Album Review: The Weather Station – Ignorance (Fat Possum)

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Toronto-based artist Tamara Lindeman has just produced an early contender for album of the year along with her band The Weather Station.

Sure, there have been some high-profile releases already in 2021…Barry Gibb, The Foo Fighters, Arlo Parks…but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying listen than The Weather Station’s Ignorance.

Though the band is quite large (7-pieces) Ignorance is very much a singular work by a very focused songwriter in the form of vocalist/guitarist Tamara Lindeman.

This is the band’s seventh album and Lindeman has reimagined what her songs should sound like…moving away from tradition folk and alt.country and adding elements of pop, Krautrock, classical and, well, beauty.

Over-riding the robotic drums and swirling strings are Lindeman’s lyrics. They are raw in the best sense, revealing her vulnerabilities that are, most- likely, universal, allowing the listener to feel along with her.

Opening track Robber fades up with clicking percussion over a swelling synth. “I never believed in the robber” Tamara croons, revealing a loss of innocence over that propulsive beat.  A sax, played by Brodie West, winds its way through the track giving it an unexpected dimension.

In these days of covid, Trump and what-have-you there is, not surprisingly, a sense of dread in some songs. Atlantic addresses climate change, but in a most poetic, non-confrontational manner. With a sunset over the ocean, Lindeman sings, “I should know better than to read the headlines…why can’t I just cover my eyes”.

The album lightens up with Tried To Tell You and Parking Lot, two attempts at a “pop” song, the latter written for a bird.

Other topics touched on are mortality, internet bickering and separation/divorce all with a beautifully understated hand both lyrically and musically.

Album closer, Subdivisions, finds Tamara singing live in the studio with the full band. The lyrics, dealing with leaving, are nicely oblique…”The road was overwhelmed with snow piled high”.

This is an album of finely crafted songs, beautifully sung, played with both precision and abandon… full of beauty and unease.

Marty Duda

Click here to watch The 13th Floor MusicTalk interview with Tamara Lindeman.

Marty Duda
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