Wheel

About

After many years of decidedly lo-fi recordings, the Long Island songstress Laura Stevenson hired a few big guns to ensure the songs on 2013's <i>Wheel</i> got the arrangements they deserve. GRAMMY®-winning violinist Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Antony & The Johnsons) scored the strings. Kelly Pratt (Beirut, Arcade Fire) handled the brass accompaniment, and Kevin McMahon (Swans, Titus Andronicus) held these sprawling ambitions in check as producer. Stevenson pokes out on her lonesome for the opening minute of "The Hole" before the country string-band brigade breaks through and turns things festive. The six-minute "L-Dopa" is the album's centerpiece, its orchestral touches rising and receding to reveal Stevenson's gorgeous harmonies and bone-chilling lyrics until the final tone flatlines into the title track. Touches of country music and bluegrass can be heard in the arrangements, but the songs are so melodically adventurous that chaining "The Move" to a single genre would be unfair and reductive. Stevenson's spirit rises above any physical limitations.

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →