It won’t take long to tune into the musical sentiments of
Anna Laube, or to be more precise exactly the 31 minutes running time of her
self-titled third album. While not being a vast investment of your valuable time,
the rewards are extensive, as a seductive and homely songwriter unravels
between your ears with a careful selection of tunes primed in a feast of
fundamental folk and lustful Americana. If background information is an
integral part of your musical appreciation, the wanderlust status of Anna is
clearly stamped all over this record, although her feet appear to be more
settled now. What we are left with is a scrumptious album full of songs, one to
ten, leaving no stone unturned in that search for integrity-intact appeal.
Not averse to seeking a little influence and historical
direction, Anna has bravely included a cover of the ever popular standard ‘Satisfied Mind’, but her sweet vocals
deliver a pleasing contemporary version, standing as a flag bearer for her own
compositions to follow. While on the topic of re-working the classics, the riff
of ‘The Bike Song’ is a clear take on
Woody Guthrie’s ‘The Car Song’, but
if you are going to model yourself as the perpetual travelling troubadour then
why not let the master’s work seep into your own.
Ten songs, including a cover and a re-work, leave little
room for any slack and it is a pleasure to report that the other eight songs of
Anna’s are devoid of any filler status. Challenging for that important top spot
if your inclination is such, are a couple of tunes blessed with similarly enchanting
melodies. The cool, ambling folk of album opener ‘Already There’ drifts across you like that welcome summer breeze
and has all the structural appeal of a Slaid Cleaves number suggesting that
Anna is a widely listening artist eager to inform her own songs with snippets
of the best. ‘Sweet Boy Minnesota’ is
a whimsically nostalgic tune which lodges firmly in your mind bank alongside
those important moments in life. The musical interludes support this memorable
tune that has the potential to extend into those dreaded playlists as defined
by folks who live and die by the complete album.
Anna’s album is not short on variety as well with her
laudable stab at the blues lacing the penultimate track ‘You Ain’t Worth My Time Anymore’. In contrast, a piano-led jazz
feel launches the thoughtful and breezy number ‘Sugarcane’ which takes a scornful stance on one of the more hidden
drugs of modern life and is an arrangement of the original song ‘Cocaine Blues’. A casual carefree beat
accompanies this fine song with a touch of brass and fleeting fiddle adding to
the sound package. ‘This One’s for You’
is the closest Anna gets to frequenting country territory with a hint of twang
adding atmosphere to a beautiful ballad showcasing her versatility to scan the
American style songbook.
Earlier in the album, Anna takes a slightly quirky direction
in the vibes emanating from the song ‘Chocolate
Chip Banana Cupcakes’ which while on the surface acts as the antithesis of ‘Sugarcane’ ultimately dismisses the saccharine
consumption for real love. What Anna has done on this album is to crack the
code of the perfect sub-three minute song with the final two tracks under
consideration, namely the spritely ‘Oh My
(Oh Me! Oh Me Oh My) and the peaceful album closer, ‘Green’ adorned with faint organ, meeting this criteria.
Lucinda Williams self-titled her third album and while this
is not putting too much pressure on Anna Laube, the result of her fruits makes
this record a neat fit in your record collection. Anna fully understands how to
ultimately make a great concise American roots sounding record and it’s a thoroughly
enjoyable listen.