ALBUM REVIEW: Laura Veirs Looks Forward on ‘Found Light’

Laura Veirs’ new album, Found Light, shows the Oregon-based singer-songwriter drawing musically from the folk, pop, and rock stylistics of her previous work. Lyrically, she reflects on her personality and default patterns, embracing newfound freedom while acknowledging the loneliness that perhaps inevitably accompanies the authentic life.

Photo by Shelby Brakken

“Ring Song” finds Veirs revisiting her folk roots while mining tones and textures applied throughout 2016’s case/lang/veirs, a collaboration with Neko Case and k.d. lang. “I pawned my wedding ring / at the Silver Lining I felt sad / I also felt a weight go flying,” she sings, recalling her personal and artistic split from Tucker Martine, a pivotal process navigated more fully on 2020’s My Echo. Veirs’ ever-crystalline voice is complemented by an ambiently discordant piano part and an acoustic guitar splashed with reverb and chorus.

“Seaside Haiku” is built on an irresistible beat and lightly distorted guitars filtered through a phaser. “Give but don’t give too much / of yourself away,” she advises, stressing the need to balance generosity with healthy boundaries. “Naked Hymn” is a wistfully upbeat song that benefits from Charlotte Greve’s alto sax. On “Signal,” Veirs’ shimmering melody is draped over grounding percussion and ethereal synths courtesy of Shahzad Ismaily, who along with Veirs co-produced Found Light.

“Time Will Show You” is a sultrily rhythmic piece, Veirs offering impeccably layered vocals. Lyrically, the piece addresses how we’re torn between the past and present, on one hand a product of our prior conditioning, on the other hand able to make choices from what Zen would call a space of emptiness. The final minute-plus of the track is a dynamic instrumental segment, featuring, among other musicians, Sam Amidon on fiddle and banjo and Karl Blau on sax.

On “T & O,” Veirs addresses an old partner or a new romantic possibility that didn’t come to fruition. Perhaps, too, she addresses a part of herself that she is releasing as she explores new identities and embraces new direction. Closing song “Winter Windows,” bolstered by a rock-oriented mix of busy drums and crunchy guitars, is perhaps the album’s most hooky track. “The lighting I can do,” Veirs repeats, alluding to the importance of accessing equanimity and practicing resilience in the face of disappointment.

With My Echo, Veirs demonstrated how the loss of a long-term relationship can affect every aspect of one’s life. With Found Light, however, she has experienced a degree of healing and is prepared to reengage with the world. Then again, grief often seems cumulative; with each loss, we mourn the losses that came before it, at the same time learning, as Ram Dass would say, to “be here now.” With Found Light, Veirs acknowledges the impact of the past while fixing her sights on the present.

Found Light is out July 8 via Raven Marching Band Records.