Divining Rod – Another Endless Night
Similar artists: Hiss Golden Messenger, SG Goodman, Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real Caamp, Shakey Graves
Genre: Folk rock, Americana
Unless you’re Scott Walker or have managed to release a few Diamond albums along the way, as a musician, you’re expected to tour. Going from town to town with a guitar in hand may be a teenage dream that many of us have entertained.
Traveling musicians are cursed to simultaneously run toward their dreams and to run away from their problems. It may be something that can raise the envy of casual observers, but it’s not something on which friends and relations can ever depend.
Frankly, I can confess to the fact that having to pack your bag and frequently head to another location serves to keep a teenage illusion alive. It’s a way to avoid growing up, but not always the best way to progress. But these things need a soundtrack.
Musically, it flows like a great, breezy alt-country tune, the kind that great writers running from worries tend to write.
Yasmin de Laine – Laura Elsa
Similar artists: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Gillian Welch, Cat Power, Rhiannon Giddens, Adia Victoria
Genre: Folk, Americana, Alt-Country
Commercial and artistic ambition has never been at greater odds in the industry of pop music. On the one hand, yes, nobody becomes a star here unless they really desire this. The amount of work that they must put into their goals has to be astonishing.
On the other hand, the same can be said about any great artist. Great craftsmanship doesn’t just come naturally. And most frequently, as artists learn to treasure their gifts and develop their abilities, they also begin wishing to achieve greater things.
The only problem is that ambitious artists hardly ever receive the commercial success that they’d deserve. We all know this to be true. It’s a stark difference from the Golden Days of pop music. Back then, the minority of performers who could write all received careers.
Yasmin de Laine’s Laura Elsa is a meticulously-crafted short story accompanied by ghostly folk-rock sounds. It plays on tension. You can practically hear the creek of footsteps while you hear it. It’s also a highly ambitious work, one that deserves and rewards listeners willing to give it the attention it craves and deserves.
