M for Empathy

On March 1, after a mere day’s notice, Lomelda released their third studio album, M for Empathy. The album is a well-balanced blur with 11 songs totaling 16 minutes. Slow and intimate, Lomelda has produced an album that swathes its listener in a warmth that is known despite brevity.

The length of the album comes as a surprise, given that both prior albums, 4E and Thx, occupy a comfortable 35 minutes. Frontwoman Hannah Read acknowledges the minimal nature of the work, stating in the liner notes, “Much of it, and it’s just a lil, came to me, or outta me, outta a deepening silence.” This ownership of smallness adds to the charisma of the album by making the weight of every line, every sound, and every song that much heavier.

Tender and morose, M for Empathy thematically traces lines that push the boundary of intimacy and oversharing. Read recounts feelings of fear — of death, of silence, of living with love and living without. She speaks to her own struggles with miscommunication, suicidal thoughts, and loss of self. The lines to track four on the record, “M for Mush,” read, “Made myself a mush / Must make myself a mold / To hold my mushing magic mercy mind and my human being / How many warm rememberings.” These lyrics attest to Read’s dismemberment and recreation of self, separating body and mind, attempting to reconcile with the mess of herself.

Simplicity is woven into the fabric of the album, murky images forming a relatable palette of moods. Opening the album, Read lilts, “I need to be over there,” and we’re not exactly sure where there is, only that there is distance and longing and a need for separation from a current state, both physical and mental. Additionally, contributing to the imagery and adding to the queer undertones of the music, the album ends with Read repeating, “Salty for her tongue.” This line calls the listener to question what it means to be salty for something, desperation and longing again leaving their fingerprints on Read’s lyricism.

M for Empathy snakes, slow and soft, moving exactly at its own pace, in its own way. It is intrinsically owned by the speaker while still speaking intimately to the listener. Overall, the album’s effect is devastating and powerful.