LAURA LORIGA - Vever

The fascinating trajectory of Laura Loriga has probably reached its zenith.

"Vever" is the title of the new effort by the Bologna-born singer-songwriter and composer, who has long since relocated between Los Angeles and New York.

"Vever" is a decidedly complex avant-folk work, steered with great class by the artist through various, mutually antithetical keys. The modulated frequencies of her voice act as an evocative guide, piloting a continuous flow of musical stratagems, at times obscure.

Her formative experience with Mimes Of Wine had already highlighted a certain stylistic shift in Loriga, who over the course of three albums released between 2009 and 2016 had gradually moved her approach toward more confidential territory, ever further from the classic song form. A personal quest not only in content but also in sound, which from the initial core relationship of voice and piano registered an instrumental enrichment involving strings, horns, organ (the true protagonist of these nine tracks), moving on to the use of drones, synthesizers, mellotron, harmonium and unusual stringed instruments.

Channeling influences drawn from Low, Circuit des Yeux, Sibylle Baier, as well as Jenny Hval, and from the indie-pop approach of Fiona Apple, Laura crafts shifting soundscapes, whose lyrics are often drawn from experiences and people close to her. In a sense, "Vever" can be called an intimate record, but, as the artist herself has made clear, the constant sharing of her ideas with a host of top-tier musicians such as Otto Hauser, Ran Livneh, Josh Werner, Anni Rossi and Stefano Michelotti, joined by the featured contributions of further professionals such as Enrico Pasini, Jaye Bartell, Janis Brenner, Gareth Dickson and Ofir Ganon, pushed her toward continually revising her initial ideas, steering the record into territory that was originally unplanned.

The opening trio is as explanatory as it gets: tracks like the mystical, incisive "Door Ajar", the opener "Mimi" — a perfect blend of Loriga's gorgeous voice and the power of the arrangements — and the pronounced sensuality of "Balmaha" open the way into polished, ancestral worlds that seem to travel in symbiosis with sharper, more contemporary sensations.

In this gripping dialogue, the relationship between organ and voice stands out forcefully, and while it remains within a broadly elegant framework, it claims the same degree of intensity offered by Anna von Hausswolff.

The epic quality gathered in "Citizens" delivers à-la Florence Welch flourishes, a cornucopia of pure class, embellished by Enrico Pasini's trumpet and torn apart by acoustic inlays as paradoxical as they are effective. On the single "August Bells", the ever-present organ is set against the guitar's melodic lines, with the addition of psychedelic fragrances that keep expanding an already crowded catalogue. There's room for melody on "Black Rose", a place of feigned delicacy where the composer draws close to the aching hallmarks of the great Beth Gibbons.

Unsettling and expressive, Laura Loriga's music is a layered mosaic of sound that arouses surprising interest for its depth and the care behind its intentions. "Vever" is a work that makes experimentation and exploration its banner, rising above sterile genre classifications. A structural darkness that in no way undermines the immediate appeal of these phrasings, and one that projects the ambitious singer-songwriter into the pantheon of this year's most fascinating surprises.

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24/06/2022