Lala Lala – I Want The Door To Open
After hearing The Lamb, Lala Lala’s 2018 breakout, it was
hard to imagine what Lillie West would do next. That album was effectively a
straightforward, scaled back, indie rock record, one that could have been
seriously hampered by here cliched indie vocals. Instead, West delivered on the
promises of her debut, presenting a string of hyper-melodic, sweetly written
tracks that deserved their bedroom intimacy instead of pining for it. But where
would Lala Lala go next? It was clear that West’s sound, while charming, was
undoubtedly a restraint, albeit one that attracted a percentage of her audience
all on its own. West, to her credit, pushed her sound to its natural excess,
finding an entire new world of vulnerability on I Want The Door To Open.
In 2011, Justin Vernon made very similar waves when his
album Bon Iver exploded on to critical best-of’s. Bon Iver had been a
singular, hushed cabin folk project, that seemingly grew overnight into a lush,
operatic demonstration of prowess. Vernon, like West, had a knack for melody,
one that gave him the opportunity and confidence to leave his ego unchecked. On
I Want The Door To Open, West owes a lot to Vernon - whether it be her overdubbed
vocals, synthesized horn tootles, or roadmap to sonic expression - but even
despite all the comparisons, the albums works only because it has West at the
helm.
The trick here is that West’s instrumentation remains subservient
to her melody. Her introspective bashfulness is not gone, she still sounds
unsure of herself and what’s happening to her, but she is never undercut by the
confidence of her experimentations, instead she builds her lyrics around her
audience and her collaborators. Each track in turn feels universal, whether it
be built around Nnamdi and Meg Duffy or sung by Ben Gibbard and Kara Jackson,
West acts much like Vernon did, conducting herself and those around her to
create something greater that she could on her own. I Want The Door To Open
stands in stark contrast to The Lamb, setting opposing goals and aiming
for a different audience, but both remain uncompromising visions of West, a
songwriter whose proven on top of everything else, her inventiveness.
~8.0
Comments
Post a Comment