The Weather Station – project of Tamara Lindeman – marks her bold return with a new single/video, “Robber,” and an accompanying self-directed video. It’s her first release on her new label, Fat Possum, and her first new music since her acclaimed 2017 self-titled album, “that sounds as fleshed-out and powerful as the world it contains” (Pitchfork).
Though “Robber” features Lindeman’s unmistakeable delivery, the song illustrates a sophisticated turn in sound. A full minute passes before the entry of Lindeman’s voice, gentle, conversational, intoning; “I never believed in the robber.” A jagged music builds, with stabbing strings, ample saxophone, and several layers of percussion, and the song undulates through five minutes of growing tension, seesawing between just two chords. For “Robber,” Lindeman pulled together the full 7 piece band and assigned different people to opposing teams; one team of order and straightness, the other of chaos and improvisation.