I'm getting worn out by singer-songwriters. There are too many of them, but I realize that there are audiences out there who dig that kind of thing. And I guess I came to that conclusion when I reviewed the latest Kevin Morby last week. It's a fine record, but so much of it feels like Morby's trying on an "earnest" persona and not just being honest himself. That is not something I felt when I played My Echo, the new one from Laura Veirs. Out tomorrow via Bella Union, the album is as direct and frank as I'd ever want from a singer-songwriter. And it's likely the best thing Veirs has released to date. And that's saying something.
The product of the waning days of Laura's marriage, the album is surprisingly tuneful. "Another Space and Time" is bright and effervescent, despite the lyrical concerns, while "Burn Too Bright" finds Veirs cooing with herself, her vocals echoing and bouncing around each other, even as the melody threatens to lift off. Elsewhere, "All the Things" is simple folk, while the stark "End Times", a piano ballad, is bitterfly funny and stark. This one, and a few others here, reveal just how adept Laura is at putting forth a form of indie-rock that's as simple as possible and still fairly, quietly complex.
Laura Veirs, among many singer-songwriters in 2020, does this all without making it sound too morose. Her art is in how elegantly melodic her compositions can be, and how insightful her words are as they ring around the quiet spaces within the songs. There's a confidence here, even if the material sings of dissolution, and the touch of Veirs is an assured one, her voice as light as a feather in the breeze, with arrangements that soothe even as the words linger in the mind.
My Echo is out tomorrow via Bella Union.
More details on Laura Veirs via the official website, or the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Shelby Brakken]