Leeds quartet Crake stole our hearts with last year’s 7″ “Enough Salt” b/w “Gef”, and today they return with their first new material since then. Arriving via Fika Recordings, “Lamb’s Tail” finds them opening up about their superstitious methods, as singer Rowan Sandle explains:
“When I was a kid and I was worried or anxious, I would leave it to the fates to tell me the outcome of whatever issue I was currently stuck on. I would ask my question to the ether and make up some rule to reveal to me my answer. For example, if whilst walking I land at a lamppost with my left foot, the answer is no, but if I land with my right, then yes.
“Lamb’s Tail deals with a major question pertinent to me now – in my early 30s, without children but knowing I want them, I worry when. And at the opposite end of life’s flight, I’ve recently got to know grief. And it’s a lot. So sometimes we revert to silly rituals that comforted us as a child, noticing the pushing onwards of Spring, or laughing at the fact that Rob once met a cat he could have sworn he taught drums to”.
“Lamb’s Tail” opens on an intimate scene, Sandle wishing on lamb’s tail: “If it moves to the right, I won’t sleep tonight / If it moves to the left, then I will rest.” The way Crake’s contemplative country-ish sound cradles this admission makes us feel like the worried friend or partner, wanting to comfort the singer as they undergo this internal strife. This mixture of warmth and concern only grows as Sandle goes on to describe seeing a rotting dead mouse, the Pussy Willow coming through, and a cat that looks like a child they once knew.
In a roundabout and tender way, she finally arrives at the main concern: the question of whether to have a child or not, and ultimately Crake’s creeping tones help her come to the quietly brave choice: “Let’s not leave it too much more time / I want my dad to know our kid, to hear them laughing.” It’s a revelation delivered in little more than a silvery whisper, but in Crake’s careworn sound, it washes over like a perfectly-timed warm blanket to block out the cold world and insulate the love.
Watch the video for “Lamb’s Tail” below or find the song on streaming platforms.
“Lamb’s Tail” is out on Fika Recordings. You can find Crake on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
