Following in the footsteps of such hushed post-something groups as American Football and The Sonora Pine and blending it with the orchestrated P-Rock aesthetic (just like the label they come from! get it?) of Sigur Ros, L’Altra have blindsided me with a miniscule EP of sad, late-night music. This comes after reading a scathing review of the band’s full length, Music of a Sinking Occasion, that this EP precedes and dismissing them as another Low clone (yeah, I know). Well, truth be told, if Music of a Sinking occasion is as good as this, I’m going to have to rush out and pick it up as soon as possible.
Things start with the gorgeous "Colding Fields," which begins with some soft guitar interplay backed by an organ and maracas. The tone this sets makes no bones about it: L’Altra make sad music. The organ line is haunting, the guitars add a power and fragility to the song, and the maracas lure you into a trance. All before breaking out into some seriously weird arithmetic jazz drumming and hushed female singing. "In the colding fields/I lost my way/in the colding fields/I become cliched," intones Lindsey Anderson. The song ends with Lindsey humming a melody overtop guitars and drums, which then fades out into an extended maraca closer. Pretty great, I’ll tell you.
The next song, "Until Sun," while being very pretty, failed to stir up the same amount of excitement (or maybe it’s malaise?) that "Colding Fields" did. Essentially the weakest track on the album, it is nonetheless stellar, with male vocals this time around. After that comes the monumental and lovely closer, "String Theory." Starting with a two minute piano-guitar-drums-and-voice intro, it (like "Colding Fields") switches gears in a pleasantly jarring way, going into a jazzy break with odd lyrics. The piano reenters and gives back to the song the melancholic atmosphere that the intro provided. This fades out to a single piano playing a really pretty melody. Bass and drums soon join in (albeit very sparsely) to create a very atmospheric, celestial closing.
The biggest problem here is that it’s too short. Clocking in at twenty minutes and three songs (which is still pretty good, mind you), it left me wanting more. I guess I’ll have to go find a copy of Music of a Sinking Occasion and pick it up. Here’s hoping that it’s as good as this stellar EP.
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