January is a slow month for music. Many artists schedule their big releases for the festive season to capitalise on liberal spending patterns. It follows that it’s not necessarily the soundest of business ideas to release an album just weeks after large parts of the world have collectively maxed out their credit cards.
On the bright side, it is in times like these you can come across hidden gems you would’ve perhaps overlooked had the big guns hit us with early releases. Portland singer/songwriter Laura Gibson falls into this category. Having previously only heard her rendition of ‘Edelweiss’ for an indie compilation record, I decided to check out her latest offering La Grande. I won’t say I was blown away, as this burly term fails to adequately capture the muted brilliance of La Grande. It was more like a gentle, unexpected but very welcome breeze on a scorching July day.
Gibson’s slightly jerky but soothing, almost whispered vocals are showcased best on ‘Red Moon’, while lyrically she shines on ‘Crow/Swallow’. The album highlight comes in the form of ‘Feather Lungs’, a track which starts out channelling a ’50s American Blues feel, only to quickly settle into what can be described as the musical equivalent of a hug and a cup of tea after an exhausting day.
It’s not all calm though. ‘Milk-Heavy’ and ‘Pollen-Eyed’ kick off the album with pounding drums and twangy guitars, and wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack to an old-school detective film. ‘Time Is Now’ cleverly combines an almost dream-like verse with an upbeat chorus, while ‘The Fire’ is simply pure folk fun.
In La Grande Gibson has created a small piece of folky, indie-pop magic to warm up the winter months. Luckily it hasn’t been buried under an avalanche of January releases.