We didn't know each other, yet we both understood the pain of losing someone,' Butler explains. 'You could feel the wave of emotions in that virtual room, and our challenge was to capture them in a song.'

Butler has written with noteworthy Canadian artists such as Juno winner Meaghan Smith, Dave Gunning, Terra Spencer and Bruce Guthro, so Lees knew he would be in caring hands. 'I felt comfortable in being open hearted and vulnerable with Joanna from the get-go,' he recalls, 'and that was key to the birth of 'That Last Goodbye'.'

The 2025 International Songwriting Competition also recognized the power of creating something good from grief and honored 'That Last Goodbye' as a Semi-Finalist in the Folk / Singer-Songwriter category, giving Lees' his twelfth honour from international music competitions since 2021.

'That kind of thumbs up from your peers is so validating and thrilling to receive,' notes Lees. 'It underscores that it was a good thing to create from this very personal place.'

Anchored by producer Allister Bradley's beautiful, lilting piano supporting Lees' sincere and moving vocals and Butler's lovely harmonies, 'That Last Goodbye' turns its delicate but keen lens on the crushing first moments of loss when the waves of emotion and questioning are fresh and visceral.

'How do I go through the motions, pretend 'til this pain subsides? Do I keep on waiting, hoping you'll give me a sign?'

Bradley first heard 'That Last Goodbye' while co-managing the SongStudio workshop Lees and Butler attended. 'They had very quickly built a song that caught my ear in such a beautifully longing way.'

After producing a piano-based demo for the workshop, Bradley enthusiastically agreed to produce the final release version of 'That Last Goodbye'.

'I very much approached the instruments as a hidden opportunity to tell as much story as the lyrics,' he explains. 'I aimed to capture the song's turmoil – the swirling confusion, the longing, the inescapable weight and the loneliness – in the instrumental track itself.'

'Allister's affinity for our song and its emotional theme is so evident in the instrumentation and production,' adds Lees. 'His piano melody on its own gave me the best goosebumps on first listen.'

'That Last Goodbye' follows Lees' two recent singles 'Into Your Orbit' and 'Smoke', which have racked up well over 10,000 streams and algorithmic playlist placements on Spotify's Daylist and Mixes. They've also garnered college and community radio airplay on stations across North America, the UK, Europe and South America. Both songs received honours from the International Songwriting Competition and Unsigned Only Music Awards.

Other achievements aside, Lees' and Butler's biggest aspirations for their collaboration are on the community and mental health level.

'I hope listeners feel an emotional release, knowing that others wrestle with the same feelings after losing someone,' says Butler. 'There's something so freeing about hearing someone express what you haven't been able to say.'

'In honour of my sisters, I really hope 'That Last Goodbye' can connect with as many listeners as possible who may be going through seemingly insurmountable loss,' offers Lees. 'It's not a magic potion but music can definitely help us feel less alone.'

For more information and to support dementia research and finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease, visit https://ffm.to/thatlastgoodbye or alzheimer.ca.