Tess Liautaud (2024)
A Franco-American who is sometimes based in Ōtautahi and spent a time living in and gigging around the Southern Lakes, Tess Liautaud has been bringing her brand of alt-country / Americana (the team at Flying Out called it “rootsy Canterburycana”) to our speakers and stages for a few years snow.
Blue Mind is the follow up to Tess’ self-titled debut, and it’s gorgeous. Relationships and landscapes are rendered in a voice that sounds like golden syrup, dark and sweet and tinged with bitter, backed by a blanket of rich guitars and the occasional whistle. It’s Bruce Springsteen, Mazz Star and Lucinda Williams bundled up like roll-your-own tobacco and exhaled in the form of perfectly-honed songs. ‘Black Machine’ sees a coffee stain set off the story of a love story going wrong, while ‘Gold Digger’ dispenses some of the most danceable romantic advice ever set to vinyl.
My fav is the title track. I listened to it repeatedly the day after that thing happened in America in November, and it made me feel better, for a while. “Give yourself a break, stay in for the night … you know you’re going to find your blue mind on the water’s edge.” – LW
