Once upon a time, in a land devoid of illicit online file-sharing, the popularity of a musical artist could arguably be gauged by the positions of their songs and albums on the Billboard charts. However, in a world where many music fans listen to music on iPods instead of the radio and download rather than purchase albums, there are now other more reliable metrics used to measure the popularity of a solo musician or band. Examples of these metrics include the number of hits a band gets on their Myspace or the number of times they’ve been scrobbled on Last.fm (i.e. times a musician’s songs have been listened to by Last.fm members – as a reference, Pavement has about 22 million scrobbles). Neither metric can be totally depended on, but for argument's sake let's say they are at least somewhat reliable. With this in mind, it's surprising to find that Led to Sea has only 2,000 total plays on Last.fm at the time of this writing, especially considering how great her music is. Led to Sea's new album, Into the Darkening Sky only reinforces this sense of shock.
Chiefly a violinist and violist, L. Alex Guy has been making music under the Led to Sea moniker for several years, often accompanied by friends on percussion and bass. Led to Sea's music could accurately be compared to that of Owen Pallett (previously known as Final Fantasy), but structurally it's also somewhat reminiscent of Inlets, another group that released a high-quality album this year. Into the Darkening Sky is similar to Inlets' newest in several ways: the production is top-notch, song structures are simultaneously unique and engaging, and Alex is often content with plucking rather than playing her instrument in the more commonly practiced manner (just as Sebastian Krueger of Inlets prefers to finger-pick his guitar rather than play full chords). However, there is a major difference between the two musical acts: compared to that of Inlets, Led to Sea's music tends to sound much more weightless and carefree.
Guy imbues the majority of the album with a sense of fun and childlike wonder, especially during the album’s poppier songs. Her playful voice accompanies the previously mentioned unique and engaging song structures to achieve a result reminiscent of a kid constantly putting together and taking apart Legos in ways not shown in the directions. Basically, it seems like Alex wants nothing more than to have fun with her songs by deconstructing them only to immediately put them back together in a different way. On a smaller scale, even the individual instruments all seem to be played with a sense of adventure rather than by someone who's been inoculated by the traditional views of what popular music should sound like. As an example, “Is This the Last Time” features percussion straight out of our collective childhoods: the sound of pots and pans being hit by various cooking utensils. Aside from the instrumentation, Led to Sea's voice sounds downright child-like at times, most noticeably on “Rust.” Into the Darkening Sky is unmistakably the work of a musician who enjoys creating her own sounds and having fun in the process.
It's not all happy and carefree for Led to Sea, however. The middle section of the album is, for the most part, rather contemplative and serious. “Fear of Flight,” for instance, is instrumental and features brooding violin accompanied by an undercurrent of pulsing drums. Elsewhere, “Night Calls to the Humble Stream” sees Led to Sea using her vocals to create an air of mystery, while one section of the seven-minute “Fern Musing” features aggressive viola playing which, when paired with the chaos of the other instruments, suggests the world falling apart. Again, it's interesting that these tracks are all sequenced close to each other, almost as though Led to Sea wished to separate them from the poppier fare that bookends the album. Luckily (or strategically, it's hard to tell), “Rust” sits between these lengthier songs, providing a reprieve for those looking for more straightforward songs to grab onto during this portion of the album.
Overall, between the perky, poppy tracks and the lengthy, moody ones, Into the Darkening Sky is one of this year's most pleasant surprises. Though some of Led to Sea's attention-grabbing techniques, like the abrupt slowing down and stopping of songs, lose a bit of their luster by the time “The Thought” completes the album, they are overall effective in engaging the listener. One would imagine these songs would be particularly exciting to hear in a live setting, and with a little bit of luck perhaps her upcoming string of tour dates with Laura Veirs both in the United States and Europe will lead to a great increase of Last.fm listeners. Led to Sea certainly deserves any attention she gets.
Track List:
1. Dark Like Night
2. Is This the Last Time
3. This Moment
4. Fear of Flight
5. Rust
6. Night Calls to the Humble Stream
7. Fern Musing
8. Your Ghost
9. The Thought
