Jaws of Love. – Tasha Sits Close to the Piano

Indie Folk | Baroque Pop

72%

There are few records more moving than those you can simply get lost it. This introspective new side project from Local Natives’ Kelcey Ayer does just that. Its piano driven balladry flows over you like the rising tide, with the record’s more expansive soundscapes providing some of the most emotive and enchanting passages I’ve heard all year. The eponymous opening track ‘Jaws of Love’ perhaps best shows the haunting atmosphere that this record captures so well, while ‘Lake Tahoe’ shows Kelcey’s soaring vocals at their most compelling and passionate. Tracks such as ‘Before the Hurting Lands’ introduce more electronic elements which recall Bon Iver, while album highlight ‘Love Me Like I’m Gone’ for the most part strips it back to the bare essentials to provide Tasha‘s most honest and authentic offering.

The rather abrupt ending of ‘Everything’ messes with the flow of the record a little, and more attentive listeners are likely to feel Tasha is a tad repetitive. It would have been nice if the record had explored individual elements in more depth, having some piano based tracks, some orchestral, some acoustic etc. rather than giving every song both barrels. It’s a record that you get lost in for a short while before moving on, not the kind that you listen to for hours on end. Think of it more as rereading a favourite book; you need time away from it, you need to forget for a while, before you dive back in and remind yourself why you loved it in the first place.