Tara Nome Doyle – Vaermin

Tara Nome Doyle shared her debut LP Alchemy with the world in 2020, to a chorus of much-deserved praise. Meriting comparisons with Nick Cave (lyrically) and Kate Bush (vocally), Doyle’s unique blending of the personal and the abstract brings the eerie and the familiar together in her new album Vaermin, released later this month. 

Sticking more or less to the titular theme, each of these tracks is named after an animal one would generally prefer not to get too close to – but from the gentle violin of single Snail I (released late last year) to the angst and urgency of Crow, Doyle’s work does not shy away from the trickier aspects of love and attachment. “You remind me of my father / And that leaves me no choice,” she sings on Snail I, while on Caterpillar (due out as a single on the 13^th) she gets straight to the point: “My love is kind / Shut all the blinds”. These tracks explore a love that is brave even when it’s not so sure of itself, from a speaker who holds as much patience for themselves as they do for others – carried by Doyle’s remarkable vocals, equal parts passionate, measured and unhurried. Lyrically, she remains raw, honest, at times approaching the borders of the grotesque, only to call into the question the distance at which we typically hold it.

Doyle’s sophomore album creates an atmosphere at times unsettling but never uncomfortable, with bold melodies on the strings and gentle piano arpeggios giving the impression that the artist has allowed these tracks just as much time as they need to carry meaning across to her audience. And though the lyrical imagery that runs through the record is deliberate, it does not feel forced – this is a notably complex, mature project from the singer-songwriter.

Sylvia Unerman

Vaermin is released on 28^th January 2022. For further information or to order the album visit Tara Nome Doyle’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Snail I here:

Watch Tara Nome Doyle discuss Vaermin here: