Album Rating: 3.7

on first listen I enjoyed but didn't adore most of this; first 4 tracks felt like the meandering parts of Ichneumondiae slickified through the lens (?) of They Are The Shield, and while that's nice and impressive in its way I preferred the chilly motifs of the former and the compact vocal-driven songwriting of the latter, feel this sprawls a bit without having q as much to show for it. maybe not. there were some lovely melodic moments and i'm sure i glossed over many others, plus the production is delightful, but I'm not sure what this does to demand a separate artist name beyond venturing further than ever before into TD's version of chill study music.



gonna spend some more time with it bc the man's a grower not a shower and the seasons aren't in balance rn. hmmm

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah my first listen wasn't the greatest but everything after with proper attention has been Really rewarding

Album Rating: 4.0

I’ve always wanted a Toby record of Jimmy Buffett covers called Aloha Crucible, and, well, that dream feels just a little bit closer

This is all very nice but new Tartar Lamb when Toby?

Album Rating: 4.0

I like this more than his last 3 solo rekkids... minimalism suits his current brand of songwriting really well

Album Rating: 3.7

Isn't Tartar Lamb informally dead?

Unfortunately, hence the question.

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah Toby’s said the chances of working with Mia again are functionally nil

Album Rating: 4.5

Huh why so? I mean they worked together on Hubardo.

Album Rating: 4.0

No idea, he said it on an Instagram story Q+A awhile back, but doubt either want the potential bad blood of getting into specifics. Hubardo was only a year after the last TL, so perhaps had a falling out sometime later who knows

Album Rating: 3.7

@Veldin That was before she moved to LA. Am loose on the timeline from then on, but I remember some pretty bracing personal stuff involving a pregnant car crash that porc can likely fill in better. Dunno if she's still recording at all though - assumed she was still on good terms with Toby but that the logistics were a no-go



ed. oh okay maybe they did have a fallout on top of that (doubt it but who knows)

Album Rating: 4.0

Oh holy shit I didn’t hear about that at all jesus mine was pure conjecture

Album Rating: 3.7

I was (potentially still am idk) following her personal fb from back when I was a dumb maudlinposting teenager, and I remember her post about it coming up on my feed in maybe '16, '17 or '18? Felt awful about it - mainly because it was just horrible to read, but also because I felt like it was ambiguously intrusive to have that kind of window into a total stranger's life just because I'd been obsessive about her photogenic role in an obscure band in another continent at one point.



Having lifted the lid there, everyone survived and she came out of a miles-early delivery in one piece, but that's the last update I've ever seen on her; hope's she's been doing ok since

Pregnant Car Crash o_0!

Album Rating: 4.0

That's fucking horrible to hear, but super retroactively relieved that everyone survived, even the kid, good fucking god



Also just checked her performance credits out of curiosity and wow she did the violin on Daughters' Providence by Gaslight track damn

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Forbes Graham from Dowsing Anemone also did horns on "Providence By Gaslight", and it shouldn't be understated how much that dude rules.



Also, idk if there's bad blood between him and Mia - she's been very supportive of Kayo Dot's newest album with very much positive/friendly responding from Toby. I think the most realistic outlook here is that they're just not in a position to coordinate a new Tartar Lamb record together. They're on divergent pathways in life.

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah I imagine Johnny’s way more on target with his read, I was filling in hella personal blanks based on one uneditorialized comment in a Toby Instagram story that he felt very certain he wouldn’t be recording music with Mia again



And especially if it looks like she’s stepped back from professionally playing since her daughter was born that seems wayyy more likely

Album Rating: 4.5

Glad to hear everyone’s ok.

Awesome didn’t know about that Daughters contribution.

Album Rating: 4.5

I can see this moving to a 5 with time. Such effortless beauty. Probably Driver’s first proper dive into new age.

I saw Kayo Dot in like 2017 in Houston. Toby was hanging out with Mia and her baby / husband. They were on good terms then it seemed. Mia stayed for the show and was watching right next to me. Probably only 15-20 people stuck around for Kayo Dot and the rest were there for shitty ass local acts.