Lady Lamb, a.k.a Brooklyn-based Aly Spaltro, announces her third full-length album, Even in the Tremor, out April 5th via Ba Da Bing Records. The follow up to 2015’s After, an album that “scraped-together simplicity in service of songs with far greater ambition” (The New York Times), Even in the Tremor is her most sonically soaring and brutally honest album to date. It’s the first time in her career that Spaltro is singing explicitly about herself. “The whole idea of this new album is the push and pull between calmness and chaos, joy and anxiety, self-loathing and self-love,” says Spaltro. Nowhere is this idea more clear than via the title track and first song shared, an anxious dance party mantra for romantics and overthinkers alike that unspools with all the far-flung places Spaltro has visited throughout the course of her writing process, including Berlin, Montreal, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania and Nicaragua’s Masaya volcano. “Even in the Tremor” is presented today via a video directed by Erica Peplin, and shot outside Mexico City.
For Even in the Tremor, Spaltro turned inwards. Throughout, she recalls specific memories – having a tantrum in a batting cage, being baptised by her parents in a kiddie pool, untangling her girlfriend’s wet hair, feeling out of place while watching workers on their lunch break in Manhattan – resulting in a collection of songs that are deeply rooted in the people and places, extraordinary and mundane, that have shaped her into the self-determining artist that she is today. “I’ve never let myself be this exposed before,” she says, “but this whole album is about facing who you are and fighting your way toward self-acceptance.”
To make Even in the Tremor, Spaltro enlisted bassist/pianist Benjamin Lazar Davis (Cuddle Magic, Kimbra, Okkervil River) and drummer Jeremy Gustin (David Byrne, Albert Hammond Jr., Rubble Bucket) to record at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn. She made a first attempt at recording with an esteemed co-producer, as she’d been advised, but after being told that her arrangements needed rewriting by various veterans in the industry, she bravely changed direction and found a champion of her vision in Erin Tonkon, a less established producer whose six years working with Tony Visconti and later, David Bowie on Blackstar, made her more than qualified for the role. The two instantly bonded over certain hardships they had each faced as women in the music industry.
“It’s taken me years to get here,” she says, “but I’m done with hiding myself. I want to be as honest as I can because that’s why people turn to art. Anybody can tell the difference between bullsh*t and real vulnerability.” This commitment to creating only what is necessary and urgently felt is the key to appreciating Spaltro’s fearless songwriting in Even in the Tremor, as emotional as it is philosophical.
As previously announced, Lady Lamb embarks on the Deep Love Tour of North America following Even in the Tremor’s release. She’ll be joined by a band, featuring Alex Schaaf (Yellow Ostrich, Tallest Man on Earth) on guitars and keys, Benjamin Lazar Davis (Cuddle Magic, Okkervil River) on bass and keys, and Marian Li Pino (La Luz) on drums. All dates are below.
Even in the Tremor Tracklist:
1. Little Flaws
2. Deep Love
3. Even in the Tremor
4. Untitled Soul
5. Strange Maneuvers
6. Without a Name
7. Young Disciple
8. Prayer of Love
9. July Was Mundane
10. Oh My Violence
11. Emily
Lady Lamb Tour Dates:
Wed. April 10 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom *
Thu. April 11 – Montreal, QC @ Le Ministere *
Fri. April 12 – Toronto, ON @ Drake Hotel *
Sat. April 13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe *
Mon. April 15 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
Tue. April 16 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx *
Wed. April 17 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
Fri. April 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
Sat. April 20 – Milwaukee @ Back Room at Colectivo *
Mon. April 22 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge *
Wed. April 24 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Fri. April 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Sat. April 27 – Boise, ID @ The Olympic *
Mon. April 29 – Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett *
Thu. May 2 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret ^
Fri. May 3 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern ^
Sat. May 4 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios ^
Mon. May 6 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall ^
Wed. May 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room ^
Thu. May 9 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar ^
Fri. May 10 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar ^
Mon. May 13 – Austin, TX @ Antone’s ^
Tue. May 14 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ^
Thu. May 16 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway ^
Fri. May 17 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt ^
Sat. May 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 ^
Sun. May 19 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight ^
Tue. May 21 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings ^
Wed. May 22 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel ^
Thu. May 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry @ The Fillmore ^
Thu.. May 30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere ^
Fri. May 31 – Boston, MA @ Royale ^
Sat. June 1 – Portland, ME @ The State Theatre ^
* = with Renata Zeiguer
^ = with Katie Von Schleicher
