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L'ALTRA - Different Days

By its very definition, L'ALTRA could not possibly be run-of-the-mill. Any band whose name translates to "the feminine other" in a number of Romance languages surely has something dark and mysterious up its sleeve.

As does any group that comes from a collaboration of two exes - singer-guitarist Joseph Costa and singer-keyboardist Lindsay Anderson - who spent 7 years together and broke up before they'd even made a record. That Lindsay and Joe have recorded a trio of albums since then only confirms that the energy at the core of the L'altra sound - a moody mix of baroque balladry decorated with ambient electronics, simultaneously soothing and unnerving - is hardly commonplace. If we were allowed a sneak peak behind the curtain, the possible sociological studies and soap opera plot-twists could be endless. Except, it doesn't take much to play the voyeur on Joe and Lindsay's conversations - their continuous exchange is the beat of L'altra's heart. And if the group's debut, Music of a Sinking Occasion (2000) was the frictitious sound of two lovers disintegrating, and its unlikely follow-up, In the Afternoon (2002) was a restless exercise at pulling apart and learning how to live that way, then the new Different Days is the fruit of a socially unfathomable labour - the work of mates who never stopped weaving their musical minds (and singing voices) around each other, succeeding in their collaboration in a way their union could not.

Different Days is a stormy and fierce animal in comparison to previous records, bringing the heady waves that always lurked beneath L'altra's calm exterior crashing to the surface. Listen to "It Follows Me Around," the way Costa's guitar laps Eben English's tight kit, while Joe and Lindsay's harmonies ride the skipping cello; or to the feedback and the dub echoes that make gray fuzzies around the lonesome guitar on "Bring on Happiness." They, like many of the album's songs, redefine L'altra's idea of space as something both greater than you can ever imagine, and more intimate than you can stand.

And at its heart, Different Days is a conversation between two people trying to make sense of this space: "On almost every song, when I sing a part," says Joe, "she sings back at me. We may no longer necessarily be the people we are in our songs, but music is a way that Lindsay and I have come to communicate. Now we get to pretend." Looks like Lindsay and Joe have become the "other" after which they named the band.

    TRACK LISTING
  01 Sleepless Night
  02 It Follows Me Around
  03 Better Than Bleeding
  04 Bring On Happiness
  05 So Surprise
  06 Mail Bomb
  07 There Is No
  08 Different Days
  09 Morning Disaster
  10 A Day Between

L'ALTRA - Different Days is available through Hefty Records, and distributed by Creative Vibes

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