With their first two albums,
Loma
fabricated a compelling, impressionistic sonic landscape comprising a mysterious mixture of dream pop and folktronica, with orchestral flourishes and ventures into art rock and worldbeat surfacing on their second album,
Don't Shy Away
, released in 2020. In the meantime, with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trio --
Shearwater
's
Jonathan Meiburg
and
Cross Record
Emily Cross
Dan Duszynski
-- scattered across the globe, with
Meiburg
landing in Germany,
Cross
putting down roots in Dorset, England, and
Duszynski
remaining in the band's base of central Texas. When
reconvened in early 2023, a somewhat stonier, more fortified sound influenced by their respective environs prevailed albeit set within an established dreamy, pastoral sensibility that remains intact. The composite effect is particularly cinematic on the resulting
How Will I Live Without a Body?
It's worth noting that the reunion took place in a small stone house in the U.K. that was once a coffin-maker's workshop; they used a padded coffin as a vocal booth. If relatively seamless, this evolution in sound is evident right from the dramatic yet ethereal opener "Please, Come In," a song that begins with chirping birds and needly electronics before settling into a lean and steady rock groove. Breathy layered vocals, a guitar line that seems to underscore the drums, angular electronic tones, and hammered piano chords (and cow bell) set a menacing tone for a moody track list whose spooky, widescreen,
Poe
-like character is encouraged by titles like "Arrhythmia," "Unbraiding," "Pink Sky," and "Broken Doorbell." The delicate "Unbraiding" is a hypnotic showstopper of sorts, with its dreamlike shifts in timbre and a ruminative guiding vocal that seems oblivious to illustrative accompaniment that switches from gentle acoustic guitar to blurting electronics and swirling strings. At nearly eight minutes in length, the meditative and at times
Pink Floyd
-like "Broken Doorbell" ("I stumble half-awake/I saw the fear in your eyes") is among the songs that continue along an immersive path. That song also features crashing waves from Dorset's Chesil Beach. While still haunted and yearning in nature, tracks like "How It Starts" and the especially Halloween-y "A Steady Mind" are driving, melodic, playlist-friendly offerings that provide rhythmic pick-me-ups without stepping outside the confines of the album's blue-tinted universe.
closes on a short, quiet folk entry, "Turnaround," which explicitly sets the scene in England and in isolation before ending on an unresolved chord. ~ Marcy Donelson