Album Review: Six by Thalia Zedek Band

Six seems like a curiously fitting title for this EP from Thalia Zedek -- not just because it features six songs, but because the straightforward minimalism of the handle suits the expressive simplicity of this music. Built around circular guitar structures and Zedek's plain-spoken vocals, most of the material on Six feels like a poet's journal entries paired with a guitar and a muted rhythm section; this lacks the firepower of Zedek's work with Come, but there's an emotional intensity in this music that's palpable, even when the music is low-key. Zedek's guitar work here is cunning and hypnotic, with distorted breaks adding gravity and dynamics on tunes like "Dreamalie" and "Fell So Hard," while Zedek's band gracefully follows her lead, giving these songs a sound and feel that's evocative without hitting harder than necessary, and David Michael Curry's viola and Mel Lederman's piano both bring plenty of colors to these songs that suit their dour temper.

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It’s difficult to see Six, Thalia Zedek‘s new record and follow-up to her excellent Via, as a mini-album. It’s only got six tracks, sure, but its 29 minutes are expansive and generous in sound, full of the kind of rich textures supposed full-lengths often lack. The record draws a line back to the power of Via with the full-band “Fell So Hard”, a sweeping, dusty track rippling with guitars and Zedek’s expressive, faintly cracking voice.

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Thalia Zedek, while being a memorable name in and of itself, is a memorable name for having featured in a roll call of modern counterculture/true underground music – she’s been involved with Come, Live Skull and Uzi. Aside from that impressive CV, she has been ploughing a new furrow on Thrill Jockey, through sadcore and downbeat, pensive music. Her latest album, Via, was a lush yet raw soundscape filled with a variety of emotions and colours.

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