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Feb 03, 2012 Laura Gibson By John Everhart

A departure from the hushed bedroom delicacy of 2009’s Beasts of Seasons, La Grande ushers in a new direction for Portland, OR-based songwriter Laura Gibson. The near-flamenco surge of the title track, the tasteful orchestral flourishes of “Skin, Warming Skin,” and especially the sublime “The Rushing Dark,” which approximates the rough-hewn scratchy warmth and warble of a Billie Holiday 78, are superb exemplifications of this.

Like Jolie Holland, an equally vibrant modern singer/songwriter who mines a similarly antiquated stylistic territory, Gibson never sounds like a cheap nostalgia act. Her songwriting’s too uncompromising, complex, and sophisticated to ever become dull or staid, and La Grande’s subtle sonic shifts augur even more exciting directions to come. (www.lauragibsonmusic.com)

Author rating: 6/10