Pop/Electronic star on the rise, Edmonton’s Talltale, is set to release the most compelling, immersive and conceptually deep project of her burgeoning career. A Japanese Fever Dream – due out March 29, 2019 – is a hypnotic, insistently lush, lyrically contemplative collection of original music which has been powerfully influenced by the songwriter/vocalist/drummer’s fascination with Japan, its culture and people.
The first video/single from the album, called Tokyo, is out today, February 22.
While the words and music are not overtly eastern in their rhythms, chordal structures or melodies, the life-altering exposure to the Japanese way of life and way of thinking infuses the entirety of the concept underlying A Japanese Fever Dream.
But the EP is not a travelogue. Rather, Talltale, aka the striking, six-foot tall Tatiana Zagorac, has taken the revelations about herself and these new interpretations of the world and injected them into songs that are deeply personal, and which draw upon real life situations and experiences.
The lead-off single is the tantalizing and explosively upbeat song “Tokyo”, co-written and produced by Alex Klingle, which talks about the excitement and sense of overwhelming otherness that Talltale – and arguably many other visitors – felt upon arriving in the massive capital city of Japan.
“This record is very different for me as a writer be- cause it’s very self-reflective; it’s not so much about other people, which gives it a dreamier vibe than previous songs. Tokyo talks about my first reaction to Japan and how distinctive their culture is. I realized quickly that I could not get by on a few Japanese words. I was completely out of my element and couldn’t even guess at reading the signs. I think that profoundly effected me, but in an exciting way be- cause I needed to get back there as soon as I could,” she said.
There is a loose, but seamless narrative structure on the EP with the five primary compositions, linked together by short electronic-based, atmospheric interludes that are as imbued with deep meaning and significance as the longer compositions. Each one has been given a Japanese title, one that reflects a word that has no English equivalent, but which has come to have a powerful significance in Talltale’s life and music.
“Kintsugi is the Japanese art of filling in broken pottery and other keepsakes with gold because they don’t see those things as broken. What we would call flaws are just considered to be part of the character of what makes the thing beautiful. This interlude I put in between “Tokyo” and “Shed My Skin”, which is looking at who you are when you’re in a new place and see that some of those characteristics are changing,” she explained.
“Tsundoku is a Japanese word for someone who buys a lot of books and they just lets them pile up without reading them. And I put that in before the song “Early Bird”, because that song is about myself, and I am
sure lots of other people, dealing with their own levels of anxiety and depression and how you’re not always present and struggling to even get up in the morning. It leads into “Early Bird” because that song is
about pushing through all that to better yourself.”
Ikigai, which leads into the song “The Fall”, is the Japanese concept of finding the thing that gives you true happiness, while the song is about putting aside any trepidation and jumping with both feet into your passion and what gives you that happiness.The fourth and final interlude is the most significant – mono no aware – which some have translated as having an awareness or empathy for the transience or impermanence of life. This perhaps was the greatest lesson Talltale learned while abroad, and the one she is hoping will carry through to listeners.
“The Japanese are very aware of the sense of imper- manence of things and they realize that’s what makes things so beautiful, like cherry blossoms which only bloom for a week. It is an interesting concept for me because it really focusses on the gentle sadness of things not being permanent and how that translates to a lot of things in life,” she said.
Prior to taking the nom de plume of Talltale, Tatiana was immersed in music from a young age, and eventually earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Contemporary Popular Music. She worked her way up the ranks of Edmonton’s local music scene, eventually winning “Artist to Watch” at the 2018 Edmonton Music Awards, as well as Electronic Song of the Year at the 2018 Canadian Songwriting Competition. All the while she was honing her craft and soon discovered that she enjoys the creativity that electronic music allowed her in create everything that accompanies her
very distinctive, rhythmic vocal style, and her insightful and emotionally wrought lyrics.
“What I think is great about electronic music is you’re not just crafting the lyrics and melodies, you’re getting to craft the entire soundscape and the world that the song lives in,” she said.
Talltale has made three trips to Japan, the most recent with a videographer to shoot footage that will accompany the songs on A Japanese Fever Dream. As the co-owner of her video production company, her
songwriting process encompasses a vibrant visual component, with the words and music often having a sublimely cinematic component.
“I can’t listen to music without picturing what the video should look like or the visuals. I think visuals are a necessity for helping to promote your music, but for me it’s deeper than that, it’s just inseparable in my opinion. Doing the videos is another way to communicate what I want a song to say and how I wanted it to feel,” she said.
“Especially for this album, I want to give people a bit of the feeling of what it’s like to be there. I feel that video is the most visceral way to do that.”
Talltale’s dynamic live performances, which sees her sing while playing an electronic drum kit, have earned her rave reviews and a growing audience of loyal fans who have been waiting patiently for the release
of the EP.
A Japanese Fever Dream is an exceptionally entertaining, enlightening and immersive experience that not only takes the audience on a journey to an exotic foreign land, but an even more significant journey –
into the heart, mind and spirit of a truly talented and remarkable songwriter and artist.
Connect with Talltale online: Website Facebook Instagram
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