Kicking things off with its title track, La Grande is curiously both delicate but strong at the same time; her light, home-recorded vocals work brilliantly against a wealth of different instruments, from piano to violin and clarinet via acoustic guitars and a powerful organ. There’s a level of fragility to her voice that adds a sense of almost foreboding at times.
‘Skin Warming Skin’ is definitely a sensuous and intimate highlight. It’s a shame, then, that it’s followed by the slightly jarring ‘The Rushing Dark’. The latter is by no means a bad song; it just feels like it could have been placed elsewhere on the record.
Towards the end of the album, the catchy tambourine jangles in ‘The Fire’ serve as an apt intro to the rousing track. Stomping percussion playfully intertwines with Gibson’s characteristic vocals, creating a wonderful song that makes it hard to decide which half of the album is stronger.
Laura Gibson’s newest album closes on the slow, quietly sombre ‘Feather Lungs’. The amount of variety in the sounds of Gibson sets her apart from other female singer-songwriters, yet there’s a pervading theme throughout the album. Taking its name from a small town in Oregon, the record doesn’t shy away from its geographical influences, with an almost ‘vintage’ sound permeating La Grande.
As a whole, La Grande, with its country-tinged folk sounds, is a delicate, genuinely lovely thing that washes over you with its soft soundscape. If this album is anything to go by, 2012 is off to a glorious start musically.
7/10
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