Laura Veirs
A review of Laura Veirs' album 'Saltbreakers'
Review
Snapshot:
Laura Veirs shows why she is in the company of Emmylou Harris and Steve Reich on
her latest album for Nonesuch.
The Cluas Verdict: 8 out of 10.
Full Review:
I first heard about Laura Veirs when I attended the Kilkenny Rhythm and
Roots Festival in 2004. At the time she was touring to support the release of
her debut for marquee record label Nonesuch, the icily titled and highly
acclaimed 'Carbon Glacier'. The word of mouth at Kilkenny was that she was a
very talented songwriter but that her gig there had not been a great success,
given that it was held in a busy pub during the afternoon. As a result, I
overlooked her and that, my friends, was a mistake
'Saltbreakers', her third album for Nonesuch is a lovely record, and I don't
mean that in the Father Ted sense. From the opening track 'Pink Light' where she
confesses that, "With my swords out flying / Tattering my own sails / And I
tattered yours too" to the album closer 'Wrecking' where she promises that,
"We can do some wrecking here / Till a little colour / Comes into your face",
the record chronicles three interlinked strands in her life. Firstly, the end of
one long term relationship and the beginning of another, unanticipated one.
Secondly, her move from urban Seattle to rural Portland. Thirdly, her continuing
fascination with the natural world.
This third aspect is, for me, the most interesting intellectual
aspect of her work because, in constantly using allusions and references to
nature in her work, Veirs is in the tradition of Bucolic poetry that began with
the Greek Poet Theocritus and carried on most famously by Virgil in the
Eclogues. In a way, it's not surprising that nature plays such a strong part in
her music as originally Veirs trained as a geologist whilst at College in
Minnesota and the titles of her last three albums, 'Carbon Glacier', 'Year of
Meteors' and 'Saltbreakers' itself all have a geological bent. In fact, the salt
mineral is the key linking theme in the imagery of this record; the salt in
tears, the salt in the ocean and the salt in sweat.
Veirs has long been placed within in the category of Americana or alt-country
and this is again alluded to on 'To The Country' which was recorded in the
studio at Johnny and June Carter Cash's cabin in
Hendersonville, Tennessee but I would see her within the wider definition of
Modernist American music which encapsulates Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Suzanne
Vega, Laurie Anderson, Terry Riley and Richard Wagner. Here is an artist working
with a primary interest on text and rhythm and focusing on both the macro and
micro aspects of their inner and outer lives, placing themselves and their
emotions within the wider context of the world around them.
Laura Veirs is a very fine artist; don't let her work pass you by.
To buy a
new or (very reasonably priced) 2nd hand copy of this album on Amazon just click
here.
