From the swirling maelstrom of Live Skull, Uzi and Come to E and her understated solo body of work, Thalia Zedek is one of the most poetic voices from the ’90s underground, having spent an existence writing the kind of songs that eternally occupy the bloodstream.
While Come saw Zedek spearheading indie-rock and post-hardcore with an unhinged, Gun Club-like flavour, the Boston songwriter’s solo canon has seen her gradually reduce the chaos for songs that are more inward and contemplative. It’s not growing older gracefully, but more like seeing the world through a wider lens courtesy of the bumps and scrapes that one endures in life, and on her eighth solo release, The Boat Outside Your Window, whilst sonically enthralling, lyrically it feels more like a sparkling document of short-stories.
Following the departure of violist Dave Curry and pianist Mel Lederman who featured on the band’s 2021 release, Perfect Vision, The Boat Outside Your Window sees Zedek backed by Winston Braman (bass), Karate’s Gavin McCarthy (drums) and new addition, Karen Sarkisian (pedal steel), and it’s this new embodiment that pulls these songs to vital new corners.
From the off, Zedek brandishes the burning torch through the storm on the psych-infused, post-hardcore romp, Tsunami. With a line like, “There’s a tsunami waiting at the precipice,” the poetic snippets are straight from the heart. Featuring Beth Heinberg on piano, Aliya also lurches towards the apocalypse. As house of cards collapse around the sun and existential dread accelerates through the chaos, it’s Sarkisian who emerges as The Boat Outside Your Window’s secret weapon – her glittering pedal steel echoes lifting the song up from the ground.
On Pin, Zedek attempts to move away from the turbulence, as the protagonist does their best to escape the blast zone in a bid to start afresh (“I don’t care / Drop it anywhere / Make it somewhere I’ve never been”). It’s something that we all think of doing from time to time, but with Zedek’s unique flair, her narratives turn the mundane into something thrilling. Circus follows the same path (“Hey man, what’s your plan? Where are you gonna land”), and with Sarkisian’s pedal steel, it’s something likened to a sharp reflection off a knife’s edge.
Thalia Zedek Band - The Outside Your WindowIt continues on Naming Names and the personal portrait of Dissolve. Both, swooning countrified numbers tailor-made for roadhouse saloons. Zedek has always been capable of these moments (Come’s Sad Eyes), but here she dials it down even more with a pair of slow dance laments. Boat also possesses these unhurried atmospheres, but Zedek colours outside the lines, producing something more whimsical, and with added sunroof sway, she skirts along the frontiers of alt-country.
She doesn’t stay there long, though: Disarm, heyday indie-rock on a swivel where Zedek’s lyrics eclipse the raucous noise (“When your hands a tied by the lies that bind”). The sweet melodic charm of Shoes sees her parting with more wisdom (“Did they tell you / If you bend, you will not break”), while the closing Under Weather is one those subtle epics that one holds close to their heart. The kind of song that freezes everything around you, and as Zedek finishing with the line, “Give me one reason that we should believe in eternity”, it possesses the cold reality of a passage from a Richard Ford novel.
It’s a telling end and a snapshot as to why Zedek’s music has always resonated. With eyes wide and alive, she has never been afraid to tackle life’s darkest moments; her directness, matched by her beguiling storytelling, which is an adventure in itself. Impassioned and rich with wordplay that crystalises moments, backed by new sonic embellishments led by Sarkisian, The Boat Outside Your Window is up there with Zedek’s greatest solo releases.
Like Come bandmate Chris Brokaw, Zedek has made an album that has been criminally overlooked throughout wider parts of the new music sphere. For those who have spent time with The Boat Outside Your Window, they are the privileged few, but in this case, it’s the right kind of one percent.
The Boat Outside Your Window is out now via Thrill Jockey. Purchase from Bandcamp.
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