(2023) Shannon Lay - Covers Vol. 1    


Review:
Shannon Lay has never been coy about sharing her love for those that influenced her. Lay’s last album, Geist, included a playful cover of Syd Barrett’s “Late Night” and on August, Lay included a song, “November,” in tribute to Nick Drake’s mother, who lost her son too soon. Not surprisingly, Lay’s album of covers pays tribute to Drake (“From the Morning”) and her fellow Angelino Elliott Smith (“Angeles”). Primarily, Lay presents her salutes to heroes past and present as solo performances, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. A few tracks have minimal keyboard parts supplied by Debbie Neigher. Source material ranges from the psychedelic (Ty Segall, OCS) to the sublime (Drake, Sibylle Baier), but Lay tackles them all with equal aplomb. Given the spare instrumentation, an exploration of Covers Vol. 1 needs to focus on what sets certain tracks apart. Jackson C. Frank’s oft-covered “Blues Run the Game” (from Simon & Garfunkel to Laura Marling) benefits from Lay’s most spirited vocal. Perfectly pitched high notes contrast with the softly brushed passages that evoke the British Isles inspired folkiness of Lay’s earlier Living Water album. The song’s opening line, which starts “catch a boat to England baby, maybe to Spain,” evokes a wistful anticipation that Lay captures perfectly. Her vocals also build in strength over the slow to unfold cover of The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Set Free.” Lay’s playing ranges from the deft finger picking of “From the Morning” to the more deliberate and heavier notes of Ty Segall’s “The Keepers.” But what is most surprising for a set of acoustic covers are the two tracks that stand out the most for providing the listener the least to grab onto. Devastatingly subtle, Lay’s understated approach on Sibylle Baier’s “I Lost Something in the Hills” adds to the mysterious vagaries of the song. Barely breaking silence, Lay’s light skim over the deep waters of Baier’s masterpiece makes for a gorgeous interpretation. But her unanticipated approach on the album closing cover of OCS’s “I Am Slow,” makes it the album’s best. Lay’s hushed take on the song intersperses pregnant pauses of quiet with fluttering sequences of notes that clamor to catch up to the melody. From song selection to approach, Covers Vol. 1, serves to give Lay’s fans a look into what has molded her. A veteran of more punk-inspired (Feels) and psychedelic (Ty Segall) projects, Lay’s solo albums have taken a folkier path. Not unlike Bob Dylan’s woefully overlooked acoustic solo albums of the ’90s (Good As I Been to You and World Gone Wrong), there is much to be gained from discovering what inspires an artist you care about. If the album’s title implies more to come, the nuances in approach are what make Covers Vol. 1 worthy and something that would hopefully be replicated on the road ahead. — undertheradarmag.com


   


Track List:
01 - Angeles
02 - From the Morning
03 - Blues Run the Game
04 - Close My Eyes
05 - The Keepers
06 - I Lost Something in the Hills
07 - Glow Worms
08 - I'm Set Free
09 - I Am Slow


Media Report:
Genre: folk-rock, indie-folk
Country: Los Angeles, California, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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