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Sep 28, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Laura Veirs

Laura Veirs is releasing a new album, My Echo, on October 23 via Raven Marching Band and Bella Union. Now she has shared another song from the album, “Another Space and Time,” via a video for it. The song imagines a better world without forest fires, global warming, or the internet. “In another space and time/California’s not burning/And the seas don’t rise,” Veirs sings. “I’ll meet you there and I/Will remember the day/That the internet died/We found peace of mind.” Twixx Williams directed the somewhat trippy video. Watch it below.

Veirs had this to say in a press release: “This is the first time I’ve danced in a music video. I loved dancing in it! It was choreographed by a Portland-based Brazilian dancer named Nelson Euflauzino (who also appears in the video). It was shot by an 18-year-old music video director named Twixx Williams. The dancers you see here are friends of mine (not professional dancers). We did all of the rehearsing and shooting socially-distanced and outside over the Covid summer of 2020. The outfits were made by a local stylist named Alethea Dalton (the dress I’m wearing is an old vintage dress owned by Alethea but she made the other dresses).

“I love the surrealistic elements that come into play in this video. In these lyrics I desire an escape from the way things are right now. In this ‘other space and time’ California’s NOT burning, people DO have peace of mind, the internet is DEAD (and people are present with each other in real life instead of living on screens). This song is a dream that we can and will live in a more peaceful, loving world—and a world with more personal freedoms, too. I love how these wishes are embodied in the movements of the dancers. We look free and happy because we were!”

Previously Veirs shared the album’s first single, “Burn Too Bright,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then she shared the album’s “Turquoise Walls,” via a video for it.

Veris’ last record The Lookout was released in April of 2018. Since then she has separated from her husband, producer Tucker Martine. According to her, My Echo tracks through this difficult time in her life. She does get some help though, with features from Jim James, Bill Frisell, Karl Blau, M. Ward, and many others.

Veirs previously released this press statement on My Echo:

“My Echo is my 11th solo album. It’s my ‘my songs knew I was getting divorced before I did’ album. My conscious mind was trying as hard as I could to keep my family together but my subconscious mind was working on the difficult struggles in my marital life. I was part of a ‘Secret Poetry Group’ that met and wrote poems monthly for a year during the writing of this record. Many of my poems turned into songs for this album. By the time the album was being mixed last fall, my ex-husband/producer Tucker Martine and I had decided to go our separate ways. We were a great musical team for many years but we struggled to be compatible in our marriage and family life and that struggle is reflected in this album.

“In this new batch of songs I imagine escaping from some sort of prison or cage. Advancing age, the confines of domesticity, our oppressive government and the threat of the apocalypse permeate these songs. In these songs my heart craves certainty and permanence but none is to be found. It’s an album about disintegration. It reveals my artist’s intuition at work.

“Although these songs were written before quarantine they are strangely relevant to times in which we find ourselves currently. You will find me staring at the walls (‘Turquoise Walls’). You will find me feeling grateful to be alive (‘Memaloose Island’). You will find me accepting the ephemeral nature of life (‘Vapor Trails’ and ‘All the Things’). You will find me searching for personal freedom while feeling trapped (‘Freedom Feeling’). You will find me trying to accept that sometimes the best thing to do is to sit still and do nothing at all (‘Another Space and Time’).

“I hope you enjoy these new songs.”

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