Review Summary: "Great music never ends the same way it begins."
I'm sure someone has said that at some point. If not, I can take credit for it, as it's the main reason that I love this album so much. How many tired, worn-out pop songs do we hear on the radio everyday that play the same few chords and rhythms throughout? It's not that it's necessarily an awful songwriting technique; plenty of songs pull it off perfectly fine (see: anything by the Beatles). But it seems that many popular tunes nowadays employ that very style. And it's just getting boring. And if I hear OneRepublic on the local alternative radio station one more time I will lose it, you hear me? LOSE IT.
Could I just stop listening to the radio? Yes. And I probably will, and just listen to this fantastic record.
Landlady is a group of Brooklyn-born musicians who come from many different musical backgrounds. Lead singer Adam Schatz plays in several different bands himself, and has been featured on recent releases by Man Man and Vampire Weekend. He also performs with afro-beat group Zongo Junction, and a jazz quintet called Father Figures, so Schatz himself seems to have quite the varied background.
The amount of experience that these musicians have with in different aspects allow them to find the perfect way to blend the styles together to make an album that is both extremely accessible and strangely unique. Look at "Under the Yard". It starts with some beautiful a cappella harmonies led by Schatz asking to be buried "next to the tomato trees" before transforming into a much louder track with an almost funk-like groove; dissonant chords playing throughout. It sounds like a pop song on crack. And I mean that in the best possible way.
The thing about this record is that I was consistently surprised while listening. Some of the twists and turns that these songs take are akin to episodes of Lost. "X-Ray Machine" sounds like a typical slow ballad at the beginning but it picks up steam to the point where it feels like the band is using all of their energy; like this is the last song they will ever get to play. Schatz chants "I will serve your family" among a cacophony of guitars and drums to the very end of this song. And it just makes you want to get up and sing along with them. Did I mention this band has two drummers? Not something you see very often, but it doesn't even feel like the other drummer is an afterthought. The percussion is one of the best parts of these songs.
I've only touched on two songs here, but that doesn't even begin to cover this sprawl of music. "Dying Day" is an acceptance of death, maybe even a welcoming, but it sounds ridiculously upbeat. It almost makes you wonder if this band is just messing with you, and joking around. Either way, the lyrics are fantastic. The title track begins with what sounds like an orchestra tuning up before an opera, and then is followed by a song beautiful enough to be in said opera. "The Globe" is all over the place, and it ascends to a certain point before stopping gently with another lovely a cappella finish. "Girl" comes with a sort of epiphany: "We just want someone to turn on". Ain't that the truth?
The highlight of the album, however, is the first song, "Above My Ground". It's a song about loss and how badly we want things to come back when we lose them. But it's so hopeful. So powerful. Schatz yells "I need you always now, always, always" for the last two minutes of the song as the band grows louder behind him. It feels like a song that would end an album, but they chose to use it to begin. It's strange, but it's an amazing way to embark on this 40-minute adventure that I recommend to you all.
