BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition - November 2019

VAGABON
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initially came from a place of pain,
Tamko now sees them as “songs of
triumph.” “In their conception they
were powerful in the freedom I felt
being that vulnerable. Now, they’re
powerful because they remind me of
what I’ve learned through performing
them,” she elaborates.
On Vagabon, Laetitia Tamko stepping
into herself is multifaceted. In
addition to handling all of the production
on the album, there’s another
subtle difference in the liner
notes. Vagabon is being distributed
under a self-titled LLC: an independent
imprint through which she will
take greater responsibility over the
album’s commercial distribution, but
also reap the rewards more abundantly.
In essence, this serves as a
sign that Tamko is inching towards
ultimate artistic independence, befrom
Los Angeles, days before joining
Angel Olsen on the North American
leg of her upcoming tour.
Her tone is soft-spoken, but
self-assured, and she stretches the
word “year” to reflect the long-game
that awaits. “I’m not worked up or
anything,” she continues. “I just feel
glad that it’s available. I think that’s
the most exciting part — seeing what
kind of life this child of mine will
make for itself.”
At 13, Tamko migrated to New
York City from Cameroon, speaking
limited English. She got her start as
a multi-instrumentalist when her
parents gifted her a guitar from Costco
in her teens. After high school,
Tamko opted for a full-time career in
computer and electrical engineering
while gestating her artistic alter-ego,
Vagabon, through playing DIY indie
shows in Brooklyn after work.
When she eventually made the
decision to leave her engineering career
and make music full-time, Vagabon
was born. Since then, she has
released three critically-acclaimed
projects, toured internationally with
indie icons like Courtney Barnett and
Tegan and Sara, and headlined a Tiny
Desk concert that has amassed nearly
100,000 views.
Where the face of indie rock so
rarely deviates from its norm, Tamko
offers a refreshing take on the genre
beyond face-value.
Over the phone Tamko’s confidence
bleeds into her tone, which
echoes her singing voice; strong and
steady, but never ascending to a roar.
Clocking in at just under 40 minutes,
over Vagabon’s ten tracks, Tamko delivers
an evolved sound that is more
revelatory and honest than ever.
She opens up about an overwhelming
love on “Flood” (“I know even if
I run from it I’m still in it/I know I’ll
hold you so close”) and addresses
her position as an indie outlier on
“Wits About You” (“I was invited to
the party/ They won’t let my people
in/Well then never mind, never mind,
never mind/We don’t wanna go to
your function/I want it all for my
own”).
On tracks like “Every Woman” and
“In a Bind,” Tamko leans into her
indie roots, pairing gently ascending
strings, rising tension, and a straightforward
song structure, similar to Bill
Callahan or Cat Power. “Water Me
Down” and “Flood,” depart from her
signature sound, and instead opt for
edgy, impossibly danceable synths, to
amplify the raw power of her vocals.
At moments, Vagabon plays like a
meditative sound bath, particularly
on “Home Soon.” Sonically, it flows
with the rest of the album by fusing
her airy vocals with disjointed, symphonic
instrumentals, but there is
no chorus, verse, beat or melody to
follow. This track transcends the
conventional song structure with no
apologies, just as Tamko rejects society’s
conventions and comes into her
own throughout the course of the LP.
While Tamko’s journey to self-realization
plays out over the course
of the album, it started while she
was touring her debut album Infinite
Worlds. She opened Infinite Worlds
with the punchy mid-tempo track
“The Embers,” where she sang about
being a small fish and getting gobbled
up by sharks. While touring her last
album, she recalls “being directly in
tune with the transformation from
songs deriving from feeling weak and
feeling tired.
Over time, her lyrics took on new
meaning and grew to be mantra-like,
setting the foundation for the growth
that would play out in her 2019 follow-up.
Rediscovering and redefining
her debut album prompted a comingof-age
for Tamko. “To perform these
songs over and over and over and
find such confidence in reiterating
this message to myself, the timeline,
everything in between, just reshaped
those songs for me.
“In turn,” Tamko says, “it reshaped
me.”
Though the songs on Infinite Worlds
Having the
record be self-titled
just felt appropriate.
It was really an act of
discovering ones-self
and discovering the
powers within me.
yond the bounds of expression.
This transition was by design. “I
want people to remember that I am
self-reliant. That’s most important
to me,” Tamko says. “I have
taught myself all these instruments,
I produced my own
record, and I engineered on
my record.”
On Vagabon, she accomplished
this goal. “I actually
found myself impressive at several
moments of this album-making
process.” She specifically cites
her work behind the boards as a feat
that has stuck with her.
“Making a song like ‘Water Me
Down’ is something where I sat back
at the end of it and thought ‘How the
fuck did I make that?’ Actually being
able to say nice things about my music
instead of downplaying it, or minimizing
myself.” Still, she is secure
enough to ask for help. “I just want to
be an all-encompassing well that can
still outsource help,” she says.
The self-titled debut project has
been a long-standing, cross-genre
tradition with roots so deep that
the concept’s origin is impossible
to peg. When Diana Ross split from
The Supremes and released her first
solo album in 1970, it was self-titled
to distinguish herself from her former
group. In 2013, when Beyoncé’s
self-titled her fifth solo album, it was
to herald a new era of creative independence.
Similarly, Vagabon used
her sophomore album title to assert
her identity under a self-appointed
alias.
“Having the record be self-titled
just felt appropriate for this [album],”
she explains. “It was really
an act of discovering ones-self and
discovering the powers within me.
So in that journey it felt right to reintroduce
myself. It was time to put a
face to the name.”
On one of the album’s standouts,
“Every Woman,” Tamko exudes affirming
security with lyrics like: “I
belong to no one” and “I won’t ask
permission from you. In a press
statement ahead of the album’s release,
Tamko referred to this track as
Vagabon’s “thesis.”
In her own words and on her own
terms, Tamko has shed the skin of
uncertainty and insecurity in order
to tell the story of her settling into
herself. On Vagabon, she is the story’s
narrator and its hero. In just two albums
and one EP, Tamko has solidified
her presence as an indie-rock
force and has truly lived up to her
name. ,
20 BEATROUTE NOVEMBER 2019