Feb 2004

Seattle’s Laura Veirs’ has produced songs on ‘Carbon Glacier’ that conjure magical images of lovelorn characters and mystical situations. Her voice lilts comfortingly across sounds that seem to fall from the night-sky. Dark, rich and full of emotion, this is space-folk at its most touchingly magnificent.

Veirs has a startling knack for lyricism telling tales of girls playing with flowers and bar room pianists entertaining the crowds with a cinematic flare that creates a believable world that is constantly pleasurable to visit.

Veirs is destined to sit alongside Joni Mitchell, Beth Orton and Carole King in the coterie of great female singer-songwriters. She is a truly exceptional talent that deserves to be heard.

• Uncut (p.75) - Ranked #28 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "^T]hese songs of rebirth and natural wonder were as breathtaking as the wild vistas that inspired them."
  Dirty Linen (p.83) - "^A] sonic sensation, pieced together in evocative layers of guitar, vibraphone, trombone, banjo-uke, and other strange instruments."

CARBON GLACIER features 13 songs by singer and songwriter Laura Viers, including "Ether Sings," "Icebound Dream," and "Shadow Blues."

Alt-country singer-songwriter, Laura Veirs, started her career playing guitar in local punk bands while at college in rural Minnesota. She moved to Seattle in 1997 after completing college, where she began to explore her renewed passion for folk and country music. Two self-released albums, in 1999 and 2001 respectively, with songs that blended folk, blues, and bluegrass to hypnotic effect. The latter release, THE TRIUMPHS & TRAVAILS OF ORPHAN MAE, won great critical acclaim and led to a recording contract with the UK-based independent Bella Union. Veirs recorded her third album, TROUBLED BY THE FIRE, with help from celebrated guitarist Bill Frisell and her live touring band, the Tortured Souls. The album--and it's critically acclaimed follow up CARBON GLACIER--were more expansive than the earlier recordings, utilising strings, brass and Frisell's jazzy guitar licks to augment Veirs' enchanting nouveau folk melodies. In 2005 Veirs was snapped up by Warners for the album YEAR OF METEORS, and in 2007 she released her sixth album, the masterful SALTBREAKERS.