Patience and elegance permeate Laura Baird’s work, both as a solo performer and half of The Baird Sisters, with sister Meg. Laura’s last album proper was the wonderful I Wish I Were a Sparrow (2017), and some of the songs of Under Blue have been around since 2012, written during initial recordings for Sparrow. Says Laura on her craft: “Taking your time, letting things go, and letting something bloom before you go into the next thing is something I learned from Meg.”
Both artists have a talent for performing very deliberate music, where each note feels right and nothing is superfluous; this was immediately evident on Sparrow and is here as well. Although Under Blue began life early, it became an album focused on the process of grief, once Baird’s father passed away, after Laura moved home in 2018. Touchingly, Laura’s father’s classical guitar is front and centre on many of these tracks, giving the music a distinctly different flavour to Sparrow, while bringing some of his spirit into the songs.
Some of the most powerful moments are when banjo, guitar and voices meet, such as on the title track (positioned in the middle of the set, at the core of the album). With beautiful harmony singing (without lyrics) sweeping around the music, Laura’s signature banjo notes entwine with the classical guitar on a gorgeous little melody that leaves plenty of space in the sound. It’s a poignant yet fresh song that instils a feeling of calm and optimism.
Opening song Days of Blue is another example of this freshness and balance, with breaths of woodwind and sprinkles of banjo giving way to a gently picked guitar line accompanying Laura’s clear voice. Moon Through the Tree further demonstrates the power of a minimal arrangement, which is a real strength of this musician, as she demonstrated so well on Sparrow. Here, with the nylon-string guitar notes, the music is softer. The lyrics are a lesson in minimalism too, with the song title rhyming lines like ‘let me sleep/let me be’.
What comes across on this album is the close relationship between life and loss, grief and joy, both within the lyrics and the music. On Grace, Laura sings ‘Close your eyes / the heron flies / although the sky is darkening’, skilfully balancing the innocent wonders of life with the inevitability of loss. Again, the spare, picked nylon string part adds clarity and leaves plenty of space, a detail this musician is not afraid of.
Under Blue is an album of real beauty; a celebration of life amid the simple truth of grief and loss. The lyrics are unpretentious and sparkling; the music is stripped back to the finest essentials, without feeling the need to over-adorn. These are all touches from a fine musician very much in control of her craft.
Under Blue is out now on Ba Da Bing
Bandcamp: https://laurabaird.bandcamp.com/album/under-blue-2