laura veirs was my january

I didn't expect to find an album to clutch to my chest so early in the year. However. I also really enjoy being proven wrong.

Laura Veirs is no rookie to putting out an album. The Portland based singer/songwriter had sent out six albums before July Flame burst into hypnotic, shimmering life.

Her piano and string-centric (with some lovely synth thrown in appropriately) stories make me feel like I'm coasting serenely down a tree lined path, or sliding my bare feet very carefully across morning grass. There's a solitude to this music. The tracks seem to betray the summery name of the album until I listened closely and felt the wood smoke, the fireflies, and the setting of the summer sun. It's not "whooo"ing with your friends in the car music. It's a different side of a summer day. Somewhat reminiscent of:

Orange Sky- Alexi Murdoch


It's wide eyed and unwavering in its ambient folk wandering. It's nostalgic in its love laden imagery, but in such an honestly disarming way even the most stoic of hearts could shift a little to let this stuff in.

Don't Lose Yourself- Laura Veirs

Make Something Good- Laura Veirs (feat. Jim James)

Enjoy the darkness that Jim James' rumble infuses on Make Something Good.