Performances

カナダはモントリオールを拠点に活動するElizabeth Powellのプロジェクト、Land of Talkの5枚目のアルバム。
筋肉質なギター・ロックを控えめなピアノに置き換えた、インディー・ロックの境界を広げる文句のつけようのない4枚のアルバム・カタログを蓄積してきた彼らの完全な改革を感じさせる作品。

With Performances, Land of Talks Elizabeth Powell delivers a powerful reminder that not all cathartic music is loud. Instead of turning up the volume, they lean into the openness that has defined their songwriting since Life After Youth to explore their reality as a non-binary artist. While making the album, Powell questioned the expectations placed upon them as a musician and a person -- in other words, the performances of their past. Part of undoing the placating behavior programmed into Powell since their traumatic childhood was the realization that no matter what kind of music they made, it would still be the work of Land of Talk. Performances makes it clear how liberated Powell feels by this epiphany as they challenge norms big and small. On "Your Beautiful Self," which borrows some of Fleetwood Macs silky introspection, their voice dips into its lowest register; rather than using the guitar as the foundation for Land of Talks songs as usual, Powell moves to keyboards that convey the records moods just as artfully as six strings could. "Intro"s delicate twinkles foreshadow Powells vulnerability later on the album, while the eerie synth strings that underpin "Semi-Precious" echo the feeling that "something aint right." On the highlight "Sitcom," the contrast between bubbly electric piano worthy of an 80s TV show theme and Powells regrets cuts deep. Land of Talk treats Performances clearing out of thoughts and relationships that no longer work with tenderness and empathy as well as honesty. When Powell sings "So I dont like my family" on "Marry It," its just part of the songs gentle ebb and flow; when they declare "I want a love I dont recognize," it acknowledges what theyve been through and the hope of breaking those patterns. Land of Talk balances these confessions with experimental touches that keep the records softness interesting, such as the whistling keyboards and tight, hissy rhythms of "Fluorescent Blood." Fittingly for an album that looks at the past from a new perspective, many of Performances songs take time to fully reveal themselves. Nowhere is this more true than on "Pwintiques," which begins with a piano melody Powell wrote years before they formed Land of Talk and blossoms into a seven-minute post-rock excursion that captures the albums state of reflection and transformation. Performances gives the comforting yet challenging impulses within Land of Talks music equal time, and they both resonate with the confidence of Powells unshakeable self-knowledge. ~ Heather Phares