On ‘Living Thing,’ Oregon’s Anna Tivel demonstrates her worthiness of high praise.
Sometimes, as soon as a few first notes of an album’s opening track reach your ears you realize that the artist in question is no newcomer. It might be the intricate songwriting elements, the assuredness of the vocal and instrumental delivery, the minute details present, or all of the above. That is exactly the feel you get when ‘Silver Flame’ which opens ‘Living Thing,’ the new, sixth album by Oregon singer-songwriter Anna Tivel. Still, all those ‘no newcomer’ elements can go to waste if any or just a few tracks on the album indicate that the artist’s talents still leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, Tivel doesn’t have that problem here, as with any of her previous releases, as all of those, particularly ‘Outsiders,’ her previous release from 2022 left a lasting impression with reviewers and listeners.
Tivel goes on to show that her songwriting and delicate vocal delivery are not losing any of their quality or potency, as the nine songs presented her all brim with the subtle melodic, arrangement, and lyrical nuances that a high-quality singer-songwriter album should possess.
“Nobody tells it like it is // they say don’t blow around on a different wind // but you’re gone and you’re not even listening // they were wrong and the wind is a living thing // and you’re taking a picture you won’t forget // something real and the way you remember it // you’ll be everything, you’ll be riotous // what a feeling to be alive”, sings Tivel on ‘Disposable Camera,’ and in seemingly simple terms shows what a complex, textured music should really sound like.
Elsewhere, ‘Real Things’ takes a Raymond Carver-like snapshot suited for any social media of the day: “woke up the world was heavy, bright lights, blue and red//can’t fight the place we’re headed, can’t dream at two am//the neighbors are trying to party, hell bent on staying trashed//lynette and skinny charlie, passed out inside the van.” It is one of those snapshots that you can paint in black and white or in subdued colours that express Tivel’s clear vision of what is going on around her.
Throughout the album, Tivel doesn’t miss a step, making ‘Living Thing’ an album that lives its detailed, individual life.
