The Album Leaf
In A Safe Place

THE REVIEW

A delicate album, with a crystalline and electronic sound to be listened to at dawn or dusk.
Jimmy LaValle is Californian, studied piano, and has played, among others, in Tristeza, Locust, Gogogo Airheart, and Black Heart Procession.
Jimmy must be a very shy person if he needed the encouragement of Kjartan and the other Sigur Ros members to reach the milestone of this first solo album.

To hide, he camouflages himself behind the name of a Chopin composition.
To compose it, he went to Iceland, where he, in his own words, was enchanted and inspired.
To record it, he felt the need to title it In a Safe Place: in this case, the safe place is Sundlaugin, which seems to be the recording studio and former swimming pool of the dream rockers from the land of ice. The album turns out to be very "Icelandic," intimate, contemplative, and full of melancholy.

Short compositions, never songs, and lyrics (when present) that are minimal and almost whispered. A great taste for melody and sounds, both analog and digital, well blended together.
Noteworthy is the single (?) Thule, built with an engaging beat and a keyboard reminiscent of the best works of Tarwater.
The small progression (how else to call it?) of Eastern Glow is far from genius but still truly enjoyable. Guest Kjartan sings in Over The Pound, a track that seems to want to describe a suspended seascape with seagulls providing background. Gyda Valtysdottir's cello appears in the most analog and strictly melancholic track: Streamside.
If you've worn out the albums of Mum and those of Four Tet, this is undoubtedly the coagulation of acoustic vibrations your ears have been craving.
Ah, somewhere in the album there's Pall Jenkins from the Black Heart Procession.
Ah number two, I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but I know everyone talks about it; the album can also be heard in the series The OC.