Loma - Don’t Shy Away Review
thank god for Loma and their unique ability to generate light, generate heat, generate feeling
Loma’s self-titled debut was one of the best records of 2018 (and that is not up for debate). It did not get the attention it deserved for its inventive slowcore, liminal nu-folk. Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski, and Jonathan Meiburg came together to create something truly special: Loma the crème de la crème of their countless projects separately and together. The experimenters had cobbled themselves some massive shoes to fill in Don’t Shy Away, a record that many thought might not exist, and might not were it not for Brian Eno’s fandom. I’ve said it before, and I'll say it again, thank god for Brian Eno.
We find Loma more experimental in Don’t Shy Away, moving beyond blurring the lines of ambient/folk/indie rock and scrapping those lines altogether. This is immediately clear from the opening woodwind in ‘I Fix My Gaze’, the album’s trickling, dramatic opener. Cross sings of a rock, feeling stuck under its weight, and conceding as she gets older that its ageing leading to its perfection. “The opposite happens to my face” meaning it’s necessary to move away from the cosmetic and look beneath the surface to fix her gaze on the inside. This opener perfectly sets up the album thematically, introducing the meditative ideas of examining the self as well as trying to find light in the dark and air beneath weight, even as we get older and our bodies begin to fail us.
Recent single ‘Elliptical Days’ deals with that feeling of incompleteness and a difficulty in understanding one’s purpose. It seems to effectively display our disconnection from nature, from each other, and from ourselves while playing with sounds to evoke twinkling stars and buzzing beehives, topped with vocals to the effect of gospel echoes within our own lost minds. The Portishead-tinted ‘Thorn’ opens and interjects with spoken word, before descending into a chorus of harmony which could have easily been lifted from the XX’s third album. Claps, barks and a wobbling effect divert from its consistent ambient, trip-hop base as the looming thorn of the rose withered “by time and sun” stands as the fear and the darkness, before the song’s subject is dragged into the undertow, where only song can save them.
Some of the album’s highest points are those stylistically the most similar to Loma. The updated mix and video for second single ‘Half Silences’ (originally released in 2019) was warmly met after leaving us in suspense for around a year. The earworm refrain of “generate light, generate heat, generate feeling” sees us finding hope from within that darkness as an understated breath of fresh air. Half silences, and things left unsaid, here become a mutual pause and opportunity to breathe in a time of enforced isolation, or could be a sadness at an inability to fully express feelings. ‘Given a Sign’ is an uptempo chugging tale of human impatience in need for signs and symbols from greater beings to ourselves. The beeps and blips scattered across the track partnered with Cross’ ethereal vocal of unending anticipation build into a feeling of unease after an unexploded ball of energy has grown inside us. ‘Blue Rainbow’ opens with children’s cartoon music before a throbbing synth and mismatched sounds of purposeful disorder mess again with that unspent energy.
It would probably be impossible to guess the number of instruments featured in lead single ‘Ocotillo’ which finds beauty and calm in the natural but “wonderful disarray” too, just as the spiny flowery-edged desert shrub for which it is named. Vocals take a backseat, beneath bluesy notes of bass, tickling guitar lines, circling drum and woodwind akin to a foghorn. Closing track ‘Homing’ is the result of a Brian Eno collaboration, born of Loma hearing Eno’s affection of their track ‘Black Willow’ on the radio, and the reason Loma is more than a one album project. ‘Homing’ and its floating vocals and spacey, tender simplicity becomes very worthy of our affection.
Instrumental interlude ‘Jenny’ feeds us into single ‘Don’t Shy Away’, a song written for everyone and anyone who needs to hear it. Light chord strokes, plucked harp, and heavy background synth underpin what is a fore-frontal stellar vocal performance. Cross sings to her subject, imploring them to “stop the car” and show their true self and not to hide away from others but, more importantly, not to hide from themselves. The jittery and urgent piano of ‘Breaking Waves Like a Stone’ keeps us unsettled following ‘Thorn.’ There’s a real beauty here, particularly when Cross reminds her muse they “will never be simplified” - this celebration of the complexity of humans, and the desynchronised mess and blown-apart plans of our existence do not deny the actuality of hopelessness, as humans can be both wave and stone. This track ensures us, even as we stand on the cliff edge, hope can and will still be found.
Don’t Shy Away feels like an important record. It is not as immediate as 2018’s Loma but there’s something in the messages and sounds here that feels vital. There’s healthy disarray, there’s beauty, and there’s real poignant sadness but most of all there's true humanity. Only multiple listens will truly reveal everything to be found in Don’t Shy Away but there is a lot of feeling, chaos and emotion from the outset. I’ve said it before, and I'll say it again, thank god for Loma and their unique ability to generate light, generate heat, generate feeling.