When I was introduced to Brooklyn's Landlady during a Hometapes showcase at SXSW back in 2014, there was certainly a lot that would appeal to me - a stage full of members including two drummers, a style of music that deftly evades categorization but feels strikingly familiar but if I'm being completely honest the thing that sold me was the sincerity of frontman Adam Schatz. In a crowded bar in Austin, Texas during a festival where each band's goal is make the most of the brief amount of time allotted to make a lasting first impression on showgoers with tenuous attention spans, Schatz asked the crowd to engage. Not just with him but each other, with people who weren't in the room whether miles, ages, or lifetimes away in a sing-a-long on "Above My Ground". It was bold. It was unexpected. But most importantly, it was incredibly sincere. It was the kind of thing that made me immediately take notice and pursue every opportunity I could to see them again and again from small intimate sets in the back of Greenpoint's now defunct Manhattan Inn and Half Moon in Hudson, it was Schatz's initial openness that led me to discover through obsessive listens that Landlady were a damn good band. Over the years and through the albums, the lineup has changed but a few things have remained the same - the band is tight-knit and perform with an awing juxtaposition of playfulness and precision, Schatz's narrative subjects take the road less traveled but still achieve a beguiling universality, and Schatz is still disarmingly sincere. Even following their career for years, Schatz still manages to surprise with an ability root his songs in an inextinguishable honesty. "Why did my friend have to die?" Schatz asks on "Supernova", the first single for their fourth and self-titled album, and with such a succinct statement I knew the new record would be unlike any other.
With lyrics that hit you like a mack truck, "Supernova" still plays into Schatz's sense of connection. Personal loss and failures coalesce with a collective understanding: "At least I know everyone's having a harder day today". It's a statement he first delivers fully and clearly with it's resurgence broken up - into four part vocals harmonies, adlibs "At least I know I'm not okay", Schatz sings, and instrumental flourishes, Schatz lands on a feeling of interconnectedness despite his individual sadness. The fact that it's followed by "Sunshine" is a masterful display of tracklisting. "Hold your breath, hold mine instead for now" Schatz opens and despite the fact that he's played it live several times, it takes on new life here. It's almost uncharacteristically sparse - featuring Schatz on keys for much of it. It's tender, as close as Landlady could arguably come to a ballad as Schatz makes a declaration of mutual support - take care of me and I'll take care of you. It's a love song but one with much broader applications than typical romance. Along with "The Meteor", "Take The Hint", and "Supernova", "Sunshine" follows themes of the heat burning up or burning out, "Sunshine" is the only one which doesn't treat it as an inevitability. "Careful with the sunshine, I won't let it burn you up" Schatz delivers less like a warning and more an expression of care and protection.
Songs like "Sunshine" and "Nowhere To Hide", which have been played live by the band or Schatz at his solo sets for years find new life and meaning on an album that seems exceptionally timely. The core of Landlady's truths are about resilience and drawing comfort in little insular moments. Whether that be loudly singing along to "God Only Knows" on "Molly Pitcher", a game of Hearts on "Tooth and Nail", Landlady is about turning to each other in good times and bad and they tackle the subject with characteristic aplomb. Schatz doesn't claim to have all the answers as "Nowhere To Hide" attests but Landlady seems to posit that many of life's solutions lie in caring about others.
The most appealing thing about Landlady is that instead of songs on an album - it functions largely as a series of conversations both between narrative subjects and the songs themselves. There's references and callbacks - reoccurring themes and images but also solitary moments, self-contained episodes. Landlady coalesced into the version of the band they wanted to be on their second album Upright Behavior and yet each subsequent effort has expanded what the band is in a way that's been enjoyable to experience. A self-titled album tends to function as a reintroduction, signaling some sort of seismic shift in sound or mythology but Landlady doesn't need anything of the sort. There's no band that sounds like Landlady and each album has solidified that. There's a distinct sound that carries through without retracing its steps. Landlady is a band that makes music that's meant to entertain and challenge themselves and then invites listeners into that space and the result are songs and albums that are celebration of music and musicianship. Landlady arrives a little more than 4 years after the band's previous full length effort The World Is A Loud Place and wastes no time in drawing you into its embrace like an old friend. There's less guests and collaborators this time around but there's no shortage of dynamic musical ideas as Schatz has a wealth of new stories and witticisms to share.
Landlady, the fourth album from Landlady is out now and available to purchase from the band's Bandcamp with $5 of all proceeds going to The Okra Project.
