When Her Name is Calla released ‘The Quiet Lamb’ in 2010, it should have been the moment that they truly arrived. Showcasing the group’s ability to seamlessly merge the most elegiac characteristics of post-rock with the earthy solemnity of folk and the ambitious art-rock gravitas that originally catapulted Arcade Fire to stardom, that record deserved a lot more attention than it got.
‘The Quiet Lamb’ may have been longer than your average album, but it was also heartbreakingly beautiful. The fact that it failed to win the significant UK following that the band deserved, especially at a time when the mainstream was lapping up supposedly emotional banality from the likes of Noah and the Whale, would have destroyed lesser bands. It nearly did destroy Her Name is Calla, but thankfully it seems they are here to stay and ‘Navigator’ is an intensely affecting demonstration of why that is a very, very good thing indeed.
‘Navigator’ is less oppressively bleak than ‘The Quiet Lamb’, but only relatively speaking. Tom Morris remains a startlingly emotive vocalist, and even his opening declaration, “I was on the back of a nightingale”, seems to swoop heavily down from the skies.
Accompanied at first by no more than strummed acoustic guitar, Morris’s voice is gradually joined by strings, keys, beautifully frail backing vocals and banjo, the latter of which, along with the other indeterminate noises that appear, is presumably provided by drummer Adam Weikert, who I am reliably informed can play pretty much anything he chooses.
The segue from this gentle, acoustic-led track into the glitchy beats of The Roots Run Deep provides a precedent for ‘Navigator’ as a whole. This is a more diverse Her Name is Calla record than its predecessors, with the shimmering guitars that earned them the dreaded post-rock tag largely replaced by all manner of subtle acoustic and electronic soundscapes. This is best demonstrated by the title track, which is once more acoustic led but slowly builds to a climax of rampant strings, resonant electric guitar and crashing drums.
Needless to say that, even if Her Name is Calla’s sonic canvas has changed, the haunting lyricism that sent shivers down the spine in the past has not. Burial’s refrain of “I don’t have choices, only anger” is particularly powerful, as is the disarming moment on It Was Flood, when the words “We held each other tight until our spines cracked” drift in from the ether.
Morris’s vulnerable delivery, ably assisted throughout by his bandmates - especially violinist Sophie Green, who takes lead on a section of the title track - raises the stakes to the extent that some moments are tear-jerkingly affecting. The blunt trauma that dominated ‘The Quiet Lamb’ may be gone, but in its place are feelings that are equally moving.
All of which leads into Dreamland, the penultimate, but definitive, ‘Navigator’ track. A 12 minute odyssey recycled - thankfully - from the ‘Maw’ EP, Dreamland contains both the album’s most disturbing lyrics and most surprising musical diversions. Devastating walls of droned noise provide spikes of unexpected Swans-esque muscle inbetween fragile acoustic sections. The intensity is unsettling, even more so than Condor and River, the distressing centrepiece of ‘The Quiet Lamb’.
When ‘Navigator’ fades out shortly afterwards, following an appropriately low-key acoustic closer in Perfect Prime, it is in a rather overwhelming fashion. Her Name is Calla have proved here that their talent for making darkly beautiful music has not been altered. In fact, even if ‘Navigator’ isn’t quite as stupendous as its predecessor, it is perhaps even more of an achievement as the band has barely been allowed to function in recent years. Its members have lived in different cities and have been able to tour less than they would like, but have still crafted a triumph in ‘Navigator’. This time you have no excuse not to pay attention.
Her Name Is Calla Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue May 06 2014 - MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen
Thu May 08 2014 - BLACKPOOL Blue Room
Sat May 10 2014 - CAMBRIDGE All Saints Church
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