Her Name Is Calla

The Heritage

Written by: DR on 06/12/2009 21:29:56

Once upon a time, there was a band by the name of Talk Talk. They started out by playing synth pop to commercial success, but then out of nowhere they almost single-handedly created the genre we know today as "post-rock" with their albums "Spirit of Eden" and "Laughing Stock". There is relevance in my opening sentence to Her Name Is Calla. Those that have listened to "Laughing Stock" will know what I mean when I say that it sounds as though Her Name Is Calla have also been listening to it. For those that haven't listened to "Laughing Stock" I'll try my best to explain what I mean; incredible and emotive soundscapes, clever lyrics and superb vocals, all of which comes together to form something quite spectacular. Her Name Is Calla's post-rock isn't quite in the same vein as many other acts today, or necessarily the same as Talk Talk's. Their sound isn't based around building towards the big crescendo (though they can pull it off, but we'll get to that soon), instead they have an almost unique and unconventionally dark, atmospheric sound. Someone has even aptly tagged their Last.fm page with "darker than the deepest sea".

There are just 6 songs on "The Heritage" yet it still clocks in at 51 minutes. The shortest song "Paying For Your Funeral" is a mere 5 minutes and 2 seconds long when compared to "Rebirth", which is a deceptive 17 minutes long (some of that is just dead silence). Patience is required. Their style certainly doesn't make it easy to listen to for the first few spins either. However, if you have decided to soldier on and wait for the album to reward your endeavor, "New England" will, in all likelihood, be the first one to bear genuine excitement for you. Slowly it builds up in a typical (as typical as this band gets at least) post-rock fashion, by the time minute 6 out of 9 rolls around, the violin is at full swing, and the guitars are scarily unconventional and borderline angry 'noise'. That's when the realisation that this band may indeed just have something special about them punches you in the face. "Paying For Your Funeral" is eerie, like the scene in the horror film when the virgin girl is lost in the woods, she's scared, she knows something is after her, except with this song you don't feel like there will be a happy ending.

"The Heritage" deserves tolerance, listen to it 7 times or so before forming an opinion. And if, by that seventh time, "'Motherfucker! It's Alive And It's Bleeing!'" or the acoustic end to "Rebirth" don't leave you with daunting sensations then there's no hope for you. For the rest, this album will bewitch with how wondrously it leaves you feeling disconsolate and dismayed, it speaks volumes about this album when you actually repeat the album again and again for those emotions.

8

Download: New England, "Motherfucker! It's Alive And It's Bleeding!", Paying For Your Funeral
For Fans of: iLiKETRAiNS, The Ascent of Everest, A Backward Glance On A Travel Road
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 09.06.2008
Gizeh Records

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