DAY 23 - UNDERRATED GEM
Laura Stevenson -
The Big Freeze
Decided to go with not only an underrated album, but an underrated artist in general. I discovered Laura Stevenson through her association with Jeff Rosenstock, and they're both artists who have had a major impact on my life and produced work that's been there when I needed it most. While Jeff has managed to make a name for himself, Laura still has yet to get the exposure she deserves. Her voice is one of my absolute favorites in music, hands down. The topics she writes about are often quite dark and deeply personal and she writes and performs with so much emotion. I'm rarely wowed by one person and a guitar, but the song "Nervous Rex" off of her debut album is just that and is a perfect showcase of what I love about her work. Her music is often more folk-influenced but she does shake it up fairly often with influences from other genres such as punk rock (she was a member of a band led by Jeff Rosenstock, after all). The album she put out before this one,
Cocksure, is probably my favorite of hers, because it showcases her amazing talents against a punk rock and power pop backdrop and the contrast makes for some of the most compelling songs she's put out in my opinion. It was also the first album of hers I listened to so in that sense it will always hold a special place in my heart.
The Big Freeze is her most recent album, released in March of last year, and is her most acoustic and intimate album yet, a hard left from
Cocksure. Because of this, it didn't hit with the immediacy of her other albums and it's slow burn vibe and darker tone threw me for a loop. However it's a grower and it has some of her best writing and vocals in her entire career. This album seemed to *finally* get her some serious buzz and more attention, and I really hope that she continues to gain momentum and is recognized as the fantastic talent that she is. I was very close to making her my N&G AOTM artist, but her work can be hard to get on vinyl so I didn't want to risk it. Either way, I hope at least one of you has been swayed by my rambling to give her a chance and hopefully her music can strike a chord with you like it has me.
:
It starts with the only instrumental track "Windfall". Highlights for me are "Another sunny day", "All the way to heaven" and "Sparrow". 
