The North-East of the UK is throwing out a bunch of great new music at the moment, and Laura Shaw is just another tasty sausage from that machine.
I always wonder how these little bubbles of creativity occur, and then I realise that in doing so, I’m actually trying to figure out humanity and life itself, which is the stupidest thing I could possibly dive into.
Easier to just enjoy the songs and hope that the answer will suddenly float into view. And Laura Shaw may not be as obtuse as many bands on ANBAD – but, as Jesus said, man cannot live on Bolivian Fidget House alone.
I wasn’t sure how to get a handle on Laura’s music initially, as it has all the hallmarks of Music Right Now; complex but simple, choppy but lush, lyrically accessible but angular.
And yet Blue Moon succeeds because of all this, not despite it: it’s a song that connects. This is all a song really needs to do, and Laura & co. do it very well. Honest, unpretentious, and very endearing.