The reaction to Tall Tall Shadow (Secret City), Basia Bulat’s third full-length, has been exceedingly positive, a happy circumstance for a performer who made her thus-far moderate fame on the folk singer/songwriter circuit and is now looking to switch things up. Bulat’s first two albums, adept enough affairs, traded mostly in the light arrangements and soft dynamics of contemporary folk music. If her talents extend beyond many of her peers (notably her staggering facility on a wide range of stringed instruments from the dulcimer to the charango), her aesthetic palette as presented on her first two albums was largely traditional. Tall Tall Shadow, by contrast, opens with the stomping, gradual crescendo of the title track, an immediate announcement of increasing speed and volume that sustains for the rest of the record. It’s a sonic gamble for Bulat, who for the first time finds herself pushing her aesthetics into more energetic territory. Still, the song structures and modes are of a piece with her previous releases, making Tall Tall Shadow a furtherance rather than a divergence from her previous work. Bulat will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on her.
Bulat: I fell in love with the music of U.S. Girls almost a year ago now and have remained a fervent convert ever since! One of the many reasons why I love the newest single is because of how empowered I feel when I hear Meghan Remy sing it. “28 Days” is the most poppy and poignant song about women’s bodies there is, and I will never tire of hearing it. Emily Pelstring directed the beautiful video and captures the spirit of the song so well—by the time you reach the last scene where the girls all walk down the road hand in hand, you’ll be a convert, too.
Video after the jump.
