Listening to Lalalouieland’s new single “Sifting Time” is like entering a Zen garden and meditating on time beside a koi pond or babbling brook. It reminds me of visiting the Met and entering the Astor Chinese Garden Court and feeling as if I had been transported to some zone of tranquility suspended in time.
While she’s currently based in NYC, Lalalouieland grew up by Lake Champlain–an upbringing that cultivated her curiosity in the natural world, which shapes her signature songwriting style in that it’s laden with natural imagery. Having studied acting in Boston, film production in Los Angeles, and now design in New York, her songs have an undeniably cinematic air to them. Upon my first listen to the track, I immediately thought of Meiko Kaji’s “Shura No Hana (The Flower of Carnage)” from the Kill Bill soundtrack. Not only is Lalalouieland’s strong visual sensibility illustrated through the lyrics and soundscape, but she also designed the cover art for the single, which is a photo she took of an idyllic countryside while on a leisurely hike in Kent, England, that’s complemented by a sepia tone filter, with an overlaid vintage font for the text like that of an old-timey TV show.
The mood of the song is a simultaneous mix of serenity and melancholy. The sonic quality is ethereal, almost angelic, while the lyrics depict a sense of powerlessness against the merciless tide of time. Lalalouieland croons, “I’d give anything to go back and sift through the sands of time with you / … There’s some things we just can’t do.” Her soft, vibrato vocals soar over the pleasant atmosphere conjured by the acoustic guitar’s arpeggio plucking and the electric guitar’s tremolo picking. The song wavers in intensity as the cymbal swells and the guitar shimmer and sub-bass synth emerge and vanish. Lalalouieland sings, “Just came back from reading my tea leaves / It’s not looking good for us, and by us that means me / No one could admit it but one had to leave.” The track is heightened by its mystical qualities as the narrator somberly accepts her fate to part with her lover, as is prophesied–as she accepts our limitations to maneuver through or manipulate the past to remedy the regrets we may have in the present. Lalalouieland leaves us with this final, heartbreaking line: “This was supposed to be a love story.”
Like any great film, Lalalouieland’s debut single paints a vivid portrait of an absolutely devastating tragedy. We’re left floating in the present, only able to sift through the past and guess at uncertain futures from a distance. Listen to the single and give Lalalouieland a follow, as this initial release promises a wealth of vibrant, poignant songs to come.
Lalalouieland’s social and streaming links:
Buy the single on Bandcamp
-Review written by James Kwapisz
Leave a Reply