I last gushed about Laura Stevenson quite some time ago on here regarding her 2019 album The Big Freeze, which represented a mellowing out of her previous punk-adjacent work. It was a quietly...
I last gushed about Laura Stevenson quite some time ago on here regarding her 2019 album The Big Freeze, which represented a mellowing out of her previous punk-adjacent work. It was a quietly devastating album, and it (plus the sister single The Mystic and the Master b/w Maker of Things) ended up as one of my favorite albums of all time. (Shout out to Hawks / Big Deep and especiallyLow Slow!)
Her 2021 self-titled album was enjoyable (especially single State and deep cut Wretch), but the highs weren't quite as high as The Big Freeze for me? It was in part because The Big Freeze was a heavy, touching, album, while her self-titled was a little brighter on some songs due to welcoming her daughter to the world.
Stevenson recorded Late Great with veteran indie rock producer John Agnello at his converted church in Marlboro, New York. In a press release, Stevenson says that the album chronicles a number of big life changes, including a painful breakup: “It’s a document of loss for sure, but it also draws the map of this exciting precipice that I’m standing on. I am making my own life now. With the record, with everything, this is the first time I get to call all the shots.”
I'm deeply excited about this, and it's instantly become my most anticipated album of the year by far.
cc: @kfwyre! You're the first person I thought of to gush to since you took so darn well to The Big Freeze. :3
vivarium! Great to see you again! Hope you’re doing well. Thanks for thinking of me, and thank you again for introducing me to The Big Freeze. It’s genuinely one of my favorite albums of all time...
vivarium! Great to see you again! Hope you’re doing well.
Thanks for thinking of me, and thank you again for introducing me to The Big Freeze. It’s genuinely one of my favorite albums of all time now. I still listen to it, and my fondness for it hasn’t faded. She really struck gold with it. The live performance of “Hawks / Big Deep” that you linked still gives me chills. It’s this incredible mix of richness, resonance, and simplicity. Simply wonderful. (And the fact that it has <2k views is CRIMINAL)
I agree with you that her next album was good, but it lacked… something? I can’t put my finger on it, but it didn’t knock me on my ass (in a good way) like The Big Freeze did. I do absolutely adore “Moving Cars” though, in part because I think it would fit in well on The Big Freeze.
Also, until now I had no idea she had a new album coming out, so you’ve given me something new to look forward to (which is sorely needed these days).
This single is excellent. Her voice sounds better than it ever has, I think. She still has that eminently listenable, distinctive timbre and breathiness, but it comes across a bit older and more developed than her previous songs. She also uses dynamic range to great effect, nearly whispering early in the song but also outright wailing towards the end.
I’m on my fifth listen of it right now. The buildup and release in the song is impeccable. Starts off light, gains motion and momentum, cuts back a bit (the middle portion sounds like she’s singing over an Explosions in the Sky-style post-rock track) then just builds and builds and adds layers and layers until it’s just one big cathartic release. So satisfying. She’s brilliant.
I last gushed about Laura Stevenson quite some time ago on here regarding her 2019 album The Big Freeze, which represented a mellowing out of her previous punk-adjacent work. It was a quietly devastating album, and it (plus the sister single The Mystic and the Master b/w Maker of Things) ended up as one of my favorite albums of all time. (Shout out to Hawks / Big Deep and especially Low Slow!)
Her 2021 self-titled album was enjoyable (especially single State and deep cut Wretch), but the highs weren't quite as high as The Big Freeze for me? It was in part because The Big Freeze was a heavy, touching, album, while her self-titled was a little brighter on some songs due to welcoming her daughter to the world.
But back to Honey, the lead single from her upcoming album Late Great. It looks like this might be a bit of a return to the heavier side of her songwriting:
I'm deeply excited about this, and it's instantly become my most anticipated album of the year by far.
vivarium! Great to see you again! Hope you’re doing well.
Thanks for thinking of me, and thank you again for introducing me to The Big Freeze. It’s genuinely one of my favorite albums of all time now. I still listen to it, and my fondness for it hasn’t faded. She really struck gold with it. The live performance of “Hawks / Big Deep” that you linked still gives me chills. It’s this incredible mix of richness, resonance, and simplicity. Simply wonderful. (And the fact that it has <2k views is CRIMINAL)
I agree with you that her next album was good, but it lacked… something? I can’t put my finger on it, but it didn’t knock me on my ass (in a good way) like The Big Freeze did. I do absolutely adore “Moving Cars” though, in part because I think it would fit in well on The Big Freeze.
Also, until now I had no idea she had a new album coming out, so you’ve given me something new to look forward to (which is sorely needed these days).
This single is excellent. Her voice sounds better than it ever has, I think. She still has that eminently listenable, distinctive timbre and breathiness, but it comes across a bit older and more developed than her previous songs. She also uses dynamic range to great effect, nearly whispering early in the song but also outright wailing towards the end.
I’m on my fifth listen of it right now. The buildup and release in the song is impeccable. Starts off light, gains motion and momentum, cuts back a bit (the middle portion sounds like she’s singing over an Explosions in the Sky-style post-rock track) then just builds and builds and adds layers and layers until it’s just one big cathartic release. So satisfying. She’s brilliant.
Oh, what's up vivarium? Long time no see! I hope everything is going well with you. :)