More on: Land Of Talk

Land Of Talk are returning to the UK in February for a string of dates supporting Menomena. The Montreal band, fronted by Elizabeth Powell, were last in the UK for The Decemberists tour in October, which was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute.

Their debut EP 'Applause Cheer Boo Hiss' got a UK release back in October on One Little Indian, but as Elizabeth tells us below, she is ready with tracks for a full-length.

How did Land Of Talk come into being?
I had a repertoire of songs I had been writing for a few years, and after a few wrong turns, musically/bandmember wise, I finally fell upon a good trio (Mark Wheaton, who I met at Concordia University in Montreal, and Blake Markle, who I met through a friend) who really fleshed out my otherwise skeletal songs. We played a lot around Montreal, but it wasn't until we played in NYC that things started picking up. Two drummers and three bass players later Land Of Talk now consists of bassist Chris McCarron (who is pretty much a wizard on all instruments) and we have a rotating cast of drummers depending on who is available to tour. Andrew Barr (The Slip) recorded drums for our new album and just killed me. He's a spectacular human who happens to be one of the greatest drummers I've ever heard. we were very lucky to have him on the recording due to his busy schedule. For this upcoming UK tour we are playing with Brian Moen (Shouting Matches, Amateur Love) from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He's also a drummer who plays with heart and balls. We're actually rehearsing tonight which I'm very excited about.

Elizabeth, is it important to you to be part of a band, rather than a solo artist?
I definitely need to write on my own, but I wouldn't get nearly as excited as I do about the songs if I didn't have a group of people to bring the song alive and, as I mentioned above, flesh out the song.

Your UK dates with The Decemberists were cancelled. Although you were forced to stay in the UK, did you manage to make the most of your time here?
Oh yeah. Our UK label, One Little Indian, worked hard at keeping us busy while we were there. We ended up shooting an illegal live acoustic performance in Green Park and getting into all sorts of trouble. I also discovered a store called Primark. I've never seen such a carnival of merchandise strewn all over the floor, you can hardly move in there. There were two separate incidents of a mother losing her child in that store during my 40 minute shopping venture. It's a terrible place for a child, but a great place for bargains.

How did your headline shows go?
They went as well as we could have expected - we played for very modest yet beautiful crowds.

The UK has just got its hands on 'Applause Cheer Boo Hiss' officially, but I believe you are ready with new material?
It's actually on it's way to be mastered. I am quite proud of it. I have been through so much with this band - geographically, emotionally, musically, managerially, label-wise, line-up wise. In my eyes it is quite a miracle that we ended up getting this new batch of songs on tape. We recorded the album in September and added overdubs at my granny's cottage in Northern Ontario, Canada in December. I even dusted off my violin and laid down a beautiful string arrangement on one of the songs called 'Yuppie Flu'. I'm just working on the artwork now. The new songs are much less frantic and angsty - perhaps I'm losing my edge, but these songs resonate more with who I am at this point in my life.

The EP had new tracks added to it for the UK release - can you tell me about them?
Those were tracks that we had recorded between 'Applause Cheer Boo Hiss' and the new album, and due to the time in which we signed with One Little Indian we figured it was best to give them a home overseas. 'Two Ships' has actually never been played live the way it is on the recording and 'Dark Nature Places' tears my vocal chords during the bridge and so we haven't played it since we toured with Menomena last March. 'Young Bridge' is one of my favourite songs to perform live because it is so dynamic and requires a slight amount of vocal and finger acrobatics on my part. Anyone who hears it thinks that I am saying "you're a sweet angel/I'll stab you" during the chorus, but I'm really saying "you're a street angel/house devil". Just to clarify!

Is it frustrating to be constantly compared to other Canadian bands in reviews?
Not at all! I'm happy to be from Canada. I definitely wouldn't mind being compared to any Italian, Japanese, Australian, Inuit bands either.

Becky Reed

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