Laura Veirs

Saltbreakers (Nonesuch)

By Jonathan Shipley
Published: April 16th, 2007 | 3:14pm

Laura Veirs is getting deep — deep as an ocean. She is writing more and more music that is intimate and worldly, and everyone can create their own stories, images, and thoughts based on Veirs' intensely personal lyrics.

Saltbreakers,

her third album on Nonesuch, continues her path toward that pantheon of singers who sing so openly they seem to be singing only to you — singers like Neko Case, Cat Power, Jolie Holland, and Lisa Germano. “Sorry I was cruel / I was protecting myself / Drifting along with my swords out flying / Tattering my own sails / Then I tattered yours too,” begins things. “Pink Light” sets the tone for the rest of the album, one that is immediate, honest, and rich with metaphor. Veirs — a Portland native by way of Seattle — and her bandmates, the Saltbreakers (their former moniker being the Tortured Souls) are not so tortured anymore in trying to create arresting music. They have succeeded, making songs layered in meaning and instrumentation (hand-clapping, strings, a call-and-response with the eight-voice Cedar Hill Choir). On one song, you’ll be tapping your feet to or tapping your fingers on the steering wheel as you head to work on a misty morning. Another wraps you like fog, cool yet comforting. “Wandering Kind” is a Decemberists-like tune that has a funky vibe with solid vocals, guitar, and drum work with intriguing synthesizers. “Cast a Hook” sounds like it’s open-mic night at your favorite coffee shop, and Veirs is singing, filling the space with vocal beauty, drowning out the sounds of latte-making. “Black Butterfly” is a small melancholic piano-laden number that grows more powerful with every simple chord. With references to A.S. Byatt, Herman Melville, and Jose Saramago, it’s a bibliophile’s dream album and, atop all that, she continues to push herself, not only through her songwriting but with the music behind her. It’ll be interesting to see how much further, and deeper, she’ll get in subsequent albums.