Victoria Blade 'Lo-fi Love Songs' CD

CD includes bandcamp download card

Limited to 100

 

"The debut release from singer-songwriter Victoria Blade has perhaps the most accurate and descriptive title in Already Dead history: 'Lo-Fi Love Songs' was recorded solely by Blade on a Tascam 4-track, more than half of its ten songs a heartfelt ode to Blade’s relationship with her husband. These songs almost function as a document of their time together thus far, with a lot of locations and life decisions mentioned throughout. Other songs seem to be more focused inward as Blade examines some of her own ongoing changes. The arrangements are so sparse (often only a guitar accompanying Blade’s saccharine double-tracked vocals) that the ever-present tape hiss becomes another quality of the music.

Blade crafts a style distinctly her own, a sugary blend of indie pop and folk. However, there are moments which echo other artists. On each opening phrase of the verses on “The Glorious Future,” Blade channels the unique melodic sensibility of former K Records artist Little Wings. The overall feeling throughout the album is more jubilant than melancholy and one almost gets the sense that Blade could breakout into a bare-bones rendition of “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” by Richard and Linda Thompson at any moment. A final and perhaps closest reference point would be the good-natured and carefree stylings of Feist.

Springlike in its sound and certain to provide the right atmosphere for a sunny Sunday afternoon, 'Lo-Fi Love Songs' arrives just in time to bring a little joy to listeners as we are assured the winter is over, something those in Blade’s former home of the Midwest are more concerned with than those in her recent relocation to the South. But the tape is unmistakably a statement from someone who has done her time in a colder climate, as evidenced in the closing song “Summertime,” a song which simultaneously functions as a statement on the difficulty of living in New York City and as a heart-wrenching breakup song with summer. One line cleverly refers to summer as “just a fair-weather friend,” followed shortly thereafter by a plea for the season to “not leave me again.” Only someone who knows the true struggle can bring this type of insight and authenticity to the table."

- Peter Cook, Already Dead Tapes, 2019