[New Release] LAURA VEIRS

Coming off an exceptional album and tour with k.d. lang and Neko Case in 2016, Laura Veirs spent months and months writing and re-writing dozens of songs in her Portland, Oregon, studio. The hard work has paid off, and it sounds so good and natural that you won’t notice all the perspiration bonding with the inspiration to become “The Lookout,” her 10th solo record.

Veirs makes little revelations here and there about her own life and circumstances, or about who was in her thoughts for a particular tune. But instead of screaming out the headlines, she kneads the hints into the songs.

The title track, for example, is about her husband/producer/drummer Tucker Martine while “Heavy Petals” is a tribute to David Bowie, where “sunlight unserious” contrasts with his own “serious moonlight” phrase. The excellent musicianship, with guests like Sufjan Stevens and Jim James, expands the guitar/piano foundations to ideal degrees of sound, just as Veirs’ details of scandal-free intimacy result in an album that’s exhaustively gratifying.

AP