Review Summary: this is a prayer for love
Elizabeth Powell, the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Land of Talk, has never been known for writing very obvious or straightforward lyrics. Their last album, 2017’s
Life After Youth, was preceded by a first single whose chorus consisted solely of the lines “You light it slowly / Your light is lonely,” devoid of a context to place that ambiguous phrase in. Ambiguity and abstraction have long been Powell’s calling card, to the point where on earlier records, you could go most of a song without being able to discern many whole lines. But Powell isn’t a Justin Vernon-esque connoisseur of word salad; their phrases come across too grounded and deeply felt, more like Powell simply subtracts details they find less vital. And they are still capable of striking, emotional bluntness, such as on one of their most famous refrains: “Something in your voice / Sparks a little hope / I’ll wait up for that noise / Your voice becomes my home.”
That knack for clever wordplay, odd turns of phrase, and sincere clarity intermingle again on Powell’s fourth album with Land of Talk,
Indistinct Conversations, but this album feels a little woolier around the edges than their last. There’s a homemade quality to Indistinct Conversations, a slightly casual shagginess that softens some of the blow, but in reducing the sheen, Powell and co. are able to cut to the heart of things quickly and in their own time.
It’s rather comedic, though, that a band and a writer known for sometimes-obtuse imagery and poetic expression opens their new album with the line, “Please be diaphanous,” a word which means
translucent. That plea for transparency gives way to a pillowy saunter of a tune, one of the album’s slowest. Powell’s admissions that they don’t know enough and that they know they “get caught up in the wrong stuff” is surrounded by gently (but loudly) strummed guitars and steady percussion. It is a bit of a slow burn to open an indie rock album with, but it sets the stage well.
Other songs pick up the pace while maintaining the looser atmosphere. “Look to You” has a makeshift latter-day Yeah Yeah Yeahs vibe, while “Footnotes”, with its jagged crests of chugging guitar and head banging drums would’ve been right at home on
Life After Youth. First single “Weight of That Weekend”, as several songs here, sees Powell leading with the acoustic guitar, but their skills on the instrument are not dulled by the switch away from electric. Powell isn’t as showy a player as someone like St. Vincent, but they are still one of indie rock’s best guitarists, effortlessly turning out complex chord progressions and unpredictable patterns.
The album ends a bit too slowly, with “Festivals” and “Now You Want to Live in the Light” both being closer to ballads than basically anything else on the record, though they are both great tunes. “Now You Want to Live in the Light” is especially effective, with an oh-so-gentle kick drum and airy woodwinds, and some of Powell’s most vulnerable lyrics on the album, including the crushing finisher, “Have I lost the feeling? What’s wrong with me?” Those are the last words we hear, as the closing track is an instrumental, almost-ambient number backed by various field recordings of people talking (ie: “indistinct conversations”). It's not terribly satisfying as a closer, even if it is a neat aural experience.
It’s a little bit of a letdown to end the album with such a soft focus, but it helps that Powell and co. are so good at what they do by now. Powell’s lyrics throughout are just emotive enough so to not keep listeners at such a distance that we feel alienated. And their poetic lens make the more direct bits stand out even stronger in relief; lines like “Don’t say I don’t feel the attraction / All I feel is the attraction” land just as hard as more obscure one like “It's the weight of words / ‘Cause i'm down in that sea / Every light made of stone”. Land of Talk remain one of the more interesting and underrated bands in indie rock, and while this album may not be their shiniest or most towering achievement, it does make clear why so many of us are glad they’re still here.
Final Rating: 74
Key Tracks: Diaphanous, Weight of that Weekend, Footnotes, Now You Want to Live in the Light
