LAURA VEIRS • JULY FLAME

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Though the title evokes summertime heat, Laura Veirs’ seventh album would be another good one for the cold winter months by the fire. Heartfelt yet ethereal, Veirs’ vocals soar over sometimes sparse acoustic arrangements into a full rock band including horns. Either way, her songs are instantly engaging with the same power as Neko Case, the bare intimacy of Cat Power and some of the mystery of Lisa Germano. The stripped down opener “I Can See Your Tracks” of which she decries “...I won’t follow them / I’ll just hope for rain / Or some crazy wind / To erase them” leads into other dreamy folk or country- tinged numbers with little more accompaniment than guitar,occasional banjo, violin, piano, and echoing voices. The strongest there is “Silo Song” in which she asks, “am I going up in smoke?” to a churning melody amongst references to Venus De Milo. Not until “Summer Is The Champion” does the full band start, yet with the tightness of the other arrangements, this does not seem out ofplace. In fact, the whole album flows like a well-crafted story in which nothing is wasted or wanted. Hopefully, just like these reviews.

8

I really hope that the slower bagboys at Krogers don't get paid as much as the others

RED ON RED
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