Every Little Amber EP
The long awaited second EP and first official music video from Laura James has warmed even the cockles of our hearts, Getintothis’ Emma Walsh can’t find fault with Every Little Amber.
We’ve always had a little soft spot for Laura James. She is one of the sweetest songstresses to grace a Merseyside stage in recent years but those occasions seem to have been few and far between since she flew the LIPA nest in 2012 and to be honest, we’ve missed her. So news of a long awaited second EP and her first official video came as music to our ears.
There is something perfectly autumnal about Every Little Amber whether its the beautifully illustrated artwork, the gentle tread of the title track or the crisp air of the video by Patrick O’Shaughnessy. Filmed in various locations across the UK, the video snatches glimpses of a pretty metal-framed bed, complete with teddy bear, in scenic, yet unusual spots – a beach, a woodland, a hillside, and a familiar cobbled street from somewhere in Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter. There’s a sense of comfort in the familiar despite the oddity of an IKEA bedframe on a picturesque hilltop – an interesting enough concept in itself, and one that must have been both a delight and a challenge to film. Recorded at One Bit Productions studio in the similarly quaint surroundings of Buckland and mixed by Brooklyn based collective Mason Jar Music the EP is short, sweet and perfectly formed.
James sings of hearing the “wolves in the wall” as she listens to the wind howling from the warmth of her bed, and that is exactly the sensation you get from this track, a cosiness, a sense of welcome seclusion from some distant distress. It’s just the kind of track we need to lull us back to life on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
James’ voice rings out clear and keen over a soft assonance of simple strings layered together to create a sound both soft and sharp at once. The second track on the EP Bluebells has a similar shy, clarity to it. Again the words that come to mind are sweet, soft, gentle but there’s a powerful resonance to the tracks that make them bold in their beauty, much like the striking natural scenes where James chose to capture her video. She describes her songs as being “little and delicate and they need looking after” but they are undoubtedly strong enough to stand the test of an audience. They will do so at the EP Launch at Leaf (could there have been a more perfect venue for this particular EP?) on September 18 when James will be joined by her band The Lyres.
