Fourteen Days
She played her first-ever gig in the bowels of a Nebraska penitentiary, and Laura Love's career has bordered on invitingly quirky and wildly diverse ever since. Now based in Seattle, Love remains invigorating and infectious on her Zoë Records debut, her sixth release. Her self-penned compositions twist and turn from folk to funk, from pop and blues, all mixed up with her own original blend of poetic rap. The result is a successful network of world-music rhythms, acoustic melodies, and Love's potent vocal delivery (thinkSuzanne Vegawith a double-shot of testosterone). There's a funked-up folk backing to "Sometimes Davey Wins," the album's most instantly familiar cut thanks to Love's traditional nursery-rhyming rants. And there are plenty more: the harmonica-driven "I Am Going to Miss You," a jazzy rendition ofLaura Nyro's "Stoned Soul Picnic," and the folk-rocker "Suddenly." And before it ends, the sedate ballad "Shenandoah" proves that Laura Love can be as gentle as she is gregarious.--Scott Holter--