Day 87: Vagabon — Infinite Worlds
Cameroonian multi-instrumentalist Laetitia Tamko makes intimate bedroom indie that’s too good to just stay in the bedroom. That’s why she left New York City to make Infinite Worlds in a real studio upstate, a process that preserved all of the emotional intimacy of her humble Persian Garden with a new sheen that helps the quality of her songwriting shine through. Though short, this is a proper debut album that positions Tamko as a vital, emerging voice in indie.
There’s a certain rough and tumble quality to some of the more traditionally-arranged rock songs, a raw feeling that Tamko turns into a source of power. “The Embers” creates a perfect backdrop for her confessional, cathartic lyrics, giving them an extra lift. That’s not to say her own voice can’t carry things: it’s incredibly emotive as the instrumentation strips back. Tamko’s delivery is shot through with nervous energy, howling a line like “You’re a shark that hates everything, you’re a shark that eats every fish” is if simply can’t be held in any longer.
There are plenty of songs out with this exact template of amateur, fuzzy guitar, bass, and drums, but this is less suburban house show and more CBGB’s-adjacent (so, a John Varvatos store). Tamko imone listen to “Cold Apartment” is all it takes to realize that Tamko imbues a format that’s become so sterile and somniferous with something real and immediate. It’s got an earnestness that’s missing from so many lazier takes on this sort of music. There’s nothing ironic, faked, or phoned in. Without any artifice to her songwriting, Laetitia Tamko just sings and write about what she feels and believes, and you feel the fearlessness of her effort with every note.
When Tamko deviates from that format, she proves that her songwriting isn’t limited to some basic DIY instruments. Infinite Worlds’ detours range from the chill indie pop of “Fear & Force” (a retake of Persian Garden cut “Vermont II”) to the campy muzak of “Mal à L’aise” to the stuttering (anti)folk of “Cleaning House”. It doesn’t feel like a conscious effort to be different, but these songs give the album a change of pace without breaking its stride.
Vagabon can write songs with the best of them, and deserves condemnation along 100 days ineligible album Everybody Works by Jay Som for best efforts by one-woman bands. Given the year we live in, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nonwhite women are breathing life back into the bloated corpse of lo-ish fi bedroom indie rock, but Infinite Worlds clearly does that and more. I’d heartily recommend it.
This is Day 87 in my 100 albums in 100 days series, where I review a new album or EP I haven’t heard in full before every day through December 31st. Check out yesterday’s post or see the full archives for more
