The Weather Station Album Reviews

Tamara Lindeman, also known as Tamara Hope, was a notable actor before she became a musician. She grew up in a family of pilots and was a licensed snowboarding teacher in her teens. Lindeman played the lead roles in the movies Stepsister from Planet Weird and an HBO production of The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I.

The only reason I even chose a name is because I wanted to put my music on MySpace. In the beginning it was fun because I had this whole thing: I pretended in my MySpace bio that I was this person who lived in an abandoned weather station in the arctic [laughs]. At the time it was these weird atmospheric recordings with no vocals on them, so it made sense.

Tamara Lindeman, Stereogum

Lindeman sang with the Toronto folk-rock band Bruce Peninsula and released her first Weather Station album in 2009. She started out playing banjo on stripped-back folk and Americana records. She’s developed an individual style, with lyrics that reflect her inner essence. Her later records sound like Joni Mitchell singing with Talk Talk.

The Weather Station Album Reviews

The Line

2009, 5.5/10
Lindeman recorded the Weather Station’s first album over four years. She borrowed her flatmates’ instruments and recorded on a cheap laptop. It’s not readily available – Lindeman told Reddit users that its unavailability is “one of those things we’ve never tried to remedy because I like that album being a bit more low profile.”

Lindeman’s ambition outpaces her songwriting ability at this point. The Line is an ambitious album where the songs don’t measure up to the project’s scope.

There are hints of pleasant folk music on songs like ‘Nothing I’ve Seen’ and ‘East’. But most of it floats by, as the individual songs aren’t as memorable as her later work.. It works as a mood piece – inspired by loss, The Line is dark and haunting. Lindeman earned comparisons to Bon Iver in this era.

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All of It Was Mine

2011, 6.5/10
Lindeman created her second album quickly. She recorded in a basement during a cold Ontario winter. All of It Was Mine is stripped back compared to the ambitious The Line. Often, only guitars or banjo accompany Lindeman’s voice. She works with producer Dan Romano, who also plays second guitar.

Along with the music, the lyrics are also intimate. Lindeman told blogto.com “All Of It Was Mine is in every way, small, intimate, contained – in sound, in story. Even in imagery it never even leaves my house and street. And that is the point.”

I delved into The Weather Station’s early albums after I enjoyed their 2020s sophisti-pop record. Lindeman’s early music isn’t as distinctive, tending toward straightforward Americana. Often, Lindeman’s vocal performances outweigh her songwriting. ‘Yarrow and Mint’ is gorgeous, with a folk melody. The opening ‘Everything I Saw’ gets lots of energy from a simple arrangement.

All Of It Was Mine is a pleasant Americana album, but Lindeman would become more interesting.

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Loyalty

2015, 8/10
Loyalty was Lindeman’s first record to enjoy a release outside of Canada. She recorded Loyalty in a week at La Frette, an abandoned Paris mansion. Lindeman collaborated with Canadian multi-instrumentalist Afie Jurvane and producer Robbie Lackritz. 

Lindeman learned the banjo before she learned the guitar. While her guitar still sounds like a banjo, the Americana sound has otherwise been excised from her music. This leaves her as a poised folk-tinged musician, an approach that suits her pristine voice.

The style allows Lindeman’s songs to shine, but her writing has matured. There are gorgeous folk-tinged tunes like ‘Floodplain’. Lindeman’s finger-picking shines on songs like ‘I Mined’. She often dissects relationships with friends, like on ‘Shy Women’, where she sings “To every loneliness, there’s a design that we witness/You and I, shy women, shy”.

Loyalty is a leap forward from Lindeman, paving the way for her later sophisti-pop records.

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The Weather Station

2017, 8/10
The Weather Station’s fourth album was nominated for the Contemporary Roots Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards. It’s Lindeman’s first album with fuller arrangements, as she continues to improve her craft.

Her arrangements are more muscular – there’s less dependence on melody, as she carries songs with vocal intensity to deliver her stream-of-consciousness lyrics. She told Aquarium Drunkard, “I think that the way…the world is right now makes me feel angry and reckless. I was like, “I don’t have time to be nice.””

The most notable songs are noteworthy for their quiet-storm intensity. My favourite is ‘Complicit’ – Lindeman sings of futility in the face of overwhelming global issues, over an unrelenting arrangement

And then I say nothing, I say nothing at all
I don’t think my voice matters really, after all
I was raised to hear the curlews, I was raised to notice light
And I watch the little swallows delicate in their flight

‘Thirty’ is another outstanding track with the same rapid-fire lyrical approach, this time over a gentler backing and a folkish lilt. Lindeman’s band is subtle, but they’re lovely on tracks like ‘In An Hour’, with its accomplished guitar picking.

The Weather Station is gorgeous, and Lindeman’s quiet intensity gives her a distinctive flavour.

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Ignorance

2021, 9/10
Ignorance mines the 1980s for a sophisti-pop sound. The opener ‘Robber’ echoes elements from 1980s Talk Talk like the jazzy hi-hats and spurts of woodwinds. The piano vamps and atmospheric backing vocals of ‘Parking Lot’’s climax recall Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 classic ‘Sara’. The smooth sophistication of Roxy Music’s Avalon is another reference point.

The sleek, sophisticated sound works perfectly as a backdrop for Lindeman’s poised vocals. Her warm, assertive voice recalls Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny. A talented ensemble of Canadian musicians supports Lindeman. Owen Pallett provides accomplished string arrangements for ‘Wear’ and ‘Trust’.

Lindeman’s music is retro-inspired, but her lyrics are contemporary in scope. They often focus on the climate crisis. On ‘Atlantic’ she sings “With a wine in my hand, laid back in the grass of some stranger’s field, while shearwaters reeled overhead, thinking; I should get all this dying off my mind”.

Ignorance is gorgeous, the best record I’ve heard from 2021 thus far.

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How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars

2022, 7.5/10
Tamara Lindeman wrote her sixth album at the same time as 2021’s Ignorance. Lindeman described it as the moon to the previous album’s sun. While Ignorance presented a sophisticated veneer, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is presented simply, recorded in three days. There’s no percussion, and the songs are often brief. Lindeman’s vocals are lovely, recalling the jazzy warmth of fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell.

It’s perhaps unfair to label Stars as an outtakes album, but it feels less substantial than its predecessor. The playing and singing are so lovely that How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars works well as background music, but several songs stand out. The opener ‘Marsh’ has a lovely lilt – the minimal piano provides a bed for the exploratory bass and saxophone. Ryan Driver provides duet vocals on ‘To Talk About’, and it’s a welcome change of pace. The lyrics are personal rather than existential angst in the face of climate change.

How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is lovely, even while the songs aren’t always remarkable.

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Humanhood

2025, 9/10
Tamara Lindeman presented her previous batch of songs in a simple form. But Humanhood returns to the lushness of Ignorance. It’s welcome, as Ignorance was a 2021 favourite. Lindeman is supported by a talented collective of Canadian musicians. Their improvisational skills frame Lindeman’s plaintive songs, and Humanhood is a sophisticated and magical record.

Lindeman often reminds me of the 1980s work of fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell. They share a social conscience, a world-weary voice, and jazzy arrangements. Lindeman’s vocal phrasing on songs like ‘Neon Signs’ and ‘Body Moves’ is reminiscent of Mitchell. The textured arrangements and jazzy drumming recall Talk Talk.

Lindeman pruned Humanhood to a 45-minute length that fits neatly onto an LP. With its spoken-word sections, ‘Irreversible Damage’ recalls Cassandra Jenkins’ work. The jazzy ‘Mirror’ is rhythmically sophisticated, while ‘Sewing’ is plaintive and minimal.

One of the first things that came to mind with the record was the title. The title was really important to me from the beginning because it was sort of a question mark, or a knot that I wanted to untangle.

Tamara Lindeman, Interview Magazine

Humanhood is a worthy sequel to Ignorance, another record of sophisticated pondering.

10 Best Songs by The Weather Station

Complicit
Robber
Atlantic
Thirty
Neon Signs
Sewing
Yarrow and Mint
Parking Lot
Marsh
Floodplain