Loma’s “Half Silences” is a sublime standout and visual from Don’t Shy Away, the group’s forthcoming album. Band member Jonathan Meiburg says of the track, “‘Half Silences’ was the first song we recorded for Don’t Shy Away, and we kept tinkering with it after we soft-released an early version last year. When you start making a record, you don’t know which songs will make the cut—but this one always seemed to belong, and we wanted to give the final mix (and its DIY video) a proper debut. People have asked if the fireworks are CGI. They aren’t.”
PASTE calls “Half Silences” “hushed and hypnotic,” and Gorilla vs Bear notes the song’s “haunting” vibe. Meanwhile, Clash Magazine says of the track, “‘Half Silences’ has a slightly more raw, visceral feel to their debut, its jagged guitar lines underpinning those fine vocal performances. Nuanced and mature, it’s the sound of those musicians further strengthening their bonds, while exploring fresh territory.”
Don’t Shy Away will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL October 23rd, 2020 on Sub Pop. The eleven-track effort featuring “Ocotillo,” the aforementioned “Half Silences,” ”Elliptical Days,” “Homing” and the title track, was produced and recorded by the band at Dandysounds in Dripping Strings, Texas—with the exception of “Homing,” which was produced by Brian Eno.
Late last month, Loma released the equally stunning Don’t Shy Away track “Ocotillo” to rave reviews. Stereogum calls the song “A languid and lovely piece of music that slowly builds up into widescreen catharsis. Cross’ powerful, crystalline lead vocal is a thing to behold.” Brooklyn Vegan offered this, “The gorgeously widescreen ‘Ocotillo’ that sounds as open as the Texas plain.” Beats Per Minute had this say, “Before long, the first tastes of woodwind appear, and from there Loma keep “Ocotillo” continually growing, oozing beauty and pomp as they subtly add in more layers. Cross’ vocals are heaven-sent, looking out over the vast plains created by the band, and together with her we sail through it, soon finding ourselves in thickets of wild and noisy brass and strings – utterly engrossed and captivated.” And For the Rabbits raved, “[‘Ocotillo’] is instantly intriguing, the band continuing their collaborative approach to writing, and shaping their creativity into something that’s both dense and dextrous; even as it gets loud and jarring it always seems to maintain it’s propulsion, always flowing, always moving, never standing still. The return of Loma feels like a second chance, a band who could so easily have slipped between the cracks, returning to give us the chance to make them realise just how loved they are, cherish their return, it’s a triumph.”
Loma (Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski, and Jonathan Meiburg) have returned withDon’t Shy Away, their incredibly absorbing new album and the follow-up to their acclaimed, self-titled debut, which will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL October 23rd, 2020 on Sub Pop. The eleven-track effort featuring the standouts “Ocotillo,” “Half Silences,” ”Elliptical Days,” and “Homing,” was produced and recorded by the band at Dandysounds in Dripping Strings, Texas—with the exception of “Homing,” which was produced by Brian Eno.
More on Loma’s Don’t Shy Away: On December 26th, 2018, Emily Cross received an excited email from a friend: Brian Eno was talking about her band on BBC radio. “At first I didn’t think it was real,” she admits. But then she heard a recording: Eno was praising “Black Willow” from Loma’s self-titled debut, a song whose minimal groove and hypnotic refrain seem as much farewell as a manifesto: I make my bed beside the road / I carry a diamond blade / I will not serve you. He said he’d had it on repeat.
At the time, a second Loma album seemed unlikely. The band began as a serendipitous collaboration between Cross, the multi-talented musician and recording engineer Dan Duszynski, and Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg, who wanted to play a supporting role after years at the microphone. They’d capped a grueling tour with a standout performance on a packed beach at Sub Pop’s SPF 30 festival, in which Cross leapt into the crowd, and then into the sea, while the band carried on from the stage—an emotional peak that also felt like a natural ending. “It was the biggest audience we’d ever had,” she says. “We thought, why not stop here?”
[Photo Credit: Bryan C. Parker]
Following the tour, Cross went to rural Mexico to work on visual art and a solo record, while Meiburg began a new Shearwater effort. But after a few months apart (and Eno’s encouraging words), the trio changed their minds and reconvened at Duszynski’s home in rural Texas, where they began to develop songs that would become Don’t Shy Away. Loma writes by consensus, and though Cross is always the singer, she, Duszynski and Meiburg often trade instruments. Meiburg compares their process to using a ouija board, and says the songs revealed themselves slowly, over many months. “Each of us is a very strong flavor,” he says, “but in Loma, nobody wears the crown, so we have to trust each other—and we end up in places none of us would have gone on our own. I think we all wanted to experience that again.” The album that emerged is gently spectacular—a vivid work whose light touch belies its timely themes of solitude, impermanence, and finding light in deep darkness. Stuck / beneath / a rock, Cross begins, as if noticing her predicament for the first time. Then she adds: I begin to see / the beauty in it.
It’s a couplet that evokes the album in miniature. Don’t Shy Away is shot through with revelations, both joyful (“Given a Sign”) and sober (the clear-eyed title track), and winds from moment to moment with confidence and humor. Like Loma’s first effort, there’s a tangible and sensuous feeling of place; insects sing in the trees, an ill-fitting door creaks in the wind. But there’s also a daring and hard-won wisdom, underlined by Cross’s benevolent clarinet, which often sounds like an extension of her singing voice. “Ocotillo”’s desert landscape unreels into a blazing sun; “Elliptical Days” seems to ascend endlessly like Escher’s circling monks; the jubilant “Breaking Waves Like a Stone” appears out of a haze of synthesizers that pulse like fireflies. A series of guests wander through these absorbing soundscapes, including touring members Emily Lee (piano, violin) and Matt Schuessler (bass), Flock of Dimes/Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, and a surprisingly bass-heavy horn section.
And then there’s Brian Eno. Loma invited him to participate in the mantra-like “Homing,” which concludes the album, and sent him stems to interact with in any way he liked. He never spoke directly with the band, but his completed mix arrived via e-mail late one night, without warning, and they gathered to listen in the converted bedroom Duszynski uses as a control room. “I was a little worried,” says Cross. “What if we didn’t like it?” But it was all they’d hoped for: minimal but enveloping, friendly but enigmatic, as much Loma as Eno—a perfect ending to an album about finding a new home inside an old one. I am somewhere that you know, Cross sings, above a chorus of her bandmates’ blended voices. I am right behind your eyes.
“A manifestation of brilliant musical minds in organic workspaces” ~ The Line of Best Fit
“A breathtakingly rich record” ~ Drowned In Sound
“Beautiful” 4/5 ~Q Magazine
Loma, the project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, released their self-titled debut album via Sub Pop in February. As they prepare for their first ever tour of the UK, they have shared a new video for ‘White Glass’.
The spark that led to Loma’s creation occurred in 2016 during a European tour in which Cross Record, opened for Shearwater. After an especially memorable show in Belgium, Meiburg approached Cross and Duszynski about working together. Two years later, their collaborative project, Loma, has released a debut album, and the trio is already deep into a tour spanning three months and twelve countries. For more information on tickets please visit lomatheband.com.
May 30 - Brighton, UK - Hope & Ruin May 31 - London, UK - The Lexington Jun. 01 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade Jun. 02 - Coventry, UK - The Coal Vaults Jun. 03 - Manchester, UK - Gullivers Jun. 04 - Leeds, UK - Headrow House Jun. 05 - Glasgow, UK - Hug and Pint Jun. 07 - Dublin, UK - Whelan’s Jun. 08 - Liverpool, UK - Buyers Club Jun. 06 – Oxford, UK - The Cellar
Loma’s acclaimed, self-titled debut is out today everywhere on Sub Pop. Listen to the album now at Spotify / Apple Music / Bandcamp / YouTube then trade yr dollars for it here or in yr friendly neighborhood record store.
Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16th via Sub Pop, with their first North American tour to follow. (dates are below.)
After presenting singles “Black Willow” and “Relay Runner,” Loma shares the first song the trio wrote and recorded together, “Joy,” a song about the giddy, terrifying experience of falling in love, especially against your better judgment. Of that initial session, Meiburg noted “There was something special about the combination of the three of us, and very different from either of our bands. But I think we were afraid to say so out loud, for fear of jinxing it. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when Emily hit that high, screaming note on the clarinet on ‘Joy’; it sounded like a human voice.” That sense of discovery, stoked by the album’s urgent and searching lyrical themes, is felt throughout the entirety of Loma and extends to the listener.
May 26 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling @ Paradiso
May 27 - Brussels, BE - Botanique
May 30 - Brighton, UK - The Hope
May 31 - London, UK - Lexington
Jun. 01 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade
Jun. 03 - Manchester, UK - Gullivers
Jun. 04 - Leeds, UK - Headrow House
Jun. 05 - Glasgow, UK - Hug and Pint
Jun. 07 - Dublin, IR - Whelan’s (upstairs)
Jun. 08 - Liverpool, UK - Buyers Club
Loma is available for preorder from Sub Pop right here. North American preorders of the limited Loser edition from megamart.subpop.com will be available on clear vinyl with red and black swirlies (while supplies last). A new T-shirt design will also be available.
