L'Altra – Telepathic

Infidelity is usually quite an unpleasant affair, but Lindsay Anderson and Joseph Desler Costa take a distinctly different approach to the matter. Their break-up spawned a musical project entitled L’Altra, or to translate from the Italian, ‘the other woman’. Over the past decade the band have had squabbles and spats, abandoned the rhythm section, recruited a cellist, gone on hiatus, released solo records, settled differences and recently released their fourth studio album, Telepathic.

One might expect L’Altra to embody the mistress of the night - thrilling, forbidden, alluring. Yet disappointingly there is nothing of this edge, none of the danger. Citing ‘Homewrecking, Hopelessness and Heartbreak’ as their influences, Telepathic is more in the vein of wistful lingering, dwelling on the past and wallowing in melancholy, sinking away in the bath.

The album is bookended by promising, yet incongruous instrumental numbers Dark Corners I & II, reminiscent of Gastr Del Sol or Tortoise. Big Air Kiss appears to harness some real intent, elsewhere Black Wind surges with forlorn horns, whilst captivating strings trickle betwixt a resounding percussive heart-throb on Either Was The Other’s Mine. Ultimately though, this record is exhaustively tender, with artwork befitting Napoleon Dynamite’s wardrobe.