It was a crisp false spring evening. After we just got some sunshine, Thursday 13 March seemed to have all the seasons in one day: from drizzle in the morning, to a full hail storm in the afternoon, with intermitted sunshine in between. This was quite unsettling, yet the perfect conditions to go and see Tamara Lindeman, the Canadian artist fronting The Weather Station. She took to the stage at London’s Islington Assembly Hall (one of my favourite venues) to conclude the European leg of the tour promoting her seventh album Humanhood,(2025, Fat Possum Records).
As I entered the hall, I was greeted by the sounds of some gorgeous jazz, easing the audience into the night’s proceedings. Opening for The Weather Station was Georgia Harmer, a fellow Canadian indie singer/songwriter, whose deeply personal lyrics sung against a delicate acoustic guitar, were the perfect support act. She sung with a near whisper; so delicate was her delivery, but contrasted with powerful declarations such as “I don’t wanna behave”.
Her lyrics reminded me of Phoebe Bridgers, with poetry drawn from everyday, relatable experiences (crying in the kitchen being a returning motif).
“You look so small sitting in my kitchen but I wonder where you are /
You look so young like you don’t know how to be loved”
was a standout lyric from ‘Top Down’ from her debut album Stay In Touch (2022).
In between songs from the debut album, Georgia teased new songs from her second album coming out in August, to very enthusiastic cheers from the utterly spellbound audience. For any fans of the video game ‘Life Is Strange’, Georgia’s music and lyrics transported me to that imagery, especially since the upcoming album will be titled The Eye Of The Storm and is definitely one to look out for.
Then it came time for The Weather Station. The stage design changed and light-reflecting sculptures were revealed, that made me feel like we were on an island with a lunar landscape. The jazz segued into ‘Descent’, the always improvised intro on Humanhood. If the January release passed you by, I urge you to give it an immediate listen. It’s deeply personal and grabs you from the first second.
Breaking the album sequence, we are treated to ‘Wear’ from Ignorance before we return to Humanhood with ‘Mirror’, one of my personal favourites, a song with 3 verses and no chorus, and poignant lyrics.
Well I can’t say I blame you, what else can I do?
A bad education got a hold of you
The story was thick and you fell right through
You know, it happened to me before it happened to you
The set design sent Tamara’s face in and out of light and into darkness. Soon ‘Neon Lights’ notes ring out and the lyrics that set the tone to Humanhood come:
“I’ve gotten used to feeling like I’m crazy—or just lazy,” she sings, her voice going between soft whisper and a spoken word. “Why can’t I get off this floor? Think straight anymore?”
Those words are so powerful to listen to for anyone who has ever battled depression.
Never enough in a world without trust
Having to rely upon the lightning flash of lust, uh
Like it’s almost the same as love
It becomes instantly clear that this set will cut as deep as the album itself does. After highly lauded 2021 LP Ignorance, which tackled the topics of climate change, and it’s later companion piece How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars (2022), it seemed like professionally things were coming up roses for Tamara Linderman and The Weather Station, however behind the closed doors she was battling a mental health crisis. Humanhood was born through fog, fatigue and disorientation. This would be why, despite The Weather Station being largely described as a folk band, that album has so many jazz elements to it. The sung and spoken sections flow seamlessly, almost as if the spoken pieces were the artist making sense of the underlying confusion.
The set flowed between Ignorance and Humanhood, with the themes of the climate crisis of the former clearly resonating with the mental health crisis subject of the latter – anyone conscious about our planet is not having the best mental health time these days (yours truly included). ‘Loss’ from Ignorance started what sounded like the second act to the evening, the uptempo opening concealing dark lyrics.
What was it last night she said?
“At some point you’d have to live as if the truth was true.”
When it gets too hard to not feel what you do
Not know what you knew
Loss is loss
Is loss is loss
The stones breathed with the set and would take up new colours, the stage lights demarcating the different theme, which read as meditation on human body. ‘Body moves’ continued the motif: “At the end of the world, you said / Your body fooled you, your body moved you out / And now you can’t go home again”.
The third act arrived announced by ‘Ribbon’ with quiet, disjointed piano and delicate whisper, describing discomfort in everyday situations: “My pain is ordinary / I’m just like anybody”. The mood shifts and the vulnerability becomes palpable. Following the album sequence, the piano guides us into ‘Fleuve’, two opposing verses that just fade out. The improvised ‘Aurora’ signifies a new beginning, with a hopeful flute against a sinister soundscape. Then the titular track from Humanhood rings out, a song about the feeling of loss in Tamara’s sense of humanity; humanhood as an metaphysical garment, something she tries to carry without knowing what good looks like, and struggling between the dark and light aspects of being a person in this moment in history. It’s the most resonant, shared moment of the evening.
The night closes on ‘Sewing’, the closing track of Humanhood, providing us with a bookend. A piece about patchworking as a metaphor for making sense of a narrative, putting together a pattern from pieces that don’t immediately go together, foregoing perfection and from those scraps making something that offers warmth and comfort. It was a delicate, quiet ending to a hugely emotional and very vulnerable night, every person in attendance sharing the common themes and finding their community, with Humanhood, both the musical as well as the very mortal, everyday one, being such a gift.
The Weather Station tour continues across the US and Canada this spring.
- Follow The Weather Station on theweatherstation.net | Instagram | YouTube | bandcamp | Substack
- Follow Georgia Harmer on georgiaharmer.com | Instagram | YouTube
