Dreampop fans who like their guitars chorused and the melodies buoyant would do well to not miss out on Patina, the just-released second record from Toronto’s Tallies. Any press around it will reference The Sundays, Smiths, and Cocteau Twins and the band would likely take these comparisons as sincere flattery (the “None more 4AD” artwork is no accident, either). The sounds are lush (and also a little Lush, sure), and the songwriting is strong – quite a leap forward from their 2019 self-titled debut. That record was already pretty good, but with this one, the band make a strong argument for themselves for who they are rather than just who they sound like.
They gave notice of this growth when they released the first taste of the new record last November, sharing the opening track and a video that follows frontwoman Sarah Cogan not through the sun-kissed meadows that the sound conjures, but the grey concrete of Oshawa in Winter1. Cogan offered the following background on the song, which comes from a darker place than the music and visuals might imply:
“’No Dreams of Fayres’ is a reflection of thoughts that I remember going through my mind when I stayed still in bed. Feeling as though staying still in bed was the only thing that would help the sadness – basically, disconnecting myself from family, friends, and having a life. Finding the way out of depression was hard but possible. ‘No Dreams of Fayres’ is also about the realization of letting yourself feel real feelings but not mistaking them for emotions. I had to learn to get a grip of what I wanted out of life and go for it with no self-sabotage – which was music, as clichéd as it sounds. It pulled me out of bed, physically and mentally.”
Sarah Cogan, Tallies
Introducing… Tallies @ Bella Union
1 I lived in Oshawa for a Summer during a university work term. One time, someone crawled under my car overnight and unplugged my neutral safety switch. Another time, someone stole the license plates off my car. I hate Oshawa.
