Portland indie-folk mainstay Laura Veirs was Stereogum's very first Artist To Watch way back in 2004, when the designation did not necessitate an interview, just a couple MP3 downloads and a two-sentence endorsement: "Best indie folk album of the year. Recommended for fans of Mirah, Cat Power, Suzanne Vega." Veirs has made a whole lot of music since then, and her catalog is about to expand again. New album Temple Songs is coming in August, and its lead single "Flying Into Darkness" is out now.
Temple Songs is billed as the first album Veirs wrote, recorded, arranged, produced, and performed entirely on her own. "She plays guitars, bass, drums, tambourine, percussion, and sings vocals," a press release explains. "The only outside contribution is saxophone by a secret special guest." I am not hearing that sax on "Flying Into Darkness," but I do hear a lyrical reference to "'Once In A Lifetime' on repeat." She asks a lot of meaningful questions in this beautiful, minimal song, including "What are we doing? When can we rest?"
A word from Veirs:
This song comes from a feeling of being existentially unmoored in a dark, uncertain moment. I kept circling the same questions: how do I stay grounded? How do I feel like I’m doing some real good, nudging things–even slightly–in a better direction? At its core, the song wrestles with restlessness–how hard it is to find true rest when the world keeps us in a constant state of unease. There’s also a thread of "No Masters" running through it, which shows up across the album. I’m reaching for a world shaped more by freedom and love than by greed and fear, and all the ways those forces show up in daily life: hollow work, vast inequality, systems that feel too big to push against, and the steady backdrop of violence and conflict.
Watch the Veirs-made "Flying Into Darkness" video below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Arc Still Bends"
02 "Golden Seams"
03 "Pulse"
04 "Feeling Returns"
05 "Flying Into Darkness"
06 "Colors Sing"
07 "Out From Undercover"
08 "New Life Over There"
09 "No Masters"
10 "River’s Song"
11 "Sunlight And Doom"
Temple Songs is out 8/14 via Veirs' own Raven Marching Band Records. Pre-order it here.
