Laura Veirs' previous album Carbon Glacier was released at a time when the wave of mix-and-match Radio 2 friendly girls with guitars was particularly pervasive. And, given that Veirs and her music possessed personality and a quirky un-airbrushed charm, it ended up attracting the most drooling, superlative-laden reviews from all quarters.
Which is great. But the long-term consequence of this, perhaps slightly unjustified, reception is that as good as Veirs is - and she is good - she's never quite as good as you want her to be, as you'd heard she was. Carbon Glacier was, for all that, a distinctive, interesting album and its follow-up Year Of Meteors also has its strengths.
Galaxies is the first single to be taken from the latter and it sees Veirs sounding surprsiingly like Cat Power (albeit a little more upbeat), her sometimes nasal voice pleasantly breathy. It occasionally feels a little overproduced but her trademark nature-inspired lyrical imagery is still very much in evidence. A good introduction to an agreeably idiosyncratic artist.
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