We briefly covered Connecticut outfit Litvar before in our Pride review, but this time around, we’re able to do a full review of their new album release, Being Here. It’s the band’s third full-length album and sees Litvar changing things up a little, as there is an unavoidable emotional weight to the record. However, this weight is never too much as to threaten to crush the listener, instead acting as an unpredictable yet reflective sonic landscape that shows genuine musical growth for the band.

By Jane Howkins

Being Here opens with It Takes Magic, which sets the tone for the album immediately, creating an emotional base due to the stripped-back acoustic guitar strumming and the tender vocal delivery displayed here. This can be seen in the opening refrain, which states that “It probably takes magic to cure this pain,” instantly establishing the core theme and topic of the album, which seems to be about searching for healing amidst deep-seated grief.

Belong appears next, starting out with quite a minimalist feel – although this time the piano seems to take centre stage over the guitars. The vocals echo in lovely style over the rhythm section, turning the song into a semi-haunting and atmospheric song full of real feeling. Real Life changes things up a little for Litvar – whilst it’s still fairly stripped back at times, the tempo is more upbeat, injecting a sharper and more contemporary edge into proceedings, feeling both grounded and urgent, all at the same time.

Whilst the entire record is full of passion and feeling, What Kind of Man felt like something of an emotional centrepiece to me – it’s wonderfully written and arranged, talking about topics such as personal identity and your legacy as a human being. The expressive instrumentation really allows the vulnerability of the song to shine through, before leading into Yeah I Know, which sees Litvar returning somewhat to their traditional indie-rock sound. The song has a great energy to it, although it still retains the brutally candid lyricism seen on the other tracks on Being Here.

Title track Stay the Same is up next, providing a moment of warm, melancholic reflection for both artist and listener. It’s actually rather folky at times, using a lovely strummed acoustic guitar to follow the main vocal melody, played to a steady drum beat. Waiting for Something is another uptempo number, seeing the band include some cool guitar licks, changing the dynamics of the album up nicely so that it never feels too samey.

Backstab changes things up entirely, being one of the most experimental tunes on Being Here. It’s actually a bare-boned, jazz-inspired indie shuffle of a song, which unfolds in slow motion as the music progresses. It’s great to hear a band like Litvar doing something different, and doing it so well too! Then we come to When You Come Home, which is one of the most melodic songs on the album. It features some lovely fingerpicked acoustic guitar notes, offering a moment of solace amidst the emotional turbulence that emerges from most of the other songs on Being Here.

I Hate It Here is quite a heartbreaking sounding song, perhaps standing as the rawest emotional point on the record (although that’s pretty hard to quantify, as most of the songs on Being Here have an impassioned resonance). On this track, personal memories are transformed into a devastatingly melancholic anthem for anyone navigating loss and grief, with the quiet violin in the background serving as a particularly poignant moment. Finally, we come to closer Leaving Seattle, which is another stripped-down folk tune with a contemplative quality. It’s slow and subtle, yet it closes this collection of songs out nicely, leaving you longing for more, long after the last second has played out.

It’s clear from the very first listen that Being Here is a triumph, both in terms of its musicality and emotional honesty. Litvar have really managed to create something special by turning inward here, changing their sound up in a strong and resilient manner. It’s also a stark reminder that even when the dark times hit, simply Being Here can be enough.

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