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DVDfever.co.uk – Laura Veirs: July Flame CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Bella Union Records
- Released: January 2010
- Rating: 8/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Late developer… comes of age.
Geeky-looking Laura Veirs has many music fans in the music business, apparently garnering a cult following which hasnt crossed over to the mainstream.
Now on her seventh album, July Flame may go some way in addressing that problem, though, in terms of the UK, it might prove a much tougher call, despite the potential radio-friendliness of the tunes. In truth its in the hands of the gods, or some alert programme producer cum playlist compiler. What she really needs is an UK plugger. Though a product of the 21st century singer-songwriter scene, 36-year-old Veirs, from Portland Oregon, has an air of late 50s Joan Baez, certainly from the opening song I Can See Your Tracks.Admittedly, she doesnt have Baezs cultured tubes; nevertheless she has the chops for delivering country-tinged soft-toned modern Americana, many of which have a melancholic hue.
After a few listens, Ive determined that this album could have been cropped to maximise the effect, because there are some definite fillers here such as Sleeper In The Valley, Wide Eyed, Legless, and Carol Kaye.Majority of the songs are extremely well crafted with excellent use of subtle instrumentation. Nothing is over-baked in terms of production / presentation values. Theres a genuine authenticity and engagement coming across here, unlike many of the young pretenders knocking about the burgeoning Americana slipstream.
July Flame is full of lovely melodies and harmonies (songs about the natural world – birds, snakes, eels, the sun and wind) which suck you in, but here and there, there are examples of dragging things out a bit, like the title track.Country-kissed Sun King is a delightful and lazy jaunt dressed by subliminal and effortless pedal steel solos which envelop the on-going gentle strums, reminding me of Cerys Matthews Cockahoop album, and strangely enough, she sounds just like Cerys.
Keeping the country faith, a banjo opens the stripped-back Where Are You Driving?, until it develops, aided by strings, but its kept in check to allow the voice to do the work.A similar mood prevails on Life Is Good Blues, which is at odds with the tempting album title.
Theres no fire going on here, because July Flame is actually a peach, and appropriately, the songs are little peaches that have a unique private quality, as if youre listening-in on some private little show, similar to Bon Ivers For Emma, Forever Ago. This is even more the case on Little Deschutes, where a haunting piano beds the track, again allowing Veirss beguiling voice to shimmer throughout this simple ballad, punctuated by edgy rough hewed guitar solos.
It takes some time for things to perk-up, and upbeat (no sweat mind) Summer Is Champion does the trick, breaking the slumbering mood, with nifty splashes of brass.You simply cant ignore her joy on the effusive When You Give Your Heart with her nylon acoustic oozing the pleasure of love as she dextrously delivers her cute picks.Saving the best til last can often work wonders, and thats what shes done with Make Something Good – a lush piano/string driven classic, duetting with My Morning Jackets Jim James.
The verdict: Very, very enjoyable.
Weblinks:lauraveirs.com /myspace.com/lauraveirs (music samples)
The full list of tracks included are :
1. I Can See Your Tracks
2. July Flame
3. Sun Is King
4. Where Are You Driving?
5. Life Is Good Blues
6. Silo Song
7. Little Deschutes
8. Summer Is The Champion
9. When You Give Your Heart
10. Sleeper In The ValleyView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.