Here at TVD HQ, music arrives daily. By the minute, by the hour, perhaps too much. So, when asked to premiere a track, the thinking is well, this really needs to be outstanding. Which is why we’re delighted to premiere “The Salt” from San Francisco’s There’s Talk. Because it is. Outstanding.—Ed.
“The first time I heard a record on vinyl wasn’t a fidelity explosion or an old classic that I’d grown up listening to with my parents. It was at a friend’s house, on a small plastic turntable with a built in speaker. I stared at the spinning, proceeding to listen until the repetition of silence snapped me out of my entrancement by the sorcery of it all. I thought then that I’d been doing it wrong all along.”
“In fact, I probably listened to music the backwards way growing up—mostly highly compressed singles and samples until a band intrigued me into exploring their catalog properly. Death Cab for Cutie was probably one of the first to get me to practice otherwise. That band got me through some shit. I remember closing my child eyes to Transatlanticism, thinking, “This is what heartbreak must feel like.”
Had I’d known of future heart-wrenching to punch me in the throat from For Emma, Forever Ago, I’d have warmed up with some Elliot Smith and a tub of ice cream. I’m convinced Justin Vernon sings on the borderline inaudible with intent, as if to make it an option for you—that if you cared to listen deeply enough you could take him in steps when ready, allowing yourself eventually to become fully disarmed. That and he probably wouldn’t want to scare you away so soon.
I also remember Bjork (circa swan dress days) really opening my eyes to the power of honest eccentricity. It’s as if every beat, shout, and stutter is a feeling spoken in tongues. As did Sufjan Stevens. Illinois was one of the first records I had the pleasure to revisit on vinyl and it blew my mind.
I had this dream of pressing my first release on vinyl. It’s hard to say exactly why. It’s probably not a smart investment. I just thought it would be important and I wanted to allow someone that ritualistic experience and encourage listening all the way through.
I don’t know, if it doesn’t work out at least I’ll have a couple boxes of records to remind me that I dared to dream, once.”
—Olivia Lee, There’s Talk
There’s Talk debut EP, “Tiny Strands” will be released in July 2013.
