Tiny Ocean
“Culling of an Ache,” the first song from Tiny Ocean’s latest album, Shot by My Arrow, starts with a fingerpicked guitar, sketching out a harmonic structure that the rest of the band — electric guitar, bass, and drums — unexpectedly slides into. Together the three instruments create a slow, swinging sound, a little bit country, a little bit lounge, and a lot of vibe. There’s a sense of space, a tinge of menace. “There’s a red ribbon in my bedroom,” the vocalist sings. “graceful, hideous, without a face.” The lyrics paint a mysterious picture. Then the chorus opens up, following the singer’s voice: “When it’s loud,” she sings, and the music swells; “it makes me quiet,” she finishes, and the music calms. “Culling of an ache,” she adds, and the guitar responds. The music pauses, and moves on.
Tiny Ocean is the project of songwriter, singer and guitarist Kierstin Sieser, who, on two full-length albums and on stages in New Haven and across the state, has been mining the rich sound of a spacious and dark Americana to draw forth a wealth of images and emotions. On Shot by My Arrow, backed by Keither Newman on bass and background vocals, Jon Morse on drums, and Hollis Dunlap on electric guitar, Sieser continues her explorations, and once again comes up with gold. The expansive atmosphere of “Culling of an Ache” sets the tone for the rest of the album, which feels often like a tour of a dusty county somewhere at night. “I Didn’t Pray” is propelled by a searching guitar and drums, the lyrics held down by the compelling hook “I didn’t pray for your safety.” “Until” brightens up the energy with a chiming guitar and easy swinging vocals over a solid two-step; it’s a song that wouldn’t have been out of place on a classic 10,000 Maniacs album.
The next song, “Anxiety,” suddenly deepens the mood. With a skeletal figure from an acoustic as a spine, the rest of the band creates a strutting, tightly coiled sound, soaked in noirish danger. “The chairs are broken, the tables have turned,” Sieser sings. “Smiles from strangers that you haven’t earned / You tap your feet on the dirty wood floor / Hoping that hope comes back for more.” Was there a fight? Is there going to be one? The song carries the sensation of the narrator living in a brief, quiet moment between violence.
“To Your Life” then finds the band at its most lush, as Morse and Newman lay down a washed-out rhythm that Dunlap’s and Sieser’s guitars float over the top of. All that lets Sieser be her most anthemic: “There is a corner where the light meets the wall / I’m gonna follow to your love,” she sings.
“Well-Adjusted” then makes room for a little humor even as it bares some honesty about some mistakes made. “Say your prayers, send apologies, but I don’t need you to be sorry,” Sieser sings. There’s the slow, sweetly aching ballad of “Waterline,” the dreamy, druggy swing of “I Want to Lose,” before reaching the final number, “Untitled Still,” which ushers the listener out of the album with an encapsulation of everything that’s come before. A hazy verse opens up into a big chorus, over and over, building with each repetition, going out on a long, lush instrumental. It’s the winding road back home, but as with the kind of emotional journey Sieser documents from song to song on Shot by My Arrow, it’s possible you’re not quite the same person you were when you started.
Shot by My Arrow is available on Bandcamp.
