With softly played keyboards Melodies and hushed overdubbed vocals, Longing Louisa’s Cabin Talk inhabits a similar space to Au Revoir Simone’s Through The Backyards. The song is an affecting combination of sounds — a cosy soundscape, the song’s melody sprawls and modulates like some sort of oceanic blanket. At the same time, it is also a haunting Klein bottle of isolation, twisting around on itself as two people share stories of the things that make us who we are.
Longing Louise is the musical project of Reetta Hotti, who wrote, produced and played the instruments on Cabin Talk, with mixing and mastering from Julius Mauranen and Virtalähde Mastering respectively. Having previously released music under her own name, Longing Louise represents an opportunity for her to do something different. Hotti describes the fact that the music is inspired by the Japanese idiom, ‘mono no aware’, which reflects an empathy towards things, particularly the transient and ephemeral. This brings a sense of awareness, presence, and sadness to the music of Longing Louise. It reminds me of the concept of feeling nostalgia for a moment whilst it is still happening. It is both a beautiful and heartbreaking experience.
That feeling runs through Cabin Talk, its subtle melody content and restrained, in service of both the vocals and the atmosphere. It takes inspiration from the sea, and a trip on a cruise ship, as, Reetta describes:
‘A tiny cabin of a cruise ship, no windows, a steady hum coming from the motor and the waves crashing on the side of the ship; a conversation between me and you that left me feeling haunted.
‘This is a simple song, with softly pumping synths on each side and a wailing electric guitar. I wanted to keep this quite small and flowy. Actually, artistically speaking, this is a love song for Sufjan Stevens. He’s my favorite songwriter, and I thought a lot about him while writing and producing this track.’
Cabin Talk is taken from Longing Louisa’s forthcoming debut album, Waterphile, due on 7 November 2025. Describing the album’s inspiration, Hotti says:
‘For me, water is the most fascinating and intriguing element, and I’m always somehow drawn to it wherever I go. That’s how the term waterphile came to my mind. I also found out that in chemistry there actually is a term hydrophile, which implies “a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water” (Wikipedia). Water, of course, serves also as a symbol – of what, I won’t explicate here. This album for me is kinda like the Mermaid’s tale in reverse. It’s dedicated to all you other waterphiles out there.’
Check out Cabin Talk below, and look out for Waterphile next month.