I have seen July Talk live before at the last X-Fest, I have talked about it before. Somehow, July Talk did not manage to impact my memory strongly enough for me to remember them very well at the time, but subsequent listings and reminders made them an eventual stable in my casual, random, music playlist. So, how ever many years later, they stood atop of the list of bands to see on the Coca-Cola stage at The 2022 Calgary Stampede.
I assembled the Avengers, and three of us arrived in time to catch the last fifteen minutes of The Beaches. The Beaches were really good, they did a killer cover of “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado. I will be listening to more of them in the future.
Like any concert experience with a familiar band, there are always certain songs you are hoping to hear. Not being the strongest July Talk fan, my list of hopeful hearings was short and likely contained mostly their more well-known tracks. I do not own any July Talk albums, so fan favorites tracks are presumably outside my knowledge. Case in point, there must have been at least a handful of songs performed where Peter Dreimanis did not sing a word, and Leah Fay performed the vocals alone. This was new to me, because all of the songs I listen to by July Talk feature, and focus on, their contrasting voices.
July Talk’s biggest draw to me is the combo of Peter and Leah. The contrast in their voices is perfect. Intentional or not, they perfectly represent the masculine and feminine. It is not just a man and a woman singing, but the content of many of their songs are about the challenges in relationships, and also, obviously, their tones. I assume Peter is putting on a voice, and that he does not talk like he sings, for he sings with a very deep rough voice. Contrasted by the high feminine tone of Leah. Also, I have eyes, Leah, is a woman, great curves and all. Call me old fashion but I like gender. Ergo, I really like what Peter and Leah are bringing to the forefront of their music. It is such a great sound, and they capture that rough and deep, opposite soft and high.
So, I enter the Stampede grounds with a few songs I am hoping to hear by July Talk; “Push + Pull,” “Picture Love,” and “Guns and Ammunition” live was perfect. Leah commanded the crowd and Peter rocked the house. They did not play “Let Her Know,” but since that song I suspect represents the entire July Talk project perfectly, please allow me to ramble about that one.
I have my own interpretation of “Let Her Know,” but I am not entirely confident that I am not reading into things. “Let Her Know” is definitely about strained communication between lovers, possibly ex-lovers. It is unclear to me if the words are meant to be the feelings held back by someone looking to end their relationship, or if it is someone withholding dark emotions from their lover for fear of driving them away. I prefer the latter, as there are simply less songs in the universe with that focus, but I can imagine either being the artistic intention.
Where I start to read into things perhaps more than is wise, is the outro:
“She's still looking at me.
She's still here.
July talks because of you.
She's still here.”
This is joined with Leah’s backing vocals almost whispering:
“Don’t let her go.”
Leah’s lines strongly suggest to me that the song is about a struggling relationship not a collapsed one, with the final message being, she is still here. Whatever is haunting the male half of this narrative, the female is still with him, and in the game of love that can be a very promising thing. She must still be there for a reason.
The song might be meta however, “July talks because of you.” So, are we to assume this song is about Peter and Leah? “July Talks because of Leah?” Does that make sense? I can easily imagine July Talk is led and held together by Peter and Leah. I can easily imagine Peter given his look, and choice of voice, and lyrical content, being a dark soul. I can easily imagine Leah being the love that empowers him to push through it and create beautiful music. I am not the strongest fan of July Talk, so I do not know if anything in this paragraph is actually accurate. Just a casual wandering thought based on a few sweeping words.
Often times, I will go to lyric sites and go to the comment sections to see what other people see in songs. That did not work this time. So, I do not know what the interpretations of “Let Her Know” are by better fans than I, but this only emboldened me to write something about it. Maybe I am seeing into something, I am sure the internet will let me know if I am wrong. The boys are HQ are really good at that.
- King of Braves
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