Folk Songs, the new EP from LAU, was a bit special in that it featured all traditional tunes delivered with, as described by Billy Rough in his review here, “the sensitivity and superb musicianship long associated with the band.”
In that same review, Billy concluded:
Throughout Folk Songs the love of tradition comes lucidly to the fore, however, LAU are accomplished and self-assured enough to play with the tracks and make them their own. If this is a direction LAU are considering for future projects, then Folk Songs promises many delights to come. It is an entrancing and memorable interpretation of a fine collection of classic folk songs. Running at just under thirty minutes the EP…it is a perfect selection of a rich and beguiling set of tunes.
This Sunday, 20 December at 8pm, in association with Oxford Contemporary Music and Live to your Living Room, you can witness their album launch from the comfort of your own home.
Tickets and further details here: https://livetoyourlivingroom.com/product/lau/
Lau on Folk Songs:
“It’s great to have been making new music together again. Folk Songs’ is our new EP. We’ve gone way back to the music that made us; a collection of (mostly) ancient songs that are dear to us.
For 15 years now we’ve been writing new music in the language and spirit of traditional song and dance. Our instinct has always been to keep pushing forward, keep testing what elements can be woven around the old idioms to make them new and keep them true. This is our first real foray into the traditional canon proper, and what drives us is the same as ever.
Why the old songs now? Because 2020. Old stories feel important. Like all performers everywhere, we’ve been forced off the road, and now felt the moment to reflect and reground. We’ve inhabited rather than written these five songs, and their emotional fire has swept us away.”