Listen: Landlady - "Share a Tree"

After releasing one of my absolute favorite collections of songs earlier this year in third full length album The World Is A Loud Place, Brooklyn quartet Landlady have released a new set of songs: a cover of Al Green's "Love And Happiness" and an original song by the name of "Share a Tree". Unfortunately, the release comes on the heels of some pretty devastating news for the music industry in the passing of Those Darlins' Jessi Zazu Wariner. Though based in Nashville, Jessi Zazu fostered a sense of community that extended far beyond her city. Landlady have always stuck out to me as a band who go beyond the standard expectation of just releasing good songs and playing good shows but a band that really seeks to build a sense of community both among the musicians they come across and befriend and musicians they know already but also among showgoers new and old. A lot of that is in a similar spirit to Jessi Zazu and Schatz has shared "Share a Tree" in tribute to her. The song is for and about her and the somewhat tricky nature of collaboration in general and it has her personal seal of approval. 

Though it was written and recorded some time ago, it follows in line with Landlady's distinct of brand of dynamic soul pop. It's a song that is almost endlessly patient: padding along at a comfortable walking tempo. After nearly the length of a regular song, the band surges forward and the focus shifts from Schatz' narrative plodding to a sort of instrumental showcasing chasm where Schatz is freer to do emotive ad-libs and more actively engage with the rest of the band. It's a development section that's no doubt inspired by Landlady's time together and their actual ability to play together. It's probably much more evocative of the spontaneity of a Landlady live set than the band have leaned into before but really speaks to the subject matter as the band break out into an full on jam for nearly half the track. It's delightfully cathartic and hopefully as inspiring at it's intended to be towards motivating you to take stock in the simple joy of community. 

You can donate to the Jessi Zazu memorial fund with proceeds going towards helping her family with funeral costs and anything extra going to a charities that she supported. You can also grab "Share a Tree" as well as their "Love and Happiness" cover from Landlady's Bandcamp. And if you haven't already make sure you listen to Landlady's brilliant third album The World Is A Loud Place.