THE WEATHER STATION 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Tamara Lindeman was at a real transition point in life when What Am I Going to do With Everything I Know was first unveiled. A six track strong EP, here the moodiness and tangible sense of isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness that had once emanated from her voice dissipates into equally tender and gentile thoughts on an impending marriage and all that may come with it. For some, an equally troubling time in their lives, for others something to truly work towards and - when it finally arrives - celebrate, either way it's a subject ripe for emotional songwriting.

But in actual fact, Lindeman, her fiance and troupe treat the concept of matrimony with something close to apathy, or at least lackadaisical 'might as well'-ness. The culmination of this record, 'Almost Careless', sees her ask the question 'what if', but in a way that's neither excited nor nervous, but simply filled with inquisitiveness and a matter of fact consideration.

Review: Let's face it, we loved the early work by Tamara Lindeman, AKA The Weather Station, but it was 2017's self-titled album that really saw the parts slot into place, with the artist switching instrumental focus from acoustic guitar to piano. You could just call us suckers for ivories and have done with it, but our bias towards the most mournful and reflective keys imaginable is only part of the reason we fell in love with her so much deeper on later outings.

How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is exemplary of how staggeringly effective the combination of that voice and that instrument actually is. Recorded live in March 2020, while clarinets, lap steel, and organs do factor, ultimately it's the vulnerability of this album's minimalism that really shines through - a work of such personal quality it almost feels as though you're in that room with her as the world outside begins to fall apart.