Welcome back! Today I am feeling full of energy, likely because I’m about to enjoy a four day weekend. Yeehaw! To get things started, let’s start with some music!
Disc 1520 is…. The Big Freeze
Artist: Laura Stevenson
Year of Release: 2019
What’s up with the Cover? Giant Head Cover alert! This one features a fur cap, so we must assume that either the picture was taken in a very cold studio, or Laura Stevenson’s head was very warm.
How I Came To Know It: I liked her 2021 self-titled release and decided a dig into her back catalogue was in order. This was as far as I’ve gotten, but I am still on the hunt for two earlier records.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Laura Stevenson albums and if you’ve been reading along, you already know which two. I bought them both at the same time, and I haven’t given the more recent record as much of a listen, but I vaguely recall liking this one better. On that flimsy evidence, I’m putting “The Big Freeze” in at #1. All of this could change when I either a) review my other record or b) get even more. For now, #1.
Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4
“The Big Freeze” is not an easy record to get to know, the lyrics are dense and the songs have complex structures that do not inspire toe-tapping or sing-a-longs around the campfire. However, once you put in the time (I recommend a minimum of three listens) Laura Stevenson’s singular brand of genius will reveal itself to you.
Like a lot of modern indie artists, Stevenson’s style is hard to pigeonhole. It has elements of many styles and will flip from a thick rock mix to a sparse folk sound from song to song; sometimes within a single tune.
It can also take on an anthemic quality, as it does on one of the standouts, “Living Room NY” which is a song about the breathless joy we get just anticipating we’ll be with the one we love soon. “Living Room NY” also shows how deliberately restless Stevenson’s music is. It starts with a light guitar trill that makes you feel like you are trying to rush to get somewhere but stuck in traffic, which then gets intimate and quiet, before swelling into that aforementioned anthem to close things out. My favourite line is “I want to fall asleep with you shifting by my side”. You know you love someone when you don’t mind them shifting around while you’re trying to sleep.
It also mirrors the shifting style of the tune, where Stevenson demonstrates that she is equally adept at frenetic anxiety numbers and quiet confessionals. Style is never a barrier.
All of the songs have thoughtful lyrics, and I found myself flipping through the CD booklet unable to pick a single favourite from such a great selection. In the end, I settled on two. First these opening lines of “Hum”:
“Cease all your wandering set down your wine
I’ll be the burden you stumble upon
So draw back the curtains on stolen time
You are only the burden you set in your mind.”
And second, these ending lines from “Hawks”:
“Can we go back to the minute we circled to land
Ebbing graceful and careful like terns in the sand
When the thought of an ending was too much to stand
Remind me when my mind it starts to go.”
It is inspiring stuff, and reminded me of my wife Sheila’s poetry, in that it is emotional, flows like water, and makes me wish I could write poetry half as well. Both “Hum” and “Hawks” also benefit from being quieter songs that make it easy to focus on the joy of all those wonderful words.
Unfortunately, two things stand in the way of the record’s greatness. The first is Stevenson’s delivery, which when she plays it straight, is full of hurt and anxious wonder. Unfortunately, she sometimes adds a bit too much affectation in the delivery, like she begrudges the greatness of the language and wants the listener to have to pay even closer attention to follow along.
The second is the production not entirely to my liking. I can pick out individual brilliance on the musicians, but not as crisply as I tend to prefer. Like the lyrics, I have to dig to hear it. While it is usually worth it, it is also work.
However, while some of the choices in delivery aren’t exactly the way I want them, the bones of these songs are strong and on each listen they will draw you deeper inside them. I recommend Laura Stevenson, but only if you’re willing to give her some quiet space and a couple of listens to let her work her magic.
Best tracks: Living Room NY, Hum, Rattle at Will, Hawks, Big Deep, Perfect
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