The band The Weather Station is essentially Tamara Lindeman. The band's fourth album, one that is self-titled, is out on Friday via Paradise of Bachelors, and it's a fine record.
Stuff here like "Free" and "You and I (On The Other Side of the World)" has an easy, lilting quality that bridges the folk and rock worlds with ease, but it's other numbers here, like the spry "Kept It All For Myself", that really charmed me. The cut, like a few others here, succeeds largely because Tamara Lindeman sounds a lot like Joni Mitchell, and others of that generation of revered singer-songwriters. Even on something down-tempo, like the striking "Thirty", Lindeman delivers a song that owes as much to Laura Nyro as it does to Mitchell. And that's not to say that this is derivative but, rather, that it's of a piece with the work of those classic songwriters. Elsewhere, the supple "Complicit" rides a jazzy hook to pop success, while other numbers on The Weather Station blend a touch of alt-country with modern folk to great effect.
The Weather Station by The Weather Station is an unassuming record that offers up the kind of well-crafted folk-pop, for lack of a better term, that the world needs more of. Listeners should find a lot to love here in the same way I did. The Weather Station is out on Friday via Paradise of Bachelors. More details via the official Facebook page for The Weather Station.
[Photo: Shervin Lainez]