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Thalia Zedek’s considerable body of work 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 counter-melodies 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.......
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