Land Of Talk
Calming Night Partner
Dine Alone Records/Saddle Creek
Recorded on the heels of 2020βs acclaimed Indistinct Conversations, indie band Land of Talk has returned with a 4-track EP entitled Calming Night Partner, a collection of lush, atmospheric songs anchored by bandleader Lizzie Powellβs celestial vocals and buttressed by gentle guitar and touches of saxophone and French horn that create a rich, yet melancholy listening experience.
Opening track βLeave Life Aloneβ is a simple, spare song at the start that slowly builds upon its title phrase, spinning out lyrical variations that vacillate between half-hearted uncertainty (βIβll leave life/I guess Iβll leave this lifeβ) and more disenchanted discontent (βLiving like Iβm dreaming/like Iβm seeing it allβ). As it goes along, though, the urgency builds steadily and the song lifts off the ground in a swirl, leaving the listener hanging a bit by the time it ends, suspended in an incomplete motion.
Itβs the second track and early single βMoment Feedβ where the groove settles and the band succeeds the most. βDonβt you wanna hear my body talk?/Donβt you wanna feel that noise?β sings Powell evocatively as the song quickly establishes its quickened pace and rhythm, the drums and bass thumping along. Title track βCalming Night Partnerβ has some of the most interesting, poetic lyrics of the four. Somber and reflective, she asks βWas it a calming night partner, did you laugh βtil the sun writes the sky?/Was it a knife-fight was it a lifetime?β each question abstract, yet full of implication.
The closer βSomething Will Be Saidβ starts like a sad walk, with flares of horn that crystalize the heartbreak at the center of the song. βSomething will be said,β she sings, βFor me it will be true,β words that hint at misunderstanding and misinterpretation, two people seeing the same thing yet drawing different, conflicting conclusions.
In the end, Calming Night Partner is a nice addition to the Land of Talk catalogue, and βMoment Feedβ in particular deserves some repeated play on your ears.
ArtistΒ Links
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LAND OF TALK – CALMING NIGHT PARTNER
Dan Kennard