Talia Schlanger Releases Debut Album, Grace for the Going, via Latent Recordings
Talia Schlanger has released her debut album, Grace for the Going (Latent Recordings). In the fall of 2019, Schlanger left her dream job, living in Philadelphia and hosting the NPR-distributed show, World Cafe realizing her call to make music was stronger than the one to cover it. Over the course of several months, Schlanger wove her way from London to Lisbon renting rooms on the cheap. She found a used LAG guitar at a second-hand store in Paris and together they lost entire days to practice and exploration. Schlanger returned to Canada in the winter of 2020, with an album ready to record. Of course by then, the whole world had changed.
“I was already a professional recluse at that point. So I just kept hiding away, writing and editing my songs.”
With the release of the album, Talia offers a stunning visual for “The endLing,” a track that begins with a magnetic whisper and erupts into a psych-folk opus where Schlanger’s voice and the wailing, muscular guitar of Kevin Breit evoke the terror of our climate crisis. An ‘endling’ is the last known living creature of a species before extinction and Schlanger was inspired to write it based on an article in The Guardian circa 2016 with the headline “Frog goes extinct, media yawns.”
“It told the story of Toughie, the world’s very last known living Rabbs fringe-limbed treefrog.” explains Talia. “That type of frog had a very distinct call, and when I read the article all I could think about was how after Toughie died, nobody would ever hear that call again. What does it mean to lose a sound forever?”
Video director Yuan Liu notes:
“We are all programmed to live for what the current and next breath is without knowing the last. Rewinding back one beat and frame at a time, the sense of nearing finality calls for a conscious effort to rebuild a sense of harmony and beauty in our environment. The story of an endling pauses our breath, slows us down, inspires us to do the environment a gentle deed at our fingertips and perhaps also refocuses us to search for answers with a calmer and more accepting attitude.”
Within a span of upcoming Atlantic Canada-based shows, Talia is confirmed to play the Music Declares Emergency Climate Concert on March 17 in Halifax, NS at the Rebecca Cohn Theatre. She’s also hosting the Climate Summit on March 22. Talia’s new merch t-shirts feature Toughie as designed and illustrated by Katey Morley. The merch has been printed locally on second-hand shirts and will only be available at upcoming shows. A portion of the proceeds from the t-shirt sales will be donated to the Amphibian Foundation.
Schlanger worked with Juno Award-winning Producer and Engineer David Travers-Smith whose impeccable attention to detail and talent for developing surprising and original arrangements are central to the artfulness of these songs.
“David gave me an unbelievable amount of space to find my voice as an artist in this process”, Schlanger says, “and he remained devoted to helping me express emotional truth in every single note.”
Grace for the Going also features the musical support of Kevin Breit (guitar), Brian Kobayakawa (bass), and Davide Di Renzo (drums). The album track, “A Pool” features piano, tenderly played by Kevin Hearn.
Talia debuted her first single “Attention” in September with a sold-out showcase at The Rivoli, where she previewed a mix of covers and other cuts from, Grace for the Going. Talia has confirmed a very special album release show at the new, state-of-the-art, 500-capacity, TD Music Hall (178 Victoria Street) on February 15, 2024. Get tickets directly here.
Grace for the Going is Talia Schlanger’s intimate and explosive reflection of her reverence for the power of words, genuine love of connecting with people, and her passionately eclectic musical taste. Her inspiration runs deep, from Roberta Flack’s quiet confidence to the raw freedom of Jeff Buckley, from Missy Elliott’s electric cadence to Patti Smith’s fearless poetry, and from Paul Simon’s pristine storytelling to the honest ache of Nina Simone. Schlanger’s approach to making music is the result of a lifetime of deep and broad listening, as a music fan with an open heart and hungry ears.
While the nine songs on Grace for the Going are distinct in their musical expression, they are united by one common thread. It’s the same thread that runs through Talia Schlanger’s life on the stage, on the radio, and in the creation of this album– Schlanger has a timeless voice. She has something to say. And she means every word.