Late Tuesday on a late Thursday

This week the latest CD from Late Tuesday arrived in the mail. The trio probably wondered who could possibly know of their music all the way down in Arkansas, considering that unless you live in the Pacific Northwest you probably haven't heard of Late Tuesday. What a shame--these phenomenal musicians deserve all the exposure they can get. Fortunately, someone higher up has heard LT: they have a song on the latest "Christmas in the Northwest" compilation CD, in the company of Harvey Danger and Dave Matthews. Let's hope it continues.

I don't understand why, but it seems these girls are still unsigned to a record company. It surely isn't for lack of talent, fan base, or good press. Perhaps they want to keep autonomy over their tunes, or rake in a few more cents per disc than a typical record contract allows (they've sold over 10,000 CDs since they formed in 2001). In any case, Late Tuesday has scored again with their latest disc.

"Drowning Out Love" was released this month, and if you were quick enough you got free shipping with your order. (Or, if you happened to have a birthday right around that time [ahem], you didn't pay a dime.) As I've listened to the CD in the last few days, I've reflected on Late Tuesday's musical journey.

The first song I ever heard by LT was "I Must Go," the stirring 6/8 piano melody from their 2001 debut release--I was traveling with a fellow Camp Firwood Summer Staff member who had the CD in her car. I was drawn in by the lush vocals and folksy acoustic sound. I can freely admit that I burned the CD from her because later I went out and bought it--that's how good it was. Indeed, some of us performed "I Must Go" at my high school graduation.

"Drowning Out Love" is the band's fifth release, if one includes their Christmas EP. Each full-scale project has been significantly different musically than the others.

"Drowning Out Love" is much closer musically to "Remember We Forgot" than their self-titled. In fact, the girls have almost left completely behind the folksy songs driven by acoustic guitars, mandolins and violins, apparently finding song-writing joy in the Rhodes electric keyboard tone--epitomized and prominently played in "To Not Be Let Down" from their second album, "Looking For Flowers Again." The first time I listened through "Drowning" I realized about the fifth song in that I hadn't noticed any significant acoustic guitar whatsoever. Even "Looking For Flowers Again," while definitely a style change from the self-titled album, had such guitar-driven songs as "Hallways" and "Home." Their latest release has little in that vein. This departure is not necessarily bad; it simply reflects the evolution LT has undergone musically.

One thing that hasn't changed is LT's unique ability to take a commonplace, ubiquitous chord structure and make it sound original. Typically this means inserting some chromatic movements instrumentally ("My Nice-Friend Face"), or throwing out some 6ths or 9ths vocally ("Simply Beautiful")--an inevitable tummy twirler, if you ask me. (Just listen to the vocals on their Christmas EP... ahhh, bliss). Indeed, my favorite thing about LT's music is their vocals. Sometimes they will leave me grinning for a solid minute as I bask in stacked harmonies and dischordant tension. Case in point: "Song of Songs" from "Drowning Out Love" is an incrediblel mixture of rich minor chords fleshed out with full harmonies sung to Biblical poetry. The incredible vocals in "Simply Beautiful" have at times left me gasping for air and wiping away tears. (In case the LT girls ever read this, one of my favorite vocal meshes ever is the thick major 9 chord [or something like that] in the a capella measures of "118." YEAH!!!)

These girls write wonderfully creative music, but one wonders what will happen once they finally find the love that's been eluding (most of) them. Sure, each CD has a "Song of Songs," or a "118," or a "103 and Other Things," but I doubt the band will have enough of those to fill an entire album once the void of heartache and yearning is filled. And we all know that post-marriage love songs, no matter how much stronger the love, simply aren't as good. Perhaps when that day comes they will prove again how truly creative they can be.

Their CDs are for sale here. Buy all of them. Each disc is unique, but they all have something in common: they are filled with incredible music you won't hear anywhere else.

UPDATE: another Firwood alumni weighs in on "Drowning Out Love."

Tags: Late Tuesday, music, album review, Drowning Out Love, Looking For Flowers Again, Remember We Forgot