Laura Veirs - Warp and Weft - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

A prolific songwriter for over 20 years now, Laura Veirs proves the depth of her musical skill on her tenth solo album, The Lookout. Here is a batch of inimitable, churning, exquisite folk-pop songs; a conceptual album about the fragility of precious things. Produced by Grammy-nominated Tucker Martine, Veirs' longtime collaborator, The Lookout is a soundtrack for turbulent times, full of allusions to protectors the camper stoking a watch fire, a mother tending her children, a sailor in a crows nest and a lightning rod channeling energy. The Lookout draws on the talents of a time-tested crew of musicians Karl Blau, Steve Moore, Eli Moore, Eyvind Kang and Martine. Says Veirs, InchThese guys are a good hang, ego-free and wonderful players who just want to serve the songs.Inch Sufjan Stevens and Jim James provide guest vocals. For Martine, who fell, almost two decades ago, for Veirs' unique sound after listening to a tape cassette she'd sent him in the mail, this album reflects a bar that keeps getting raised. Both familiar and strange, The Lookout gets better with repeated listens, warming to the skin like a cherished saddlebag, critical for the journey ahead.

With organic imagery and a sense of open-eyed, open-hearted wonder, Veirs songs seem to hover between the sea and the stars taking inspiration from each. Though To the Country is the undisputed highlight here, featuring a luminous call-and-response with the Cedar Hill Choir and guest guitar from Bill Frisell, Veirs extends her range from the soul groove of the title track to the propulsive rock of Phantom Mountain. Produced by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Built To Spill), Saltbreakers is by turns haunting, playful, tender, and fierce, embracing everything from machine-driven beats to angelic gospel choirs to fuzzed-out guitars.1. Pink Light2. Ocean Night Song3. Don't Lose Yourself4. Drink Deep5. Wandering Kind6. Nightingale7. Saltbreakers8. To the Country9. Cast a Hook in Me10. Phantom Mountain11. Black Butterfly12. Wrecking

On Year Of Meteors, familiar surroundings come into sharper focus as the lyrical themes of the sky and outer space now seem mysterious, magical and new. Veirs lyrical allusions to the natural world are disarmingly dreamlike yet scientifically precise. Using synergistic elements of contemporary folk, Americana, alternative rock and laptop style electronics, she creates an amalgam that remains her own. There's an elegantly sad quality, a jagged yearning, forcing you to be silent witness to this exquisite, seductive pain. With soft electronic rhythms and tape loops bubbling underneath, her impassive voice lays out rich melodies that build and explode around standout tracks like Galaxies and Parisian Dreams.1. Fire Snakes2. Galaxies3. Secret Someones4. Magnetized5. Parisian Dream6. Rialto7. Through the Glow8. Cool Water9. Spelunking10. Black Gold Blues11. Where Gravity Is Dead12. Lake Swimming13. Magnetized Phone Call