Flashback to earlier this year, when I was slated to see Laetitia Tamko – a.k.a. Vagabon – perform at Pitchfork Festival in Chicago. Knowing that she was working on new material, I was as eager to hear some samplings from her then-upcoming project as I was to hear “Water Me Down,” which I’m on record crowning one of my personal favorite tracks of the 2010s. Sadly, on that otherwise-lovely July day, a sudden flash thunderstorm warning forced the festival to cut Vagabon’s set after a mere two songs. While the festival eventually resumed that afternoon, Vagabon didn’t. Alas.
Of course, within a few months, Tamko released her third album under the Vagabon moniker – a dance-pop collection titled Sorry I Haven’t Called – and embarked on a tour to promote the release. She swung by Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom towards the end of October. The last time she came through the area was in 2021 when she played a decently-filled Sinclair. Because of that, it was surprising to arrive at Crystal Ballroom to see a very light crowd – unfortunately less than two years prior.
Nourished By Time served as the show’s opener – another artist who I had the pleasure of seeing at Pitchfork Fest earlier this year. He makes breezy, pulsing electronic with hypnotic vocals, which definitely fit the mood of late October.
Afterwards, Vagabon took the stage. Between songs, Tamko spoke to the audience about the record’s dedication: one of her best friends and collaborators passed away between album cycles. When they spent time together, she explained, they would always listen to house and other forms of dance music. So, when she began writing songs for this record, she took a lot of inspiration from those genres. This is evident on songs like “Lexicon” (“Our lexicon is gone / when we dance all night”).
That might be the best way to summarize Vagabon’s music to someone who is unfamiliar: she bundles up tragedy and sadness, and transmutes it into joyful expression. Besides that, pushing herself into dance music territory feels like a natural progression for Tamko; her last album, especially “Water Me Down,” started making baby steps in that direction. While Vagabon deserves to draw a larger crowd, it was nonetheless a wonderful opportunity to see her perform on Crystal Ballroom’s intimate stage.
Check out all the photos from Vagabon’s show via the gallery below.
