Lip Talk is the solo project of Sarah K. Pedinotti. I'm generally a fan of Sarah's work, particularly because of her group Kalbells- a pop group whose sound I consistently struggle to define (a struggle that only endears me to them more). Laughing & Eating Cake is her second album with the project and seems to serve as an expellent exercise where she gives voice to her more conventional tendencies in a celebration of contemporary, '80s obsessed pop, with a precocious person twist. It might not be as outlandish as some of her other work, but it is still, definitively, her's. Every radical notion has to have a counterpoint, and they can certainly exist within the same person and be expressed through that person's art simultaneously. When I say this, I am specifically thinking of the track "Bargain Day," a minimalist funk and R&B track that explores the joy of consumption as well as the alienation it engenders- an alienation that points to some desired satisfaction that commodities themselves can not satiate. It is also worth noting that not every work has to challenge either the audience or its creator. Sometimes it just needs to be. And that being can be a statement in itself. This reality is manifest on Laughing & Eating Cake as it is an album that represents a need to reflect back at the world many of the artist's direct inspirations and illuminate the processes that they fuel. The album is flush with Sarah's squishy, drapes-pulled, stay-in-bed-all-day beats and tenacious, heartrending grooves thrown up all at once as if she were tossing her entire wardrobe on her bed and attempting to see how many different combinations of outfits she can assemble. Because of her good taste and constant roving, curative eye this somewhat messy but productive endeavor results in such gorgeous, dreamy gestures as "Maria" and the swarthy noble strut of "Number 9." There are more admissions to vulnerability and the wild ride of infatuation on Laughing & Eating Cake than I am used to hearing in Sarah's work, but given the way these tracks are attempting to model popular styles of pop and R&B, it's not a surprising subject matter to explore- and I certainly can't complain when it results in stunning lip-biting, swoons and canters like "Running in Place," and lithe but commanding affirmations like "King." Lip Talk's Laughing & Eating Cake is exactly what it says on the label: a fun and sweetly indulgent experience. And this bold honesty is what helps makes it so wonderful.
You can find it through Northern Spy.
