Le Ren: Leftovers (Secretly Canadian/bandcamp)

 |   |  <1 min read

Le Ren: Leftovers (Secretly Canadian/bandcamp)

Le Ren is Canadian singer-songwriter Lauren Spear whose elegant but assured vocals sit easily within soft folk-country with an ethereal lightness, even as she addresses loss and damaged love on this debut which cleverly undersells itself with the title.

Some have mentioned the late Karen Dalton with regard to her style but she has little of Dalton's resonant power although she possesses a not dissimilar emotional nakedness.

Her spare lyrics and the directness of her delivery are redolent of early, acoustic Neil Young and the McGarrigles, but there's a strong Anglo-folk element in her ballads (Your Cup) too.

Songs like the country-folk of Who's Gonna Hold Me Next? (with quiet pedal steel), Willow or the lovely May Hard Times Pass Us By could have come from the 19thcentury.

With mostly just acoustic guitar (a little multi-tracking of her vocals, very discreet support from others who never shift the focus from her), these songs have a constrained beauty and clarity that is rare.

And she brings the intimacy of a warm but empty folk club into your listening space.

A quite beautiful and understated 33 minutes.

.

You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here



Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Peter Case: Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (YepRoc Records)

Peter Case: Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (YepRoc Records)

Case used to be the mainman in the Plimsouls, a terrific and slightly ragged power pop band but he has enjoyed a long and diverse alt.country/alt.rock solo career -- as befits a man who was once... > Read more

Various: Beyond Bollywood (SDJ)

Various: Beyond Bollywood (SDJ)

The title here might suggest a compilation album that is taking you past the standard Bollywood soundtrack music, but it is actually misleading: it simply sweeps up another very common style, that... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

THE FAMOUS JAZZ ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Andrew Hall of Spiral

THE FAMOUS JAZZ ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Andrew Hall of Spiral

With influences from across the pop and rock spectrum within the context of their jazz, the large ensemble Spiral -- which had its origins on Auckland's West Coast -- present something rather... > Read more

GUEST MUSICIAN MAX HUDSON offers beginners some lessons in how to tune a guitar

GUEST MUSICIAN MAX HUDSON offers beginners some lessons in how to tune a guitar

One of the most important skills every guitarist has to learn is guitar tuning. It is necessary to tune the guitar almost every time you play, and trust me, you don’t want to give your axe to... > Read more