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The Government Center
Thu June 26 7:30 pm $15 advance/$20 door all ages
advance tickets on sale at Government Center, and online at https://thaliazedekbandpittsburgh.brownpapertickets.com
Thrill Jockey recording artists from Boston THALIA ZEDEK BAND (from Live Skull and Come)https://thaliazedek.bandcamp.com/album/the-boat-outside-your-window
with Quattracenta (Baltimore)https://quattracenta.bandcamp.com/album/ii[Produced by J Robbins (Jawbox, Government Issue) and released via Bob Nastanovich's (Pavement, Silver Jews) Brokers Tip label.]
and locals Regolithhttps://regolithpgh.bandcamp.com/album/parhelia-live-at-vicious-circle-7-june-2024
Thalia Zedek’s considerable body of work (Live Skull, Come, e, and TZ Band) demonstrates a clarity of vision, a singular performance style, and an expansive range. Her ability to deliver raw emotions through her vivid stories of loss and hope, strife and triumph is unmatched. Zedek has long been a melodic songwriter in a series of heavy bands. That contrast, along with her distinct blend of both direct and poetic lyrics, allows her to sing of the most difficult of life’s moments in ways that are both elevating and devastating.
Out and proud her entire career, Thalia never hesitates to speak truth to power. A commanding presence, Zedek wields her band like a storm, hurling tempests and cutting through the mist with precision, the ensemble swelling and unspooling in sync with her every gesture. The Boat Outside Your Window finds Thalia Zedek contemplating absence and distance, with songs as spirited as they are profoundly moving.
Since the departure of violist Dave Curry and pianist Mel Lederman following the 2021 album Perfect Vision, the core band of Zedek (guitar and vocals), bassist Winston Braman, and drummer Gavin McCarthy (Karate) have been joined by pedal steel guitarist Karen Sarkisian. On The Boat Outside Your Window, Sarkisian’s countermelodies and oblique augmentations created with nontraditional tools like an Ebow, add an otherworldly quality to songs. The grit of Zedek’s guitar and drive of Braman and McCarthy are met with synth-like swells and more harmonic density. As Zedek guides the ensemble towards more tender passages, melodies unfold gently, with ease. The album features guests Nancy Asch (percussion) and Beth Heinberg (piano) whose subtle touches are added to “Shoes” and “Aliyah”.
Unlike the more politically charged songs of Perfect Vision and Fighting Season (2018), the songs on The Boat Outside Your Window reflect inwards. The energetic “Tsunami” seamlessly intertwines the personal and the political; the rising wave of pedal steel surrounds the song's core guitar figure. “Aliyah”’ (meaning rising, ascending, exalted) is a song about the ancient tower of Babel and the utter communication breakdown that humankind is currently in the midst of. “Disarm” deals with personal separation and reunification while “Circus,” looks at broader helplessness and loss of control. The downtempo, longing “Boat” gorgeously captures the beauty and pain of seeing a person one misses in one’s surroundings. The poignant “Shoes”, a song inspired by Berlin, braids haunting images of the past with an unsettling present. Throughout the album, Zedek deftly uncovers how external realities manifest in our internal worlds.
Zedek’s mastery of songwriting is on full display on The Boat Outside Your Window. Her unique musical voice remains potent and pointed. Cultivating her sound with purpose and an unflinching view of humanity, Zedek’s words and music are both invigorating, and capable of capturing the deep emotional complexities of life. The Boat Outside Your Window is Thalia Zedek reaching new heights, reinforcing her status as a peerless songwriter and voice.