Carla dal Forno

A few weeks ago we flew to San Francisco to catch Carla dal Forno at The Chapel, the second stop on her whirlwind tour for 'Confession,' which is tied with Maya Ongaku for album of the year, for whatever tiny bit that's worth.

The stage setup consisted of Carla on vocals (naturally) and Elizabeth Davis on what looks like a Fender Squier Classic Vibe Mustang bass (I only mention this because we have one), with a Roland SP-404 providing beats, textures, and a few false starts that emphasized the human-ness of the performance rather than detract or distract.

Nancy has played songs from this and other releases by dal Forno on her radio show, and every time I wander past while she's programming one of her songs, I always stop and say "That bass part is fantastic. Who is this?" "Carla dal Forno." "Oh, of course."

Generative AI has hijacked "load bearing," so I'll have to say the electric bass is the beating heart of these songs. Yes, Sly and Robbie framed the drums and bass as the heart and soul, but obviously the vocals are the spiritual core here. A tent pole. Is that metaphor still safe? Elizabeth Davis did a phenomenal job holding up that part of the canopy.

And the structure held up admirably, the spare and spacious arrangements expanding to The Chapel's high ceilings, the smoke and lights carving shadows for these songs that felt like nocturnal wanderings on the far side of midnight, more contemplative than dramatic. This is "dream pop" in the truest sense, understated musings that envelop and propel, leaving bedroom indie's cocoon to go walking after midnight.

In that "woulda, coulda, shoulda" retrospective view, we should have picked up the LP after the show, but the line was enthusiastically long, and I was pretty bushed ("We just flew in... my arms are tired."). So, better late than never with the vinyl arriving today. As Nancy would attest, I'm a digital doofus, so for me, a record is that "this album is special enough to manifest in the physical space."

And that pressing is impeccable.