Land Of Talk Get Around

08/25/08 4:39pm

by Jen White (CHARTattack)

If you've heard a lot of talk about Land Of Talk lately, it's because the Montreal trio really get around.

In a June 12 MySpace blog post, vocalist/guitarist Liz Powell stated it was "the end of an era."

"We have officially finished touring Applause Cheer Boo Hiss," she wrote about the band's 2006 EP.

While Land Of Talk have been on the road for years, Powell dedicated herself to having this summer off — kind of.

"This is my first summer [in Montreal] in the past three years," she says. "I killed it this summer.

"I was dedicated to completely not doing anything, which didn't really work out that way. I ended up saying 'yes' to a lot of projects, i.e. playing with Broken Social Scene at the Ottawa Folk Fest [on Aug. 15], and playing out in Utah and the west coast states with them the next weekend, which kind of was my last week of absolute freedom."

Powell seems to get tangled up in a lot of projects. She's made guest vocal appearances on albums by Karkwa, Brendan Canning and Patrick Watson.

But things are about to pick up again with Land Of Talk when their Some Are Lakes full-length debut is released on Oct. 7.

The group recently inked a deal with Saddle Creek for the album's stateside release, which Powell is really excited about.

"Land Of Talk have gone through some crazy business dealings and being on labels and then, all of a sudden, waking up the next day and not being on the label. Saddle Creek is the perfect home. Some labels, you just don't even think of approaching, but they came to us, and it was a really natural, awesome thing… That's a little bit of a dream come true, and completely unexpected."

While Land Of Talk are road veterans who've toured with Tapes 'N Tapes and The Decemberists, Powell says she's nervous about all the "crazy road trips" they're about to have.

"Just the sleep schedule and the noisy bars, that's what I'm nervous about. You never get used to that. Well, maybe you do and maybe I'm being a big baby.

"But you know what I am actually excited about? One of the crew members [for The Rosebuds] uploaded Dance Dance Revolution on to my laptop, so I just have to get the floor pad. Apparently, you just plug that into your computer and you're just Dance Dance Revolutioning it all the way to town. That was my one solution to keep me sane on the road."

Land of Talk will embark on a headlining Canadian tour before they open for Broken Social Scene in the U.S. Here are their Canadian dates:

Sept. 13 Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle (Envol Et Macadam Festival) w/Sebastien Grainger And The Mountains and Still Brother
Sept. 18 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 19 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 20 Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club (Queen's University) w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 22 Laval, QC @ CEGEP w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 23 Sherbrooke, QC @ Le Telephone Rouge w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 24 Peterborough, ON @ The Montreal House w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 25 Guelph, ON @ Ebar w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 26 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah w/The D'Urbervilles
Sept. 27 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace w/The D'Urbervilles