How Will I Live Without A Body? (Limited Edition Smoke Vinyl LP)

How Will I Live Without A Body?: a gorgeous, unique, and oddly comforting album about partnership, loss, regeneration, and fighting the feeling that we're all in this alone. Many of its songs have a feeling of restless motion; faceless characters drift through meetings and partings, tangling together and slipping away. 'I Swallowed A Stone' is like a nightmare with a happy ending; 'How It Starts' and 'Broken Doorbell' reflect on the challenge (and necessity) of wrestling with agoraphobia. Though the record nods to the trio's separate lives- a German percussion ensemble, a pair of Texan owls, and the surf at Chesil Beach make guest appearances-the core of Loma's sound remains intact: earthy, organic and deeply human, anchored by Cross's cool, clear voice.

Most artists want their records to be listened to as a whole. But with Loma, it's particularly rewarding, and How Will I Live Without A Body? reveals itself more with every listen. Songs that begin as riddles swim into focus when listened to in sequence; images return and interact in unexpected ways, and something like a narrative begins to form. It's also a record of two distinct halves. A compelling sense of wandering engulfs the A-side, as the trudging progress of opener 'Please, Come In' staggers and sways through succeeding tracks to the album's centerpiece, 'How It Starts'-which gathers strength and purpose, flooding the B-side with a hope that embraces darkness without surrendering to it