Review Summary: "It does not matter to the world if I embody it / It could not matter less that I wanted to be a part of it / Still I fumble with my hands and tongue to open and part it"
2 weeks ago in my review of Rhye’s new album
Home I lamented the fact that they hadn’t progressed their alternative R&B sound into more interesting channels since their debut 8 years ago. It’s fitting then that my follow-up review is of The Weather Station’s
Ignorance, a record that elevates the same orchestral sophisti-pop to dazzling heights. Tamara Lindeman possesses such a confidence with her vocals, lyrics and arrangements – I’m unsurprised that this is the band’s 5th album but also left wondering why they haven’t blown up commercially before this.
Do yourself a favour and go on Genius to read Lindeman’s track-by-track commentary. There is a childlike-yet-wise profundity to her view on life and it shows through in her music as well, which is at the same time self-assured and curious. Even before you pay attention to the lyrics, you can tell
Ignorance is no ordinary chamber-pop album. Violins, piano and woodwinds swell and contract like a human respiratory system, which feels appropriate given how existentially focused the album’s themes are. The repeated references to birds, the sky and the climate crisis make you feel like you’re on the musical equivalent of a wilderness hike, and every flute trill, reverb-ing piano chord or drum pattern fills up your lungs like a fresh breeze. In case you couldn’t tell, listening to
Ignorance was a cleansing act for me, and I feel better and more mindful for it. Even if you don’t feel as untethered as I did during your listening, this is a record that lyrically, thematically, vocally or instrumentally, everyone should be able to take something positive away from.
