Pacing is an anti-folk indie band with strong influences from indie pop. Starting out as the solo songwriting project of Katie McTigue, Pacing went on to tour as a trio when a vocalist-drummer and a guitarist joined the band. Honest, confessional lyrics stand at the heart of all of Pacing’s albums. This is especially noticeable on the album “Real Poetry is Always about Plants and Birds and Trees,” from this point I will abbreviate the album title to just “Real Poetry” for readability’s sake.
Primarily led by a twanging finger-picked guitar, “Real Poetry” explores heart-wrenching concepts steeped in the mundane. One stand out to me was the song “Live/Laugh/Love” which in very frank language explores the idea of not being cool. As in the song, being “the kind of person who buys pillows that say Live/Laugh/Love.” The idea of being aesthetically clumsy is expanded outwards into the idea of being an incomplete person with a shaky grasp on identity. Katie McTigue’s lilting and emotionally wrought voice carries these ideas to their fruition. While she is clearly capable of sustaining loud, beautiful and sustained notes she allows shakiness and voice cracks to work their way in and add to the emotional depth of the lyrics. The delivery makes you feel like a friend having a conversation rather than a passive or unemotional listener.
Pacing adds to the folk inspiration that makes it why the label that is used is anti-folk. Electronic voice manipulation on some songs along with added in layers of the singer singing alongside herself set the album apart. Pacing brings an honest and innovative style to the indie folk that it is often associated with.