TerraTara’s Empty Apartment is new, and also not. Conventional, but out of the box, accessible, yet quirky. It contrasts itself in multiple ways, only one thing is decided throughout. It’s rich, meaningful, and beautiful.
Recorded by Kyra Soko, way back in 1999, in Argenta, British Columbia, Empty Apartment is TerraTara’s foray with percussionist Hamesh into the lush, magical world of roots folks music. Rich, lush, densely musical, and poetic, Empty Apartment is about the loneliness felt after a loss. The loneliness after the loss of a partner, the loss of a home, being broke and out on the street or being forced to leave your town. The empty Apartment is striking and is gorgeously delivered. TerraTara’s voice is husky and full of personality, a personality that seeps into the layered vocal arrangement, along with the warm, puffy harmonica, and the congas, all make an arrangement that’s quite unique, addictive, and hypnotic. The poetic words speak volumes and TerraTara’s voice is strong and compelling.
TerraTara seems to be a modern reincarnation of the unmatched Karen Dalton and Janis Joplin. Boasting the compositional warmth of Dalton’s sweet, poignant songs, and the grandiose statements of Janis’s powerful offerings, TerraTara’s music is its own, unique thing, and her latest remix of her 1999 classic is a must listen for lovers of folk and roots music everywhere.