In the four years since the release of his debut record Due North, Liam Kazar hasn’t exactly been silent. Be it on stage or in the studio, his contributions to the sounds artists like Hannah Cohen, Sam Evian, Kevin Morby, and Jeff Tweedy are tasteful and distinct. You know you’ll be in safe hands when you see him on stage or in the credits. But this month saw the release of Pilot Light—a sophomore album that couldn’t be further from the stereotypical slump.
Category: Liam Kazar
Liam Kazar :: Next Time Around
Liam Kazar returns with a taste of his tbd next LP. “Next Time Around” is breezy, displaying Kazar’s gentle pop sensibility. His plaintive voice and the subtle music spin a somewhat sadder tune than what was on offer on his revelatory Due North LP, but the results are as sublime.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Liam Kazar
In our recent piece on Liam Kazar’s Due North, we noted that the Kansas City/Chicago polymath was “justifiably confident no matter the subject or style,” as the lp highlights both his croonerisms and lyrical word play. In choosing the following three tunes for his first Lagniappe Session, Kazar leans a bit more into the croon but not at the expense of variety.
Liam Kazar :: Due North
Liam Kazar’s introductory single arrived in Spring 2020 via the ear worm, “Shoes Too Tight.” It’s taken over a year, but Kazar finally has a proper lp, giving us the occasion to opine on this artist in full. A rollicking but smart affair, Due North creates its own cool, justifiably confident no matter the subject or style.
Liam Kazar :: On a Spanish Dune
As an arranger and composer, Liam Kazar’s songs are not “lush” so much as they are precisely plucked—in his small-sample-size-songs, he layers textured pianos and synths, delicately entering and exiting the production. There’s a swagger that Kazar has tapped into on both of his solo tracks, but it derives from different places.