Listen: Basia Bulat - "Tall Tall Shadow"

Since my discovery of her little over a year ago when she opened for Bowerbirds, Basia Bulat has been hinting at a brand new album coming out. Now the wait is almost over as Bulat's new album Tall Tall Shadow will be out this Fall - October 1st to be quite exact.

After experiencing her absolutely spellbinding live performance one of my chief concerns was the lack of that same power on many of her recordings. Don't get me wrong, her albums are great but they often lacked the greater level of intensity, of power, and of arresting rawness that her live set so brilliantly displayed. There's something to be said for a live show being far better than a recording but this time out I was hoping there would be far less of a difference between Basia Bulat's live and studio output. My wishes have apparently been granted on lead album single "Tall Tall Shadow".



The spillover of live versus studio recording is slight but appreciated. Not featuring the vast variety of instruments Bulat has in her arsenal, the real difference is just how strong her vocals seem to be. They don't start out full tilt, of course. As the song softly plods and winds up, Basia Bulat lets her vocals truly soar in a way previously unexperienced - unfettered, free, still fitting within the confines of the recording but swelling up and truly making themselves known.  When you have the set of pipes Basia Bulat has it's a shame not to use them to the best of your ability and on "Tall Tall Shadow", I think for the first time we experience them as they're truly meant to. I have high hopes for Tall Tall Shadow and so should you. October 1st surely can't come quick enough.


 Basia Bulat's third studio album Tall Tall Shadow will be out October 1st on Secret City Records.