Anna Tivel – Living Thing
The pandemic that began in early 2020 continues to have a lasting effect on the music that we listen to more than four years later. Oregon-based singer-songwriter Anna Tivel wrote the bulk of her latest album, Living Thing, in the midst of that uncertainty and isolation, then recorded it primarily with just one collaborator – producer/multi-instrumentalist/trusted sounding board Shane Leonard. The pair managed to craft a record that manages to sound both expansive and (appropriately) confined, as Tivel’s songs explore the nature of the relationships in our lives, both the ones that sustained us and the ones that we missed.
“Silver Flame” leads off the album with an acoustic riff and shimmery electric guitar, and the melody builds as Tivel reaches for something meaningful outside of her isolation-mandated boundaries – “Something to defend the feeling, a story better than the real thing/A more heroic ending than the one around us.” The next track, the organ-based “Real Things,” reflects its title with observations of the mundane – drunk neighbors, wind and rain, chattering crows – before Tivel centers on the once-ordinary things she could no longer do – “Someday I’ll fly the ocean, someday I’ll play a show” – and the things she oughtn’t be avoiding – “Someday I’ll pick that phone up and finally give my friend a call” – reminiscent of those days in stasis when even the simplest “shoulds” seemed…just too much.
More uptempo moments are scattered across Living Thing. The quirky “Desperation” bounces along its syncopated rhythms as Tivel’s subject seeks a target for their pent-up energy – “Bloody knuckles, empty hands, you want to fight, but all you ever had is desperation.” And “Disposable Camera” has a subtle Laurel Canyon energy to match Tivel’s parent-ish advice – “Before you come into the world, you should know/There are things that will hurt and things that won’t.” The most upbeat track on the record may also be the most comforting in its isolation-based uncertainty. ”Altogether Alone,” the only song on the album with a third musician (singer Jon Sunde), has a title reflective of that period in all of our lives, and it finds commonality in the absolute absurdity of that time – “Don’t be afraid, there’s a feeling of safety, in knowing your struggle is known/Everything changing and all of these strangers are altogether alone.” It was maybe the first time in our shared modern history that we could all simultaneously understand what loneliness really was. Which, ironically (and beautifully), made it easier to rely on each other for strength. Flashing back to album opener “Silver Flame, Tivel sings, “Maybe there’s a great creator/A far off planet trying to save us/But we’ve just got each other for now.” Sure, science eventually bailed us out. But, for what seemed like an interminably long time, all we had was patience, empathy, and the folks who cared about us, and those are the saviors that live on in Tivel’s songs.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Kindness of a Liar” – Tivel’s somber violin emphasizes her wish for comfort, even if it’s bathed in false hope – “I need something better to believe, so lie to me.”
Living Thing was produced, recorded and mixed by Shane Leonard and mastered by Jon Neufeld. All songs written by Anna Tivel. Musicians on the album include Tivel (acoustic guitar, vocals, violin, field recording), Leonard (acoustic and electric guitar, drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, vocals, programming, loops) and Jon Sunde (vocals on “All Together Alone”).
Go here to order Living Thing (out May 31): https://fluffandgravy.com/store/anna-tivel-living-thing/
Check out tour dates here: https://www.annativel.com/tour
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Anna Tivel “Outsiders”