At just six songs tallying 40 minutes, Mary Lattimore’s “Goodbye, Hotel Arkada” is a cycle of arrangements that are delightful, devastating, lovely and complex all at once. The Los Angeles based harpist has constructed an intimate and angelic masterpiece here, with construction not bereft of field recordings (you can hear household objects hitting a kitchen floor on “Horses, Glossy on the Hill,” especially). There’s this strong, rewarding sense of in-the-moment energy and contemplation, that the spaces around Lattimore and her instrument are ephemeral and tangible.
2023 was always going to be a strange year, as further remnants of lives utterly changed by wider circumstances grew distant in the rear-view mirror. While not strictly dealing in post-crisis reflection, harpist Mary Lattimore wrote the songs on “Goodbye, Hotel Arkada” over the course of two transformative years, dealing with the ever-changing nature of existence.
The record features guest accompaniments from folks like Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst and Heron Oblivion drummer Meg Baird, but “Goodbye, Hotel Arkada” is a shining solo affair from Lattimore. Her harp, as deft and devastating as ever, sings brightly in a foreboding, patient, orchestral ecosystem.
The Fat Angel Sings 