Back in December we wrote about ‘Two-Player Mode‘, the lead single from Lina K.O.‘s Earth Apple EP. A song which saw the Brooklyn-based songwriter “combin[e] Bridgers-esque indie folk with a grungy weight to achieve its delightfully ambiguous tone,” as we put it. “Where doubt and assurance act as perfect counterbalances against one another, Lina K.O. singing with reflective wisdom even within the confusing immediacy of the moment.”
It turns out the single was a perfect encapsulation of the release. A collection of songs where melancholy and something like fondness constantly compete and intersect. Take opener ‘Apartments’, a slow burning track which reveals its depth with an almost reluctant air. As though wishing to commit to the burgeoning momentum but afraid of where it might lead. “On the parquet floor said I’d want it more if I could find / Some kind of makeshift fix that could make me stick for the meantime,” Lina K.O. sings in a fitting line. “But I couldn’t promise it’s not a slow drift over a fault line.” But nevertheless the cautious build continues, the sparse indie still blossoming into an almost orchestral finale to reveal the heart underpinning it all.
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Such nuance shows itself in various forms across the release. Be it the nocturnal hush of ‘Grips’ and its whispered confessions, the brooding simmer of ‘Manual for Life’ or the vivid, digital spaciousness of ‘Arrhythmia’. Each track sparking from quiet hesitance into something more ardent, even if the crescendos never reach the full catharsis of complete assurance. ‘October’ is a notable closer for this very reason. A track informed by everything which has come before, a product of hard lessons learnt, yet still not emerging with total clarity or conviction. Rather an acceptance of things as they are, and an acknowledgement of the inevitability of change.
You’ve been going ‘round cursing the dark
Maybe all that you need is a battery charge
I took your lead and we closed down the bar
Made a mess of things, but it’s still a good start
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Earth Apple is out now and available from Bandcamp.